Restored Film of an Ill-Fated Mt. Everest Expedition to Show at London Festival

Prakash Mathema/Agence France-Presse â€" Getty Images Mount Everest, center.

A newly restored version of a film documenting an early attempt to climb Mount Everest will be shown as part of this year’s BFI London Film Festival, the British Film Institute announced on Tuesday. “The Epic of Everest,” directed by the British explorer Capt. John Noel, followed the 1924 expedition led by George Mallory, in which both Mallory and another climber, Andrew Irvine, died.

It remains unknown whether Mallory and Irvine  made it to Everest’s summit before they disappeared â€" if they did, they would have beaten Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by nearly 30 years. The 1924 attempt was the third British-led expedition to Everest. Noel also filmed and photographed the second expedition, in 1922. For the 1924 effort, according to a report in The Times, Noel used four cameras, aiming to capture “the fascination of those secluded, lofty, divinely beautiful mountains of Tibet and the implacable majesty of the supreme mountain herself.”

In a statement, Robin Baker, the film institute’s head curator, said “The Epic of Everest” portrayed “a key moment in the history of mountaineering and remains an enduring monument to Mallory and Irvine.” After the Oct. 18 premiere of the restoration at the festival, “The Epic of Everest” will also be released in British theaters. The restoration includes a new score composed by Simon Fisher Turner, who will perform it live at the premiere. The BFI London Film Festival runs  Oct. 9 to Oct. 20.