Big Screen Live

Touching the Void tells the extraordinary story of two British climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who attempt the west face of Siula Grande in Peru. Hampered by snowstorms on their descent, Simpson fell through a hole masked by a snow drift and, still attached to Yates by rope and with a severely broken leg, was hanging in mid-air over a precipice. Yates cut the rope so at least one of them would survive. Simpson, by some miracle, also survived and, despite terrible injuries, crawled to safety. The story, of life-changing decisions and incredible survival against the odds, captivated the world and Simpson’s book on his experience became a best-seller.

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Composer Alex Heffes and producer Tommy Pearson brought Touching the Void – Live In Concert to the Barbican Hall, London for the premiere in 2017. In a pre-concert talk, Joe Simpson was joined on stage by director Kevin Macdonald, producer John Smithson and Heffes to discuss the making of the film.

 

Heffes’s music enhanced both the beauty of the landscape and the visceral pain of the experience onscreen ensuring a captivating evening and a chance to see the Bafta-winning film on the big screen again.

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Touching the Void is rights-owned by Film Four and licensed by Big Screen Live/Alex Heffes.