Genre: Documentary
Actor: Alex Honnold, Cedar Wright, Sasha DiGiulian
Director: Anne Sundberg, Ricki Stern
31. Here to Climb, 2024
There’s no doubt that pro climber Sasha DiGiulian is a fiercely brave and talented woman. And between her early entry into the sport and multiple first female ascents, her journey warrants an equally impressive film. Unfortunately, Here To Climb isn’t that film. It fails to capture DiGiulian’s spark and instead shows us a canned version of the athlete, one who may look appealing in inspirational clips and sponsored commercials, but here looks too guarded and rehearsed to seem authentic. The directors also don’t seem keen on appealing on a non-climbing audience since it doesn’t care to explain much of the jargon used, nor does it take its time to contextualize DiGiulian’s sport and success. The rare time it looks back, like when it introduced Lynn Hill and the major impact she had on rock climbing, is when it actually shines.