K2 AND THE INVISIBLE FOOTMEN (2015)
54 min
Pakistan/United States/Brazil
English, Urdu Language with English Subtitles
Director: Iara Lee
Producer: Iara Lee
Cinematography/Editing: Jawad Sharif
Music: 12k, Mahdyar Aghajani
In K2 AND THE INVISIBLE FOOTMEN, filmmaker Iara Lee and team chronicle the lives of both Pakistani porters and Nepalese sherpas. The film also follows the first official all-Pakistani climbing team, made up of former porters, who successfully summited in 2014, in celebration of K2 60th anniversary. Amid breathtaking scenery, the film depicts the everyday sacrifices of porters and the courage of those indigenous climbers who choose to return to scale K2 in spite of past tragedies. In their striving to perfect their craft, these mountaineers provide a fresh look into the cultures and national traditions of Pakistan, a country typically portrayed in the foreign media as merely a land of conflict and sectarian strife.
This film is dedicated to Amir Mehdi, the high-altitude porter from Pakistan who lost all of his toes to frostbite while supporting the first successful ascent of K2 in 1954. To learn more about the life of Amir Mehdi and his role in the historic 1954 K2 excursion, read the BBC's story, Amir Mehdi: Left Out to Freeze on K2 and Forgotten.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Iara Lee, a Brazilian of Korean descent, is an activist, filmmaker, and founder/director of the Cultures of Resistance Network, an organization that promotes global solidarity and connects and supports agitators, educators, farmers, and artists to build a more just and peaceful world through creative resistance and nonviolent action! Iara is a long-time supporter of Greenpeace, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, and many organizations around the world through the Cultures of Resistance Network.
As a filmmaker, Iara has directed/produced several full-length documentaries and dozens of short films over the past decade for example: K2 and the Invisible Footmen (2015), Wantoks: Dance of Resilience in Melanesia (2019), Life Is Waiting (2015).