The documentary Unseen Summit which is released this Friday, October 27 in China, recounts an exceptional ascent: that of Zhang Hong, the first blind Asian to have reached Everest in May 2021. With filming in Covid times which in itself is a small epic.
From our correspondent in Beijing,
“ We are all lucky “, says this Sherpa guide after yet another time when everything almost stopped in this ascent towards an “invisible summit”, but also towards redemption for Zhang Hong who lost his sight following a hereditary illness and the appetite for live, until this crazy project of climbing to the roof of the world for himself, but also for the 20 million blind Chinese people.
“ In China, job opportunities are limited for the blind. It is difficult for a blind person to travel and engage in society. There are all these limitations placed on us and when you reach Everest it can encourage other blind people “, says Zhang Hong.
The documentary shows the years of training and campaign of crowdfunding with family and friends to finance the adventure, when the Covid pandemic has just started. For 3 years, China will close itself off to the world. “ It was probably the worst time to embark on such a documentary, concedes director Lixin Fan. Filming lasted two years and after climbing Everest, we found ourselves stuck there for six months. The assembly was done remotely. The editor was in Beijing and I was in Nepal. »
Follow the yak bell
Nepal and again Thailand, for almost a year, before being able to return to China. And now there is this film on the screen where every step is one step closer to the top. Despite the weather, the obstacles, the crevasses. We hold our breath when Zhang Hong fumbles on the metal ladder above the precipice with his ice axe. “My guide stayed behind me, constantly giving me instructions to move forward, turn left, right, says Zhang Hong. In front, the Sherpa had a yak bell on his bag. I followed the bell, I focused on every step I took. »
Constant concentration, a mental conversation with the mountain, becoming one with the elements, the snow, the rocks and the total trust of his wife, Xia Qiong. “ I saw him training every day, climbing the stairs with weights when we lived in Lhasa at 3000 meters above sea level. I knew he could succeed “, she confides.
The preparation, the doubts, the hopes and more generally the life of a couple in symbiosis towards the same feat are among the most moving moments of the film when they find themselves in front of the ocean in particular – her dream – before the big departure. While waiting in one of the camps on the way to the summit, Zhang Hong talks to the other climbers about his partner: “She is my eyes, when we’re walking and she sees flowers, she picks them and tells me about their colors. »
Chinese exploit, 20 years after that of a blind American
Throughout filming, the crew was instructed not to interfere with the subject and their choices, except to warn them when the camera was rolling. “ As Zhang Hong cannot see, I asked that the recording of sound and images never start without him being notified, explains Lixin Fan. It was a prerequisite and fundamental condition if we wanted to establish a relationship of trust, especially on a route that could prove dangerous. »A very busy route today.
Zhang Hong is not the first blind man to reach the roof of the world. The first was the American Erik Weihenmayer in 2001. Others followed, until the Mexican Rafa Jaime last May. Repeating this feat 20 years later for a Chinese necessarily has a patriotic side. The state media widely reported on it on May 24, 2021, even if just before reaching the summit, part of the team had to drop out. Result: we have no images! “ The oxygen regulators froze due to bad weather that day, explains director Lixin Fan. Everyone was running out of oxygen and the film crew decided to leave their bottles for others. They were therefore unable to film the arrival at the summit. I was devastated, then I thought: “but he’s blind, he can’t see anything anyway.” »
An accident which gives a very successful sequence, with a black screen where we hear the voices of a guide saying to Zhang Hong: “That there it is! You are at the top! » An immersive experience, a documentary that shows and feels what a blind person experiences in such a situation.