The Sanctity of Space

Amid the beauty of the landscapes, the skill of the photographers and the terrific archive footage in The Sanctity of Space, there’s a very interesting and (likely inadvertent) insightful look at the motivations and legacies of these climbers a generation apart.

The challenge is to climb the so called the ‘tooth traverse’ in the Alaskan mountain range that features Mount McKinley now called Denali. This terrace was explored by Brad Washburn in the 1930’s a pioneering mountaineer and explorer who revolutionised landscape photography and mapped the region.

The climbers’, inspired by Washburn, had the novel idea of approaching the ‘tooth traverse’ peaks from the side and tackling them consecutively. It’s an enormous undertaking for the three climbers: the filmmakers Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson and originally their friend Zack Smith.

Five years in the making it is a stunning piece of work that deftly blends archive film and photos with the filmmaker’s own footage. Plus there’s a comprehensive biography of Brad Washburn featuring interviews with he and his wife, biographers and experts.

What also emerges is interesting in that Washburn’s sense of wonder, adventure, innovation and bravery, the inspirations for Ozturk and Wilkinson, are folded in with his devotion to science and the legacy of his discoveries and his work for the Boston Museum of Science for over forty years.

That doesn’t quite come across with the Ozturk and Wilkinson expedition. They appear to be much more interested in personal achievement. Both are professional climbers with commitments that clashed with Zack’s more idealistic outlook to the extent that he left the team. Granted these commercial projects were essential to the funding of the expedition, and it could be argued that the finished film itself contributes to the study of the range. However it doesn’t quite come across like that.

That isn’t to denigrate the achievements or bravery of Wilkinson and Ozturk (who was nearly killed on another expedition). The footage of the climbers on the side the mountain where the rock is falling away as they climb is terrifying. The danger is a constant which the film doesn’t shy away from with Ozturk’s injury and long recovery, and the tragic deaths of colleagues on this range and elsewhere.