National Geographic in association with Mumbai Academy of Moving Image's (MAMI) Year Round Programme hosted a star-studded screening of the Oscar and BAFTA winning documentary 'Free Solo' in Mumbai

The screening was attended by several acclaimed Bollywood actors, artists and filmmakers

Reiterating its 131-year-old mission of reaching out to audiences with ground-breaking storytelling, National Geographic in association with Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) organised an exclusive screening of its critically acclaimed documentary ‘Free Solo’ in Mumbai, last evening. The documentary, which recently bagged an Oscar and a BAFTA for its cinematic masterpiece, showcases free soloist Alex Honnold’s nearly-decade-long obsession with climbing Yosemite’s El Capitan without a rope. FREE SOLO will make its debut across select PVRs across metros such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and cities like Chandigarh, among others.

From award-winning documentary filmmaker Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin, FREE SOLO is an astounding story of an athlete who challenges both, his body and his beliefs on a quest to triumph over the impossible, revealing the personal toll of excellence.

The exclusive screening was attended by several acclaimed Bollywood actors, artists and filmmakers such as Bejoy Nambiar, Anupama Chopra, Abhishek Chaubey, Tisca Chopra, Maniesh Paul, Cyrus Sahukar, Hardik Mehta, Satyadeep Mishra, Sukhmani Sadana, Sucharita Tyagiamongst others, who gathered to support the film. The screening was followed by a post-screening discussion on the film with noted filmmaker, Bejoy Nambiar on his views on the film as a viewer.

Commenting on the film, director Bejoy Nambiar said, “I am completely overwhelmed by the film. It just left me breathless and even though I knew the outcome since I read and knew about it, I was still at the edge of seat to see throughout the climb. I found the film to be such an interesting character study, right from the beginning of the journey of how he decided to do it and the people connected to him and how they were relating to it and dealing with it. All and all, it was so inspiring piece of work.”

Inspired from the film, actor Maniesh Paul said, “The movie was excellent. I think it's a story of grit, confidence and determination. We all were getting scared and my fingers were paining. I think in spite of the injury what he did was brilliant. I loved every bit of this movie.”

Commenting on the film Inspired from the film, actor Tisca Chopra said, “Extraordinary. You think you are probably moving ahead in your life by pushing boundaries, by doing new stuff, but this is next level. Really inspired and I have huge fear of heights and most of the time my stomach was in my mouth, because it was incredibly scary, the way these guys have made the film. It is also incredible the way these people have shot and it’s definitely something that must not be missed.”

Post watching the film, actor Cyrus Sahukar said, “It was an absolutely amazing film and if you miss this film, it’s completely your loss. It’s a real opportunity to have this coming into the cinema theatres and the chance of getting a seat on that big screen. It’s just one of the most unique things I have seen and I am so thankful to everyone for having created the opportunity for people to watch stuff like this. And I'm so happy to be involved.”

As the free-soloist Alex Honnold begins his training, the armour of invincibility he has built up over decades unexpectedly breaks apart when Honnold begins to fall in love, threatening his focus and giving way to injury and setbacks. Vasarhelyi and Chin has beautifully captured deep human moments with Honnold as well as the death-defying climb with exquisite artistry and masterful, vertigo-inducing camerawork. The result is a triumph of the human spirit.

FREE SOLO will release in select PVR theatres across India on Friday, 12^th April.