Requiem in White

Synopsis

How do we want to say goodbye to our glaciers?

The “eternal ice” of the Eastern Alps is disappearing irreversibly. As glaciers retreat and permafrost thaws, scientists warn of the consequences, while tourism continues to expand. In summer, visitors crowd cable cars to get as close to the ice as possible; in winter, increasingly drastic measures are taken to keep skiing going. Slopes are reinforced, glaciers covered with protective sheets, snow stored and artificially produced, and mountains reshaped.

Filmed across thirteen glaciers in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, the documentary asks how far we are willing to go in reshaping nature to suit our needs in the midst of the climate crisis.

Director Biography

Harry Putz

Filmmaker and former professional snowboarder. He began experimenting with his parents’ video camera as a teenager and started making mountain films in 1998 while competing in the Snowboard World Cup. Since 2001, he has worked as a freelance filmmaker, producing his own mountain and documentary films alongside commercial and tourism projects through his company Freiluftdoku. He also works as a cinematographer on mountain film productions. Over time, his focus has increasingly shifted toward nature documentaries. His film Down To The Last Drop (2023) received several awards. Since 2010, he has been a co-founder, organiser and curator of the Freeride Film Festival.

Credits

Camera / Kamera

Martin Stoni, Harry Putz

Editing / Kurgu

Harry Putz

Music / Müzik

artlist.io

Sound / Ses

Isobel Cope

Production / Yapım

Harry Putz