Marcel Ichac (22 October 1906 - 9 April 1994) was a French alpinist, explorer,

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

. Born in Rueil, France, Ichac was one of the first people to introduce

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

in cinema with

Ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A playe ...

for ''Karakoram'' (1936) and released the first French movie in CinemaScope, ''Nouveaux Horizons'' (1953). He also accompanied the French Alpine Club's 1950 expedition that climbed Annapurna, which was led by Maurice Herzog, and include such climbing luminaries as Lionel Terray, Louis Lachenal and Gaston Rébuffat. See Annapurna by Maurice Herzog, pub. E P Dutton & Co., date=1952

Filmography

Ichac directed movies of French explorations during the years 1930–1950.Rège, Philippe (2009
''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors''
Volume 1:515 Scarecrow Press Expeditions he directed include: * ''Karakoram'', the first French expedition in Himalaya,

Karakoram The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under t ...

(1936) * The first documentary film in the world about the

Pilgrimage to Mecca The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...

(1940). * ''A l'Assaut des Aiguilles du Diable'' (1942). * Expeditions of

Jacques-Yves Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

(1948), the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

(1955 : preparatory to the realization of '' The Silent World''), and

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area ...

(1968). * French Polar Expedition in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...

with Paul-Emile Victor (1949). * ''Victoire sur l'Annapurna'', film on the 1950 French Annapurna expedition, with the first 8000m summit being reached by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal). * '' Les Etoiles de Midi'' (1959). Entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. * ''Le Conquérent de l'inutile'' (1967), a film he made about the life of his friend and mountain climber Lionel Terray. Additionally, Ichac captured images of mountain warfare in World War II and the liberation of Torino,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in ''Tempête sur les Alpes'' (1944-1945).

Bibliography

*''A l'assaut des Aiguilles du Diable'' (1945) *''Regards vers l'Annapurna'' (1951) *''Quand brillent les Etoiles de Midi'' (1960)

Awards

* Silver Lion in the

Venice film festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

for ''Karakoram''. * Directed winner of the Prix du documentaire at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

in 1952. * Produced '' An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'' which won Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.

References

External links

Marcel Ichac filmography

Movies of Marcel Ichac

Images of Groenland in 1949 by Marcel Ichac

Marcel Ichac receiving the Prix du Documentaire at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ichac, Marcel French documentary film directors French mountain climbers French explorers French photographers Mountaineering film directors 1906 births 1994 deaths École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni