Four Italian climbers walk into an Algerian desert still bleeding from civil war. Nobody's laughing.
In March 2002, the Italian climbers of the Ragni di Lecco group embarked on an expedition across the Algerian Sahara. Mario Conti, Simone Pedeferri, Marco Vago and Massimo Bosetti, during a long journey, completed numerous ascents: Ihaghen, Adaouda, Tizouyag Sud, Dôme de l'Éléphant (Tesnou mountain range) and around thirty new boulders, including La Gazelle (7b) and Le Guépard (7c). But the main objective was the opening of a new climbing route on the face of Garet El Djenoun, in the Tefedest mountain range. The 400-meter route, named "Mariolino Fotonico", has 13 pitches (8 new, plus 3 spans with "Mosquitoes" and 2 with a "Voie des Espagnoles" from 1985), with a maximum difficulty of 8a/A1. This film has a special significance, as it is the first film of the rebirth of the Ragni group, after the 90s marked by tragedy, and at the same time the end of the tragic black decade in Algeria which raged between 1992 and 2002.
Cinematography
Sahara light that makes suffering look almost holy
Direction
Climbers filming themselves with zero vanity
Production
Made in active conflict zone with diplomatic patience
Director
Massimo Bosetti
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Tefedest range was virtually unclimbed by Westerners during the black decade; this expedition coincided with the 2002 amnesty that technically ended the civil war, making their presence politically loaded.
Mariolino Fotonico was nicknamed after a beloved late Ragni member—every bolt they placed was effectively a memorial service disguised as sport climbing.
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