Robert Nicod
Directing
Biography
Robert Nicod, born in 1954 in Toulon, is a director, author, photographer, and cinematographer primarily recognized for his documentaries about free climbing, the mountains, and exploring the great outdoors. Robert Nicod has been mountaineering since the age of 10 and began photography at the age of 12. He later abandoned architecture studies to devote himself fully to his passions: the mountains and images. Passionate about reportage in general, he worked for various magazines, both sports and otherwise. In 1983, he published the book Opéra Vertical with Patrick Edlinger, the result of three years of filming on the rock faces of the Verdon. That same year, he was the cinematographer and cameraman for Jean-Paul Janssen's "Verdon - Saussois 1983," which documented the FFM climbing gathering in Saussois and the Verdon, then at the forefront of high-difficulty climbing worldwide. This event, which brought together generations of the greatest climbers of the era, including Patrick Edlinger, Jean-Claude Droyer, Jerry Moffatt, Jean-Claude Droyer, Robert Paragot, Lucien Bérardini, Ron Fawcett, Jean-Pierre Bouvier, and other major figures, symbolized the emergence of modern sport climbing as a practice in its own right in France. In 1985, Robert Nicod returned to the helm and directed the documentary "E Pericoloso Sporgersi," filmed in the Verdon Gorges, in which he featured four young climbers, including Catherine Destivelle and Monica Dalmasso. In 1986, he was the director of photography on Opéra Vertical, the eponymous title of his book, directed by Jean-Paul Janssen, starring Patrick Edlinger and Jean-Paul Lemercier in the Verdon Gorges. In 1992, he directed "Totem," a documentary acclaimed for its visual quality and its approach to climbing, notably featuring Ron Kauk, filmed in Monument Valley, USA. In 2003, he directed "Hook or Book," a documentary filmed in Yosemite National Park on the famous El Capitan face with a huge cast including Leo Houlding, Jean-Marc Troussier, Scott Burk, Jim Bridwell, and others. He is also the author of "The Great Outdoors of the American West," a documentary exploring the landscapes and culture of this region. His other major works include "A Breath of Freedom" (2012), "Take Me Up There" (2012), and "You Will Be a Man, My Son" (2004). Robert Nicod's entire filmography bears witness to the key moments of the golden age of world free climbing, but also and above all, to his passion for nature and wide open spaces, exploration and the transmission of the spirit of adventure.
Known For
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".
Opera Vertical
È Pericoloso Sporgersi is Robert Nicod's first short film, shot in 1985, featuring four young climbers, two women, Catherine Destivelle and Monique Dalmasso, and two men, Alain Bultel and Marc Lecomte-Durouil, in the Verdon Gorges. In a natural setting of cliffs, rivers, sinkholes and vertical waterfalls, Catherine Destivelle and Monique Dalmasso climb the Bombé de Pichenibule. This progression, filmed as a female climbing adventure, represents a successful first 7b+ ascent for the French champion. The film received the Genziana D'Argento for best sports film at the Trento Film Festival in 1986.
È Pericoloso Sporgersi
Two climbers, a photographer and an eagle in the western setting of Monument Valley, USA. The climbers, who are experts, reveal the secrets of their acrobatic skill. The photographer is the spectator who often involuntarily creates comical situations.
Totem
No description available.
Les Grands Espaces de l'Ouest Américain
Yosemite National Park, in California, is one of the most fascinating in the United States. In the eastern part of the park, isolated granite peaks rise 3,900 meters above the valley floor: El Capitan, Half Dome, and Sentinel. El Capitan is the largest unbroken mass of granite in the world and a legendary site for mountaineering and free climbing. Every year, the world's best climbers challenge its impressive face. The film, enhanced with interviews and spectacular footage, follows the preparations for and ascent of El Capitan by a group of elite climbers: Scott Burk, Leo Houlding, Jim Bridwell, Jean-Marc Troussier, and Valerio Fulco, with whom humor is one of the essential ingredients of this adventure.
Hook or Book
No description available.
Tu Seras Un Homme Mon Fils
In 1983, the French Mountain Federation (FFM) organized a landmark climbing gathering in Saussois and the Verdon, bringing together generations of the greatest climbers of the time, including Patrick Edlinger, Jean-Claude Droyer, Jerry Moffatt, Jean-Claude Droyer, Robert Paragot, Lucien Bérardini, Ron Fawcett, Jean-Pierre Bouvier, and other major figures. This event symbolized the emergence of modern sport climbing as a practice in its own right in France, with the liberation of legendary routes and the rise of freestyle climbing, notably under the leadership of Droyer and Edlinger. This gathering was a key moment in the dissemination of the freestyle ethic and the evolution of grading, while Saussois and the Verdon were at the forefront of high difficulty in the world.
Verdon-Saussois 1983
No description available.
Capitan Crochet
No description available.