Sharjah Art Foundation

Sharjah Biennial 16

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
6 Febuary — 15 June 2025

K2 and the Invisible Footmen, 2014

Iara Lee
K2 and the Invisible Footmen, 2014
Colour, Urdu (Arabic and English subtitles)
54 min
Film still

Synopsis

Filmmaker Iara Lee and her team document the lives of those who make ascents of the mountain possible – both Pakistani porters and Nepalese Sherpas. This documentary depicts the everyday sacrifices of the porters and the courage of those indigenous climbers who choose to scale K2 again and again in spite of past tragedies. In their striving to perfect their craft, these mountaineers provide a fresh look into the cultures and national traditions of Pakistan, a country typically portrayed in the foreign media as merely a land of conflict and sectarian strife.