Claude Andrieux
Directing
Biography
Claude Andrieux is a French writer-director born in Grenoble in 1956. The world of travel, nature, and wide-open spaces is central to his work. He is the second of twelve children from a modest background. He directs documentaries for television. The dozens of awards he has won at festivals for his documentaries (filmed in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Himalayas) and his short fiction films for the cinema attest to and highlight the originality and quality of his work as a writer and director. He filmed his first documentary for television in 1984 in the Himalayas, following a marathon in the mountains of Pakistan. It was the poignant documentary "La montagne à la Folie" (The Mountain Gone Mad), which brought him to prominence. With his camera, he follows five schizophrenics, institutionalized in Charleville-Mézières, who choose a mountain retreat for their holidays. This documentary has garnered over fifteen awards at festivals across Europe. He works for all television channels, with a particular affinity for public service broadcasting and films from distant lands. Since 1998, Claude Andrieux has worked at Nomade Productions. A producer and director of documentaries, he produced the 2017 documentary *White October* for ARTE and Ushuaia TV, directed by Christophe Raylat, featuring writer Sylvain Tesson on an expedition in the mountains of Tajikistan. In 2018, also for ARTE, he produced *Ural in Pursuit of Autumn* with writer Cedric Gras. Alongside this, he develops projects for feature films and directed his first feature, *Lost Elephants*, the story of two very different men traveling across Iceland to audition for singer Björk. It was released on January 30, 2019.
Known For
To understand the difficulties of an ascent to over eight thousand metres, it is enough to remember the almost 300 victims these peaks have claimed. The Swiss alpinist Ehrart Loretan, the third alpinist in the world to have climbed all 14 8,000, and the Austrian alpinist Kurt Diemgerger cover the whole history of the conquest of the world’s 8,000, from the fifties to the present day, together with other alpinists and film directors who have climbed them. They talk about their experienced when they ventured into the death zone.
The Death Zone
"Les Compagnons Du Vide" (The Companions of the Void) is a documentary made in 1989 by Claude Andrieux and Gilles Chappaz, broadcast in two parts on the FR3 program "Montagne." The film explores the history of the mountain guide profession through portraits of mountain guides, showcasing the diversity of this high-risk occupation. It also delves into the intimate relationship between the climbing team and the client, using the example of prestigious guides. The documentary follows these teams on major climbs around Chamonix, on Mont Blanc, and on La Meije in the Écrins massif.
The Companions Of The Void
A young bass player and his driver cross Iceland to be auditioned by the singer Björk.