Source Programme of Events Summer 2019 The Source Arts Centre Programme Summer 2019 | Page 8

SUMMER 2019
So, we’d be freaking out in the background, but you
can’t bring that, right?” Vasarhelyi comments: “You
don’t want to be responsible for adding that one
thing of pressure, because you’re sweating.”
Starting at 5.30 am on June 3rd 2017, Honnold set
out. The film follows the vertiginous climb where
death is defied on a regular basis. It’s spectacular
but unnerving. In one scene, a camera operator has
to look away as Honnold negotiates an almost
impossible manouvere. After a 4 hour climb,
Honnold became the first person to complete a free
solo climb on el Capitan and remains the only
person to have done so thus far.
Ironically Honnold remains self-affacing about his
climbing skills: "I was never, like, a bad climber as a
kid, but I had never been a great climber, either," he
says. "There were a lot of other climbers who were
much, much stronger than me, who started as kids
and were, like, instantly freakishly strong – like they
just have a natural gift. And that was never me. I
just loved climbing, and I've been climbing all the
time ever since, so I've naturally gotten better at it,
but I've never been gifted."
The film received huge praise on its release and
most recently won the best documentary Oscar and
a best documentary BAFTA Award. Vasarhelyi is
clear in understanding why the film has become
such a success: “I think people are very satisfied by
watching someone have this audacious dream, and
actually achieving it,” she says, adding, “There are
very few things of virtuosity or genius that you can
actually witness, nowadays.”
Free Solo screens on the big screen at Source Arts
Centre at 8 p.m. on Wednesday 8th may
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The Source Arts Centre