Leo Dickinson Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography
Leo Dickinson
Directing
Biography
Leo Dickinson, born in 1946 in Lancashire, UK, is a British cameraman, director and adventurer. He attended Rossall Public School, during which time he took up climbing in the Lake District and North Wales. He spent his first alpine season in the Dolomites in 1966 and in 1970 gained his first film backing with Yorkshire TV which resulted in an award winning film Out of the Shadows into the Sun - The First Filmed Ascent of the 'Eiger. Dickinson is married to award-winning cameraman and adventurer Mandy. Mandy has helped on Leo's films since 1981, and in 1989 became British Skydiving Champion and is now a commercial balloon pilot working for Virgin. He directed 68 films, winning all the major mountain and adventure film awards. Dickinson specializes in mountain, hot air balloon, skydiving and underwater films. During his mountaineering career, Dickinson filmed ascents on a number of mountains including Mount Everest, Cima Grande di Laveredo, Civetta, Piz Badille, Matterhorn North Face, Eiger North Face, Cerro Torre, Torre Egger, and in 1991 he filmed the first-ever hot air balloon ride over Everest. Dickinson is the author of three books detailing the stories of his career: Filming the Impossible, Anything is Possible and Ballooning over Everest. Leo Dickinson is renowned for his use of unique camera angles and holds several world records, including skydiving from the highest platform in the world (on Everest). Dickinson is an avid skydiver, having made over 3,500 jumps, and holds numerous records, including skydiving with the most naked women at a time.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Everest Unmasked
Record of the first ascent of Everest made without the use of oxygen equipment, made in May 1978 by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Could it be done? Would their blood vessels burst? Would they suffer brain damage leading to madness? Nobody was sure. Messner: 'I would never come here for trying Everest with oxygen. That is not a challenge for me.' A fascinating piece of history, well filmed by Leo Dickinson and Eric Jones (above the South Col Messner used a cine camera to continue the filming), featuring Messner and Habeler's thoughts. The film follows the usual sequence from Namche to Base Camp, through the Icefall, to Camps I, II and III. It also shows historical footage of the pioneering Mallory and Shipton expeditions.
Matterhorn - The North Face In Winter
The first filmed winter ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn. To set the scene, the tragic story of Edward Whymper's first ascent is skillfully pieced together. The modern expedition, a team of three British climbers, is also plagued with epics: Eric Jones is hit by an avalanche and can only come to a dangerous stop at the edge of a 1000 foot drop. Then the worst storm ever recorded in Zermatt hits the Matterhorn. With time and weather against them, the team is forced to climb in the dark as thunderstorms rumble around them. This adventure captures the skill and courage of the climbers, their agony and tension, and the beauty of the assault on this spectacular mountain. Grand Prize at the Les Diablerets festival (Switzerland) in 1976.
Faszination Bergfilm - Himmelhoch und Abgrundtief
A fascinating chronology of 100 years of mountain film history in the Alps. This documentary focuses primarily on films shot on the Matterhorn, the Eiger, and the Grandes Jorasses, considered until the 1930s as the "last problems of the Alps," and shows the evolution of mountain filmmaking through numerous excerpts from documentaries and feature films – notably on the Matterhorn in 1901. The genre, appropriated as a means of mass exaltation by "fascist" regimes during the Second World War, was reinvented in the 1950s by Gaston Rebuffat, Marcel Ichac, and Lionel Terray in the Mont Blanc massif, avant-garde figures of French mountain cinema, who reintroduced, beyond performance, the values of the mountains – and in color – poetry, humor, and sharing among people from all walks of life.
Production
Everest Unmasked
Record of the first ascent of Everest made without the use of oxygen equipment, made in May 1978 by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Could it be done? Would their blood vessels burst? Would they suffer brain damage leading to madness? Nobody was sure. Messner: 'I would never come here for trying Everest with oxygen. That is not a challenge for me.' A fascinating piece of history, well filmed by Leo Dickinson and Eric Jones (above the South Col Messner used a cine camera to continue the filming), featuring Messner and Habeler's thoughts. The film follows the usual sequence from Namche to Base Camp, through the Icefall, to Camps I, II and III. It also shows historical footage of the pioneering Mallory and Shipton expeditions.
Extreme Rock
In 1984 Ron Fawcett, is one of the most athletic climbers, he takes pleasure in taking up the challenge of climbing "free" without artificial aids, the equipment and rope being used only for safety, a revolution at the time. The documentary is part of "Pushing The Limits", a 10-episode series by Leo Dickinson documenting sporting adventures that push the limits of human endurance. Each episode focused on an extreme sport, ranging from rock climbing to hot air ballooning.
Extreme Rock
In 1984 Ron Fawcett, is one of the most athletic climbers, he takes pleasure in taking up the challenge of climbing "free" without artificial aids, the equipment and rope being used only for safety, a revolution at the time. The documentary is part of "Pushing The Limits", a 10-episode series by Leo Dickinson documenting sporting adventures that push the limits of human endurance. Each episode focused on an extreme sport, ranging from rock climbing to hot air ballooning.
Matterhorn - The North Face In Winter
The first filmed winter ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn. To set the scene, the tragic story of Edward Whymper's first ascent is skillfully pieced together. The modern expedition, a team of three British climbers, is also plagued with epics: Eric Jones is hit by an avalanche and can only come to a dangerous stop at the edge of a 1000 foot drop. Then the worst storm ever recorded in Zermatt hits the Matterhorn. With time and weather against them, the team is forced to climb in the dark as thunderstorms rumble around them. This adventure captures the skill and courage of the climbers, their agony and tension, and the beauty of the assault on this spectacular mountain. Grand Prize at the Les Diablerets festival (Switzerland) in 1976.
Matterhorn - The North Face In Winter
The first filmed winter ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn. To set the scene, the tragic story of Edward Whymper's first ascent is skillfully pieced together. The modern expedition, a team of three British climbers, is also plagued with epics: Eric Jones is hit by an avalanche and can only come to a dangerous stop at the edge of a 1000 foot drop. Then the worst storm ever recorded in Zermatt hits the Matterhorn. With time and weather against them, the team is forced to climb in the dark as thunderstorms rumble around them. This adventure captures the skill and courage of the climbers, their agony and tension, and the beauty of the assault on this spectacular mountain. Grand Prize at the Les Diablerets festival (Switzerland) in 1976.
Dudh Kosi: Relentless River of Everest
In 1976 a British expedition made mountaineering history, becoming the first kayakers to descend the Dudh Kosi river that runs off Mount Everest. High in the Himalayas, and at incredible speed, six Olympic-class canoeists battled with white water over rocks, waterfalls and treacherous whirlpools. As they struggled to negotiate a 30-pound canoe over a river with 30mph waterfalls, the threat of capsizing was ever present.
Dudh Kosi: Relentless River of Everest
In 1976 a British expedition made mountaineering history, becoming the first kayakers to descend the Dudh Kosi river that runs off Mount Everest. High in the Himalayas, and at incredible speed, six Olympic-class canoeists battled with white water over rocks, waterfalls and treacherous whirlpools. As they struggled to negotiate a 30-pound canoe over a river with 30mph waterfalls, the threat of capsizing was ever present.
Dudh Kosi: Relentless River of Everest
In 1976 a British expedition made mountaineering history, becoming the first kayakers to descend the Dudh Kosi river that runs off Mount Everest. High in the Himalayas, and at incredible speed, six Olympic-class canoeists battled with white water over rocks, waterfalls and treacherous whirlpools. As they struggled to negotiate a 30-pound canoe over a river with 30mph waterfalls, the threat of capsizing was ever present.
Dudh Kosi: Relentless River of Everest
In 1976 a British expedition made mountaineering history, becoming the first kayakers to descend the Dudh Kosi river that runs off Mount Everest. High in the Himalayas, and at incredible speed, six Olympic-class canoeists battled with white water over rocks, waterfalls and treacherous whirlpools. As they struggled to negotiate a 30-pound canoe over a river with 30mph waterfalls, the threat of capsizing was ever present.
Remember the Summit
Sir Chris Bonington’s return to Torres del Paine, 62 years after the first ascent of the Central Tower. At 91 years old, and while living with Alzheimer’s disease, the documentary accompanies Bonington in a profoundly human return: an attemp to reconnect with memories that time has erased, but that the Patagonian landscape still seems to guard. During the filming, Chris once again set foot on the territory of Estancia Cerro Guido, closing a circle between past and present, between the epic of mountainneering and the fragility of memory.
Gallery
