Expanding on his 2018 Hot Docs Best International Short Documentary award-winner Haunted, filmmaker Christian Einshøj focuses this sensitive self-portrait on the men in his family and the devastating tragedy that led to the distance between them. Using home videos and photographs, and a 1,600-kilometre Arctic Circle road trip, he maps the terra incognita of their loss in the hopes of opening up a dialogue. The Einshøj archive, intended to preserve the milestones and memories of childhood, is repurposed to confront the past, express buried emotions and settle stillborn disputes. It takes courage to go where you’ve never gone before, and this tender and humorous film about male communication and closeness does the work of superheroes to salvage the bonds between brothers, and between father and sons. The Mountains is mediated through a brilliant voiceover and the camera itself, its lens and zoom, its images and editing, and acts as a literal coping mechanism to confess grief and dismantle time.

Angie Driscoll
Programmer, Hot Docs