Preceded by: Stonedance (Peter Brown, Russ Matthews, U.S., 1995). A soaring portrait of two solo climbers, Yabo and John Bachar, whose differing styles pitched cool control against flailing energy. (23 mins, 16mm, From the directors) Rock climbing is about one thing: that moment when the rush of physical exertion meets the geological indifference of the wall. Filmed on the ever-formidable Nose, Padula's classic El Capitan captures those heightened moments through a stunning mix of majestic mountainscapes and intimate tableaux of three climbers, Gary Colliver, Richard McCracken, and Lito Tejada-Flores, pressing on along the monumental granite. This lyrical glimpse of mountaineering does wonders with scale and emotion. In one gripping sequence, Lito arcs back and forth in a pendulum belay, reaching desperately for a handhold. You can see his straining face, feel the draining effort. Exhausted, he retreats to a ledge. Shown now from a distance, he is a dazed speck, dwarfed by the sheer face. In another instance, a spectacular full moon silhouettes the climbers on a sheer face that seems utterly without end. A world that is half vertiginous space and half implacable rock, El Capitan brings you to the summit, dizzy and euphoric.-Steve Seid