Free Rider

To mark the 70th anniversary of the first 7A in Fontainebleau, Seb Berthe and Hugo Parmentier have set themselves quite a challenge: to complete 100 7A boulders on a single day, linking the crags by bike or on foot. An extraordinary journey of over 80 km through the magic forest! And an extraordinary feat when you consider how demanding these rocks are. Crimps, climpers, falls, slips but above all a magnificent human adventure, sublimated by the poetry of director Jérôme Tanon. Major.

The film chronicles the journey of the renowned De Le Rue family: Xavier, a 7 x World Champion; his younger brother Victor, a 3 x World Champion; and his daughter Mila, who is turning 18 and embarking on her first expedition. Their first challenge is sailing across the infamous Drake passage before confronting the otherworldly white continent. Unimaginably steep icy lines rise from the ocean, towering seracs, pods of orcas and colonies of penguins, but at the bottom of the world, rescue is not an option. For Xavier and Victor, it's a giant playground filled with first descents; for Mila, it's an intimidating initiation into big-mountain free riding. The film captures their intimate inner dialogue through personal diaries, showcasing Mila's journey as she confronts her fears and embraces the challenge. A celebration of discovery, adventure, and the passing of the torch to the next generation against the breathtaking backdrop of Antarctica. The voyage of a lifetime.

CIRCLE OF MADNESS features star athletes Markus Eder (ski) & Victor de Le Rue (snowboard) returning one more time to the legendary spine walls of Haines, Alaska. In the place where extreme free-riding movies were born, standing on the shoulders of their peers, their emulated friendship will help them push it to the very next level. From the most renown and historical lines to a camping mission in the middle of a never-seen-before mountain face, Markus and Victor’s obsession becomes a descent into madness.

An expedition film in the form of a multi-voice travel diary, where all emotions pass through the spectators who are immersed for three weeks with these riders and guides in the Karakoram massif in Pakistan.

For three years, Jérôme Tanon attached a $250 Sony video camera to his main SLR using a pole and some gaffer tape. As he followed some of the world’s best riders around the world, this little camcorder was continuously rolling, filling up card after card with every journey, every takeoff, every landing, every slam, every kicker-build, every angry outburst, every shared joke, every bit of goofballing, every nature poo, every game of UNO (and there were many games of UNO), every booze-filled night; the list goes on. Tanon condenses this formidable mountain of candid footage into a warts-and-all exposé of professional snowboarding that is in turns brutal, cynical and hilarious. But above all, it is honest.

Watching Solenne Piret climb is almost like witnessing magic. You wonder how she will get through, and then, with a fluid, effortless motion, she progresses up the wall. Born without a right hand, Solenne has always found her own path on the wall. A four-time world champion, she now takes on a new challenge: leading the legendary Grand Capucin—one of Mont Blanc’s most iconic spires—while placing her own traditional protections. But despite intense training, doubts linger: this time, did she aim too high?