RECENT PROJECTS

“Julie”

film_keyvisual_V6_QUERPhoto © International Ocean Film Tour

Documentary for International Ocean Film Tour (Vol. 06)

Born on the island of La Réunion, Julie Gautier grew up as a child of the ocean. Free diving and spearfishing became second nature to her but her passion lies in the creative process – as an award-winning film maker and a dancer. Fusing free diving and dance, Gautier leads us into a new territory of ocean life. JULIE is Gautier’s powerful story of finding her creative voice beneath the surface.

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“Mbuzi Dume – Strong Goat”

2288NH_MAM_TB_KILI_0818Photo © Nils Heck

Documentary for E.O.F.T. – European Outdoor Film Tour 2018/19

shot on location in Germany, Switzerland, Tanzania

‘Mbuzi Dume’ is Swahili and means ‘strong goat’. It’s the nickname given to Tom Belz on his Kilimanjaro climb. The difference is that this ‘strong goat’ has climbed the mountain not on four but on three legs; more precisely—on one leg and two crutches. Tom’s left leg was amputated when he was just eight years old, and since then, he has perfected his technique on crutches. Nevertheless, until recently, he wouldn’t have dreamed of travelling to Kilimanjaro and experiencing a sunrise at an altitude of 5895 metres, and he certainly would not have imagined that he’d be sharing this adventure with Dr. Klaus Siegler, the man who saved his life 23 years ago. For both men, climbing Kilimanjaro symbolises the challenges in life that everyone must surmount.

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“Life beyond ordinary”

Photo © Denis Lagrange

Brand campaign for Miele (TV, online & print)

shot on location on Kalymnos, Greece

Actress / Freediver: Marina Kazankova
Director/DoP: Denis Lagrange
Producer: Melanie Schwier
Agency: DDB
Client: Miele
Prod.: HelliVentures
Service Prod.: Avion Films

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“The A.O.”

Bildschirmfoto 2018-10-05 um 12.21.15Photo © Pavel Blazek

Documentary
for E.O.F.T. – European Outdoor Film Tour 2018/19

Adam Ondra is one of the most successful and versatile sport climbers of our time. He successfully climbed the most difficult route in the world, now called Silence, and established a new level of difficulty—9c. The Czech climber has also shown what he can do when it comes to big wall climbing; he ascended the Dawn Wall in just eight days—on his very first trip to Yosemite. His strong, lean body seems to effortlessly transcend gravity. But is it simply Adam’s muscle power and endurance that enables him to conquer the most difficult routes? Or is it his mental strength that drives him climb an 8a while blindfolded?

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“Choices”

Bildschirmfoto 2017-12-03 um 13.09.33Photo © Scott Rogers

Documentary
for E.O.F.T. – European Outdoor Film Tour 2017/18

shot on location in Moab, Utah / USA

Steph Davis has never been good at stalling important decisions. Her way of life resembles her climbing style: uncompromising if possible, but always willing to take a step back when necessary. In her early twenties she quit law school. It was the start for a life on the road, a life devoted to climbing and basejumping that would suit her so much better than the ordinary life her parents might have dreamed of.

Success proved her right: Steph Davis is the first woman to summit all pinnacles of the Fitz Roy Massif in Patagonia, the first woman to free climb the Salathé Wall on El Calpitan in Yosemite Valley and the first woman to free solo a route graded 5.11 – without a rope, without protection.

 

“Sharing the sky”

20161215_Airman_MS_AndyHediger_#22Photo © Melanie Schwier

Documentary
for Red Bull TV

shot on location in La Cumbre, Argentina

Andy Hediger’s Fight for Flight

Multi-discipline aerobatic pilot and Red Bull Acro Team member Andy Hediger was born to fly. But a near-fatal crash means that even walking again may be a miracle. Now Andy must fight his way back to health if the hopes to return to the sky.

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“Dare to soar – flying with the condors”

FOTC_H&H_#2Photo © Melanie Schwier

Documentary
for “eXplorers – Adventures of the century” I Red Bull Media House

Production Company: HelliVentures

shot on location in Peru

A non-fiction documentary about the two world class paragliders Hernán Pitocco and Horacio Llorens and their attempt to follow wild condors from the Pacific Coast up to the condors’ breeding ground in the Peruvian Andes.

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“Jäger des Augenblicks – Ein Abenteuer am Mount Roraima”

“Roraima: Climbing the Lost World”

Tepuis3

 

90 min. Feature Documentary for Red Bull Media House

shot on location in British Guyana and Venezuela

Climbing partners Kurt Albert and Holger Heuber don’t know what they’re in for when they join competitive climbing superstar Stefan Glowacz for an expedition to Mt. Roraima, a steep-walled South American peak shrouded in both rainforest and legend.

To climbers, Mount Roraima is one of the ultimate challenges. The iconic mountaintop plateau sits on the border of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana, and towers above the jungle, taunting those who dare to attempt its sheer 400m walls.

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“The children of Toxic City”

GhanaPhoto © Melanie Schwier

TV Documentary on Sustainability

shot on location in Accra I Ghana and Hamburg I Germany

The UN estimates that 20-50 million tons of e-waste are produced annually around the world. Some of the European and US waste ends up in Western Africa. Containers full of used computers are shipped via Hamburg  to Accra where they land in Ghana‘s biggest port, in Tema. When it can be determined right away that the equipment is defective – and that is usually the case – then it goes directly to the scrap yard in Agbogbloshie.

After the goods that land in Agbogbloshie are stripped, the search begins for the treasure hidden inside the broken computers. The aluminum, copper and lead is exchanged for cash. Middlemen have set up shop right in the scrap yard itself.

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“70 Grad West”

Photo © Melanie Schwier

TV Documentation about

the cross country motorcycle journey of Jan Josef Liefers and Tobias Langhoff from Peru to Ushaia in Argentina

traveling  Ecuador I Peru I Bolivia I Chile I Argentina