Between Summits
‘I was fifteen metres off the ground when the rope slipped’, Hein Noortman explains with a penetrating gaze. When training in 2016 he broke almost every bone, his face had to be reconstructed and when he woke up from a coma 5 weeks later he had lost his eyesight and his sense of smell. As if he’d fallen from a block of flats five storeys high.
When his wife heard about the accident, she rushed to the hospital, where all that she could see were bedsheets, blood and bandages. The only thing that was still recognisable was his shoulder.
In this candid portrait by up-and-coming Dutch directors Roeland Wendel and Ilse Lavell, the couple look bravely back and without false sentiment on the accident and its place in family life. It is Hein’s dreams and nightmares which make the biggest impact.
Slowly but surely he aims to regain his independence and pick up his life again, of which climbing is an integral part.
The film follows Hein during his recovery and his preparation for an expedition to Mount Damavand (5671 meters) in Iran, in which he has to work on his balance especially.
A delightful human portrait about hope, optimism and determination.
This film will be screened in one block together with Elisabeth and House of the Gods.
