Patrice de Bellefon : Itinéraire d’un guide engagé – a film by Laurence Fleury.
In the presence of Patrice de Bellefon, the protagonist of the documentary and Laurence Fleury the director.
Patrice de Bellefon made a name for himself in the 1960s with his exploits, his outbursts and his book “Les 100 plus belles courses dans les Pyrénées” (“The 100 most beautiful races in the Pyrenees”).
He was one of the first mountain guides to offer expeditions to remote mountain ranges. He created Gypaaile, the first brand of paragliders in the Pyrenees. He was behind the inclusion of the Mont Perdu massif on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Without denying the conquering sport of his youth, Patrice de Bellefon has gradually moved away from it to take a greater interest in the people and valleys of the Pyrenees. His philosophical reflections, his critical mind and his sensitivity to ecology led him to modify his relationship with the high mountains, to the point of giving up “crossing an ocean and an entire continent to climb a ridge of snow and rock, however beautiful it may be”
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This film retraces the journey of this hyperactive mountaineer and “standing wind” who, at 87, continues to be indignant, write, publish, paint and run the summits with an incredible rage for life.
