THE SANCTITY OF SPACE [2021 / 2022] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] Wonderful tribute to the life of Bradford Washburn and a wild first ascent in Alaska!
Brad Washburn was the greatest aerial mountain photographer of all time. Hanging out the open door of an airplane, he flew above unmapped mountain ranges - capturing iconic images with which he could make maps, pursue scientific inquiries, discover first ascents, and inspire people. More than eighty years after Brad Washburn first photographed Denali from the air, climbing buddies Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson look at some of Brad Washburn’s images and have this crazy idea: rather than go up, their dream is to go sideways — across the range’s most forbidding peaks, the Mooses Tooth massif. It’s a decidedly new school way to explore the same landscape Brad Washburn first discovered. As they pioneer the route over the course of two expeditions, enduring freezing bivies, cut ropes, and rock fall along the way, their desire to be the first to complete the audacious line grows into an obsession. But friendships begin to fray when Renan Ozturk suffers a near fatal brain injury, forcing them to decide what’s most important. When they rendezvous in the small town of Talkeetna for yet another attempt, all bets are off. While the climbing action unfolds own incredible story comes to life through stunning archival and recreations. As a young man Brad Washburn turned down Amelia Earhart’s offer to join her on her around the world flight, then pulled off one of the gutsiest exploratory climbs in history – the epic first ascent of Mt. Lucania – but suffered his own fatal plane crash which left two women dead. Brad Washburn superhero wife Barbara Washburn ultimately redeemed him, and helped him map and explore the greatest landscapes on Earth, and his relationship with Ansel Adams allowed him to transcend his day-to-day job as Director of the Boston Museum of Science to become something he would never admit to being: an artist. Filmed over a period of five years, ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ brings together visual elements of the highest order – from Brad Washburn and Ansel Adams’s stunning large format black and white photographs to state-of-the-art helicopter cinematography to space photography – with an unforgettable story spanning generations. It’s both a white-knuckle adventure tale, and a celebration of the spirit of exploration.
Cast: Renan Ozturk [Rock climber], Zack Smith [Professional Ice Hockey player/ Rock climber], Freddie Wilkinson [Professional Alpine climber, Mountain guide, and author], David Roberts [Washburn Biographer], Kurt Markus [American photographer], Mike Sfranja [Washburn Biographer], Brian Okonek [Mountain climber], Janet Wilkinson [Mountain climber], Freddie Wilkinson [Mountain climber], Jack Tackle [Mountain climber] and Paul Roderick [Bush Pilot for Talkeetna Air Taxi in Alaska]
Directors: Freddie Wilkinson and Renan Ozturk
Producers: Aimee Tetreault, Chad Ervin, Curt Morgan, Dan Tishman & Sheryl Tishman, Jeff Resnick & Debby Resnick, Kate Holland, Minette Nelson, Paul Wiegard, Ryan Kampe, Shannon Ethridge and Taylor Rees
Screenplay: Chad Ervin and Freddie Wilkinson
Composer: Logan Nelson
Cinematography: Renan Ozturk and Renan Ozturk (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 100 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: DOGWOOF / Visit Films / Expedition Studios / The Filmmakers Fund
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ [2021 / 2022] was inspired by the photography of legendary explorer Brad Washburn, and three friends traverse some of Alaska's most challenging peaks.
Fifteen miles to the south-east of Denali, the highest peak in North America, lays a colossal mountain range that rears from the ground like a vertiginous jaw. Fittingly, the various summits of this natural wonder are called Moose’s Tooth, Eye Tooth, Sugar Tooth and Broken Tooth. While many explorers have conquered each of these peaks, none have attempted a lateral climb from summit to summit, akin to walking atop the skyline. But a black-and-white aerial photograph of the forbidding path, all snow-capped and wrapped in billowy clouds, beckons the adventurous spirit of mountaineers Renan Ozturk, Freddie Wilkinson and Zach Smith.
Climbers/filmmakers Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson retrace the steps of pioneering mountaineer and aerial photographer Bradford Washburn. Inspired by Bradford Washburn's iconic images of Alaska. Brad Washburn was the greatest aerial mountain photographer of all time. Hanging out the open door of an airplane, Brad Washburn flew above unmapped mountain ranges, capturing iconic images. More than eighty years after Brad Washburn first photographed Denali from the air, climbing buddies Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson look at some of Washburn’s images and have this crazy idea: rather than go up, their dream is to go sideways: across the range’s most forbidding peaks, the Mooses Tooth massif.
Directed by Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson, this awe-inspiring documentary is as much about their years-long attempts to scale the Tooth traverse as it is about Brad Washburn, the man behind the image that ignited their curiosity. A daring figure with an inexhaustible passion for exploration, Brad Washburn pioneered the use of aerial photography in cartography, crafting superbly detailed maps of regions previously neglected by geographers. The extraordinary milestones of Brad Washburn’s career – including his tenure as the director of the Boston Museum of Science – are interwoven with the highs and lows in the three climbers’ private lives. Despite the deaths of fellow mountaineers, neck-breaking accidents and financial struggles, their determination to scale the traverse is staggering in its unshakeable resilience. And amid perilous risks of avalanche and falling rocks, their enthusiasm has a childlike wonder that feels especially moving.
The documentary film ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ covers how the pair spend the better part of a decade endeavouring to become the first to complete the Tooth Traverse — even in the face of accidents, injuries and the kinds of close calls that could easily have been fatal. At one point, Zack Smith, a friend and climbing companion of Renan Ozturk, explains that his romantic partner has left him because she could no longer stand his dangerous vocation. In the very next scene — a title card reads “One Week Later” — we find Renan Ozturk in a gurney, wrapped head-to-toe in bandages, flitting in and out of consciousness. These are risks, the filmmakers suggest, inherent to the lives they lead.
Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson devote some of the film’s running time to the biography of one of their mountaineering heroes, the explorer and photographer Bradford Washburn. Though Brad Washburn’s life was certainly interesting, these sections feel digressive and not well integrated.
“It is belief as much as anything that allows one to cling to a wall,” James Salter wrote in his mountaineering novel “Solo Faces.” The filmed documentary ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ is at its best when conveying the power of that belief — when a helmet-mounted GoPro captures the sheer expanse of a pitch mid-ascent, say, or when an aerial shot from a circling helicopter makes a climber appear minuscule against the vast face of a daunting peak. It’s this glory that the climbers were dedicated to pursuing, and through their eyes we can well understand the beauty of the quest.
‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ brings together visual elements of the highest order – from Brad Washburn and Adams’s stunning large format black and white photographs to state-of-the-art helicopter cinematography to space photography – with an unforgettable story spanning generations. It’s both a white-knuckle adventure tale, and a celebration of the spirit of exploration.
Please Note: At the end of the film we get to read the following dedication words: This film ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ is dedicated to David Roberts 1941 – 2021 and also for the memory of Henry Bradford Washburn Jr. [1910 – 2007] and Barbara Washburn [1914 – 2014].
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Blu-ray Image Quality – DOGWOOF, Visit Films, Expedition Studios and The Filmmakers Fund presents this spectacular film ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ with an even more spectacular 1080p stunning image and of course is shown in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is very impressive and sharp, and especially very detailed, and totally breath-taking. Even with the widest of images you view, it exhibits a tremendous clarity throughout the image frame throughout the film. With the facial expressions you can see all their expressions with good clarity also. Also outstanding are the profusion of colours that are very vivid, but natural at the same time, without looking like they have been digitally manipulated, and especially gives the impression it was filmed in the 70mm format. Shadow detail in dark parts of the film is also of good image clarity. So all in all, this is a very impressive High-Definition transfer, and of course it is always best to go to the cinema and see the actual theatrical release of ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE,’ but despite this, DOGWOOF have done a really stunning 1080p image presentation throughout the film. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – DOGWOOF, Visit Films, Expedition Studios and The Filmmakers Fund brings you this film ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ with an equally spectacular 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience. ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ film features excellent fidelity, with efficient use of every speaker in the system, comes alive through the wonders of all of your speakers and where you experience the low frequency effects, are very effective. What is also spectacular is the soundtrack throughout the film where the bass contributes mightily to add additional realism and power to the film. The bass is incredible and precise, and how a good bass sounds like. The audio presentation also gives the impression of being so effortlessly natural that it provides the ideal complement to the amazing spectacular visuals. So all in all, the visuals are astounding, but the sound places listeners squarely in the middle of the image experience. ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ is a totally fulfilling sonic and visually experience, and of course a total treat for the ears that features one of the most robust and natural soundtracks I have heard so far. So once again, DOGWOOF have done a really excellent job in bringing us this brilliant audio experience to life.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Brad Washburn: Digital Album: With this featurette, we get to view 18 absolutely stunning 1080p black-and-white images of Bradford Washburn's private photographic collection.
Special Feature: Trailer [2021] [1080p] [1.85:1 [2:07] With this featurette, we get to view the Original Trailer for the documentary film ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE.’
Finally, with the film ‘THE SANCTITY OF SPACE’ [2021] it goes far beyond most of the climbing and adventure films of late, delving into the backstory of Bradford Washburn's life and contributions to modern mountaineering, science, cartography, and aerial photography. Bradford Washburn's passion for all of these endeavours and his lifelong love of his wife set a benchmark for a life lived fully that for many reasons will never be repeated. The climbing in this film and years of effort and obstacles that it took to accomplish this objective is wholly inspiring whether you're an adventurer or not. Kudos to Freddie Wilkinson and Renan Ozturk for bringing this 15 year quest of adventure, filming, research, and homage to us in a spectacular way. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
