About the film

The Alps are an ancient region of natural beauty that is changing as a result of climate change. Since the turn of the century, one can no longer automatically assume that there will be thick snow cover on every peak at every ski resort. This film shows us how the tourist industry is dealing with the problem. Tens of millions of euros are being invested to create high-altitude water reservoirs to replace the melting glaciers. “Peak” switches back and forth from atmospheric, observational shots, breathtaking landscapes, and detached recordings of the work going on to the explanations and speculations of contractors and local residents. The older people have witnessed a shift in the function of the area, with tourism supplanting agriculture, and the exodus of younger people from the picturesque villages where only aging populations remain. A long, continuous shot of a man's back as he walks around the deserted, off-season ski resort triggers thoughts of a cowboy in a Wild West ghost town. An elderly woman is skeptical about the contemporary assumption that everything is makeable. Human arrogance is leading us into destroying something that can only be rectified with immense ingenuity, and this will destroy something else, and so on.

Wybrane nagrody i festiwale/Selected festivals and awards: 2011 - DOK Leipzig, 2011 - Nagroda Instytutu Goethego/Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize