27. April 2025

K2 - The big fight

In his new documentary film, Reinhold Messner shows how easily solidarity between climbing partners can turn into deceit and betrayal.

Whether the outcome is tragic or glorious, most mountaineering successes are told as heroic epics. Such is the official version of the first ascent of K2, that of an Italian expedition in 1954.
However, it is little known that behind this success lies a story of defamation.
In his new documentary film, Reinhold Messner shows how easily solidarity between climbing partners can turn into deceit and betrayal by following the trail of the expedition's big loser: Walter Bonatti. After a series of accusations and attempts to discredit him by his comrades, Bonatti was only officially rehabilitated in 2008.
In a gripping interweaving of archive footage and reconstructions, Messner tells the story of what really happened and how Bonatti ultimately came into his own.

Director: Reinhold Messner / Screenplay: Reinhold Messner / Producer: Dolomites Film GmbH

Released: 27 April 2025 - Film Festival in Trento (IT)

Running time: 70 min / Language: German