In celebration of her latest film, Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, The Paris Theater is proud to present eleven films from twenty years of remarkable storytelling from the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker. Not content to have her films blend into the traditional documentary landscape, Walker has consistently sought to unearth stories unlike anything filmed before, full of dramatic tension, memorable characters and visual splendor. She has traversed the globe with an adventurer’s spirit to transport us into challenging, inaccessible environments, imbuing her films - both feature length and short subject - with a unique cinematic spirit.
From her debut film, Devil’s Playground, which observes Amish teens experiencing life outside their community for the first time, Walker showed an uncommon ability to earn the trust of her subjects, a skill that would serve her well as she sought out new and exciting stories from people rarely given the spotlight. From the young climbers intent on scaling Mount Everest in Blindsight, to those dealing with the devastating effects of California wildfires in Bring Your Own Brigade, to the Brazilian catadores who collect recyclable materials from the world’s largest garbage dump in her Academy Award-nominated Waste Land, Walker allows us to empathize and find common ground with people far removed from our own every day realities.
Walker’s films also allow us to walk in the shoes of those who have dedicated their lives to exceeding ordinary human limitations. In The Crash Reel, she catalogs the attempted comeback of Olympic athlete Kevin Pearce as he reenters the extreme sport of snowboarding following a traumatic brain injury. And in her latest triumph, Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, she introduces us to the first Nepali woman to summit and descend Mount Everest, Lhakpa Sherpa devoted her life to empowering girls. Now a single mother working at a Whole Foods in Connecticut, she embarks on a dramatic return to the mountain, determined to redeem her life’s purpose and inspire her own daughters.
The ultimate power of Walker’s films lies in their ability to intimately connect us with the grandeur and inspiration taking place around the world everyday; epic in scale, rich and complex in emotion, these films each provide an unforgettable journey not to be missed.
PAST SCREENINGS:
Wednesday, July 24 at 6:00 PM
MOUNTAIN QUEEN: THE SUMMITS OF LHAKPA SHERPA (2024)
Post-screening conversation with Lucy Walker, subjects Lhakpa Sherpa, Sunny Dijmarescu, Shiny Dijmarescu
Friday, August 2 at 7:00 PM
WASTE LAND (2010)
Post-screening conversation with Lucy Walker,
moderated by Thom Powers (Pure Nonfiction)
Exclusive video intro by subject Vik Muniz
Saturday, August 3 at 4:00 PM
THE CRASH REEL (2013)
Post-screening conversation with Lucy Walker,
moderated by Joe Neumaier - Film Critic, WOR Movie Minute
Exclusive video intro by subject Kevin Pearce
Sunday, August 4 at 1:45 PM
BLINDSIGHT (2006)
Sunday, August 4 at 7:00 PM
DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND (2002)
Monday, August 5 at 7:00 PM
LUCY WALKER SHORT FILM SHOWCASE
Thursday, August 8 at 7:00 PM
BRING YOUR OWN BRIGADE (2021)