WATCH THE FULL FILM ON RED BULL TV

Red Bull Media House teamed up with Polish production company Warsaw Production Team, to co-produce the feature-length sports documentary ‘K2: The Impossible Descent’. To commemorate the second anniversary of Bargiel’s monumental accomplishment, the film was to be digitally released on July 22nd, 2020 on Red Bull TV.

At the heart of this one-hour sports documentary lies an up-close and personal portrait of its protagonist Andrezej Bargiel, as well as his small team of family and friends, supporting him in his sheer superhuman endeavor to become the first man summiting K2 without the help of supplemental oxygen and successfully skiing down to its base again.

Aimed at a global audience, the film deploys the talents of renowned big mountain skiers Adrian Ballinger (summited K2 without oxygen in 2019), Hilaree Nelson (National Geographic 2018 Adventurer of the Year), and Jimmy Chin (Academy Award-winning filmmaker) to provide expert commentary on expedition planning and execution, risks and dangers, and the use of drone technology to aid objectives in the high mountains and even save lives.

Due to creative differences between the co-production partners as well as evermore building pressure for timely project completion, the film underwent a complete re-edit during the final weeks leading up to its release on July 22nd, 2020.

Editor Viktor Huber and Executive Producer Tom Fish (both Red Bull Media House)

drew up a coherent narrative structure, that establishes the high stakes early on, utilizes the paramount sportive goal and its omnipresent dangers to drive the plot forward, but always keeps the viewer invested by exploring the protagonist’s origins, fears, and motivations.

Much like its humble, at times subdued protagonist, the film’s unobtrusive editing style does not draw any attention but serves to seamlessly progress the narrative, heighten situational awareness for the viewer, and uphold tension until the very end of the film.

Tonally the documentary sets out to pay tribute to the breathtaking environment of the Karakoram, its beauty but also its unforgiving nature, savagery, and ubiquitous dangers.

By presenting the narrative as a succession of fast-paced key story elements, an atmosphere of continuous anticipation can be upheld throughout the film, which eventually culminates in the protagonist’s ultimate ordeal, the first ski descent of K2.

From the very start of his descent, Andrezej Bargiel faced different circumstances that posed serious challenges to his safety. The film touches down in detail on the omnipresent risk of triggering avalanches, a whiteout he descended into, as well as crevasses and séracs lining his way down the mountain.

As this section of the film constitutes the most crucial part of the sportive endeavor, the goal was to constantly raise the level of tension with every different obstacle the protagonist encountered. Changes in music and editing rhythm serve to carve out the different characters of each peril, but also build upon each other, to create a growing sense of unease that only ceases when the hero’s journey comes to an end.

Due to the very limited timeframe available for postproduction and subsequent program localization the entire film was edited from scratch in a timespan of only ten days. In fact, editing (offline / online), graphic design, audio mixing, and color grading had to be handled for the most part simultaneously and required a maximum of dedication and collaboration from all parties involved. A massive team effort that ultimately paid off.