Verdon-Saussois 1983

Alain Robert - aka the “French Spiderman” – climbs all kind of skyscraper (to the great joy of the public and the despair of the police) with a weakness for the highest ones like the Sears Towers in Chicago, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur or Taipei 101 in Taiwan. With his short frame and at almost 50, Alain is a physical phenomenon capable of hoisting his body with only one finger despite a major disability due to a fall in 1982. Paradoxically, it is after that accident that he developed his style of climbing using only his bare hands and without any security. Today, with more than 100 towers climbed, as many arrests and several stays in prison, Alain is a legend. But who’s the man behind the climber? What motivates him? Find out in this portrait full of breathtaking footage.

Fifteen years have passed since the spectacular images of Jean-Paul Janssen's "Life at Your Fingertips" introduced the general public to free climbing and its embodiment: Patrick Edlinger. We witnessed the birth of a sporting phenomenon that would leave a lasting mark on generations of climbers. But fifteen years later, in 1997, beyond the myth, where is Patrick Edlinger? Gilles Chappaz found him on some of the most beautiful walls of the Verdon Gorge and other cliffs during the filming of Maurice Rebeix's documentary "Roc'n Wall 97," where he shares his climbing practice and philosophy with the younger generation, including Liv Sansoz and Arnaud Petit.

Climber Patrick Edlinger visits various climbing areas in the American West, including Joshua Tree (routes and bouldering), Yosemite (bouldering), Hueco Tanks (bouldering), and Smith Rock (routes). He is seen climbing alongside Russ Clune, Ron Kauk, Jean-Paul Lemercier, and Todd Skinner in numerous sequences accompanied by Native American-inspired music composed by Benoît Fromanger. Less well-known than his two previous films, "La Vie au bout des doigts" and "Opéra Vertical," it remains a benchmark for all climbing enthusiasts and admirers of Edlinger, the world's most famous climber. His familiar voice provides narration throughout many sequences with iconic phrases that encapsulate the man, such as: "Climbing, this useless thing to which I dedicate my life."

Vertical Opera is a documentary film directed by Jean-Paul Janssen, with climbers Patrick Edlinger and Jean-Paul Lemercier in the Gorges du Verdon. The film opens with a training sequence of Patrick Edlinger then he links the routes with Jean-Paul Lemercier "L'Ange en décongelation" (7a), in which he falls voluntarily to demonstrate the usefulness of the rope, then "Le Septième Saut" (7b+). Finally, the final scene, an anthology, consists of a close-up of Edlinger who climbs free solo and barefoot the route "Débiloff", still in the Verdon, above hundreds of meters of void, all to lyrical music. It is "Wie Furchtsam Wankten Meine Schritte", the aria for alto voice from Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata BWV 33, music not unrelated to the subject of the documentary: "How faltering and fearful my steps were".

Oversand is one of the first films about free climbing, the third film in a series of three with "Overdon" and "Over-Ice". Directed by Jean-Paul Janssen, the film was shot in 35mm in Algeria, in the Sahara Desert, in the Tamanrasset region, on the walls of the majestic peaks of the Atakor massif, central sub-region of Hoggar, mountainous heart of Hoggar, a volcanic plateau of almost circular shape, whose average altitude is 2000 meters, and which culminates at Mount Tahat (2918m), the highest point in Algeria. The Atakor is distinguished by its spectacular volcanic peaks, its needles, and its rugged landscapes, resulting from the erosion of ancient volcanic chimneys, which make it the most emblematic summits of the Hoggar, such as the Assekrem, the Ilamane, or the Tizouyag, where climbers Patrick Edlinger, Patrick Bérhault, Bernard Gorgeon, Hugues Jaillet, Jacques Perrier, Stéphane Troussier and Odette Schoënleb evolve under the watchful eye of the Tuareg caravans.

A 2016 film about the Cateissard, a mountain overlooking the Val di Susa near Turin, a laboratory of innovation and evolution in Italian climbing. From the Risveglio route opened by Grassi, Bonelli and Galante in 1974, in the heart of Nuovo Mattino, to Patrick Berhault's visit in 1980 and his legendary climbing demonstration on the Nani Verdi route, to the rediscovery of these rocks by Andrea Giorda who, with Marco Croce, Fabrizio Pennicino, Aldo Tirabeni and Claudio Battezzati, Marco Bernardi, Federica Mingolla, Carlo Giuliberti and others, opened 116 new single-pitch routes, graded from IV to 8b. The success of these climbing sites is undeniable; the cliffs of Profondo Rosso, Falchi Penne and Croci, Neverending Wall, Cateissoft, Sky Wall and Cateisstrong, opened by Giuliberti and Lotito, attract dozens of climbers, even from elsewhere.

A legendary film in the history of rock climbing in the Verdon Gorges, shot in 16mm between the autumn of 1978 and the spring of 1979 by Henri Agresti, a high mountain guide. For the first time, acrobatic shots were taken on the walls of the Verdon. We rediscover a whole generation of pioneers on routes like Dingomaniaque, Triomphe d'Eros, Péril rouge, Luna Bong, Pichenibule or Necronomicon, routes which, like Dingomanique or Triomphe d'Eros, had just been opened. We witnessed a major turning point in the style and possibilities of rock climbing at the end of the 1970s: anchors sealed by drilling used as belaying and no longer as aids, new equipment: climbing shoes and chalk, harnesses and figure eights. Henri Agresti's unfinished and silent film, lasting around fifty minutes, was presented in the form of a nine-minute fragment at the Trento Film Festival in 1981.

With the proliferation of private climbing gyms and the sport's inclusion in the Olympic Games, climbing, long a counter-cultural movement, is undergoing a profound transformation and facing a major paradox. On the one hand, private gyms are enjoying increasing popularity, while on the other, natural climbing sites are under serious threat. What vertical legacy will we leave to future generations? Is outdoor climbing destined to disappear? What will the future hold for climbing? Led by Cédric Lachat, a multi-award-winning Swiss climber, the film provides an international overview of this counter-culture, which has recently become a social phenomenon.

In a vertiginous sequence, Claude Lelouch's camera follows Patrick Edlinger climbing with his bare hands one of the routes of the spectacular Cimaï cliff. The action takes place in the Consensus voice (7c+/8a+) at the Cimaï quarry. In a place large enough where Claude Lelouch had been able to take out his crane to make a vertical trip. Later, in 2013, the foot of the Consensus route will experience landslides, the climbing sector has since been prohibited by municipal decree, huge blocks threatening to fall.

Adventure in Bleau is a documentary about bouldering that takes place in Fontainebleau. Directed by Jean-Paul Janssen in 1980 and produced by Antenne 2, it is part of the series "Les Carnets de l'Aventure" and broadcast on the same television channel. It features different generations of the finest free climbing artists of the time: Patrick Edlinger, Catherine Destivelle, Lucien Bérardini, Jean Pierre Bouvier, and Bertrand Roche 'Zébulon'.

Climbing safely is within everyone's reach. Introduction, progression, training, rope maneuvers, sequence of movements, equipment, and high-level practice—everything you want to know about climbing. Accessing the vertical world means learning to read the rock, combining positioning, balance, and self-control, and having fun. Demonstrations by Jean-Christophe Lafaille (high mountain guide) take place in the dizzying scenery of the Vercors cliffs (Presles and Corrençon-en-Vercors) and the Dentelles de Montmirail. Jean-Pierre Bouvier, known as "Mouche," takes you to the magical boulders of Fontainebleau, while François Legrand (world champion on climbing walls) gives you his advice on how to progress.

Portrait of Jean-Claude Droyer, a famous French climber and mountain guide. He is known for having participated in the rise of free climbing in France in the late 1970s. Trained at the climbing schools of Fontainebleau and Saussois, he distinguished himself in 1965 by solo climbing the Pentecôte route at Glandasse. He also made first ascents in the Verdon Gorges, winter ascents in the Prealps and the Mont Blanc massif, notably in 1971 the first solo ascent of the Directe Américaine on the west face of the Drus. The film was selected for the "Les Écrans Documentaires" festival in 2004.

Documentary on climbing in the famous Verdon gorges, a mecca for world climbing. From Bernard Vaucher to Catherine Destivelle, from Bernard Gorgeon to Lionel Catsoyannis via Enzo Oddo and Fabien Ristori, relive the evolution of climbing in Verdon through testimonies and anecdotes from climbers from different generations. History, anecdotes and emotions from the early 60s to the present day, with an eye towards the future. Can we define ourselves as a climber without having visited the Verdon?

First film in a series of three with Over-Ice and Oversand and one of the first films on free climbing shot in the cliffs of the Gorges du Verdon in several parishes. We meet a certain Patrick Edlinger, Patrick Bérhault, but also Jean-Marc Troussier, Jacques Perrier, Stéphane Troussier, Hugues Jaillet, Gilbert Thomann, Odette Schoënleb, Bernard Gorgeon, Christian Guyomar. Thanks to the program Les Carnets de l'aventure, then broadcast on Antenne 2, and its producer Pierre-François Degeorges, this film was made. The chain gave its production agreement during the day, while the climbing was very confidential, no one knew Patrick Edlinger and the project itself contained only a few lines on a sheet

While being transferred to another prison, two convicts - Stéphane Carella and Paul Brandon - effect a miraculous escape. They are pursued across the Verdon Gorge before arriving at an isolated farmhouse whose owner, Laura, offers them sanctuary. Since the death of her husband, Laura has longed to get her own back on the police and she agrees to help Carella and Brandon in their scheme to rob a casino in Nice. After a shoot out with the casino’s owners, Carella realises that not everything is what it seems. Brandon is not what he appears...

An American general with highly confidential defence information has been kidnapped by terrorists and is being held in a cliff-top fortress in the Mediterranean.

"Droit de Réponse" (Right of Reply) is a French debate program broadcast between December 12, 1981 and September 19, 1987 on the TF1 channel, presented by Michel Polac and produced by Maurice Dugowson. Broadcast live on a weekly basis, on Saturdays from 8.30 p.m., the right of reply has been the source of many controversies, due to the various speakers who have come to present their point of view on the show (which leads to famous scandals , remained in the memory of viewers), but also for the variety and relevance of the topics covered, which ensured the success of the program on the air for several years. On French television, this program is considered by some observers as a “pioneer program in terms of controversy-show or clash, in modern language”.