Beyond the PeaK

Director’s Statemnt

“When we first met in 2016, I was immediately intrigued by David's story about this mountain climbing club he had started five years prior, following the death of his younger brother. It was compelling, hearing about the experiences he had in the years following. How his individual journey would evolve into this tradition he now wanted to document comprehensively. I was admittedly perplexed at first. I didn't quite relate to these guys who seemed to be making this tremendous effort to climb mountains in order to pray to God. Yet I still understood.

There was some greater meaning to it all. I understood my own experience in nature, these pure moments in time where I am able to reach a beautiful state of serenity.

I had never camped nor climbed a mountain until I shot this movie - and during these days I spent with David, I underwent my own challenges; hurdles I'd have to overcome so I could truly be open to the experience of these wonders found in our natural world.

In that high elevation with the Mountain Men of Indianapolis, I filled with this warm enlightenment from the calmness the mountains instilled in me. However, it wasn’t until 2020 while filming pick-ups for the movie that I finally understood the reason behind the personal sacrifices the brotherhood anxiously make to climb mountains.

Climbing a mountain is a metaphor for climbing the spiritual mountain's within us. Life is a long journey with its struggles and its victories but we have to walk through life. The spiritual climb towards God is a continuous journey, of prayer, self sacrifice, and loving your fellow brothers and sisters. David and his club use these climbs as a way to cleanse their souls through the struggle and enlightenment of the climb.”