In 2021, teams of climbers competed to be the first to summit K2 in winter, known as the “last first” in the mountaineering community. Icelandic climber John Snorri Sigurjónsson and Pakistani father and son Ali and Sajid Sadpara are the soulful and deliberate trio whose effort provides the narrative fulcrum of the film. We also follow two other teams as they make the attempt: a commercial expedition outfit whose members have varying degrees of experience and a Nepalese team led by Nims Purja, a local legend. Suspenseful from its opening moments, the film combines journalistic rigor with all the harrowing apprehension of a battlefield documentary made at 28,000 feet. Narrative parallels emerge: intrigue and anticipation as the teams climb and converge, drained energy and morale as supply and oxygen levels diminish. Desperate conditions lead to deadly consequences. Viewers may be prompted to consider, as with Amir Bar-Lev’s previous films, how the subjects arrive at their extraordinary ambitions, and to what ends. The Last First: Winter K2 is truly a document about the journey, not the destination. TM

Q&A following screening