Marcel Ichac
Encyclopedia
Marcel Ichac was a French alpinist
, explorer, photographer and film director
. Born in Rueil
, France, Ichac was one of the first people to introduce electronic music
in cinema with Ondes Martenot
for Karakoram (1936) and released the first French movie in CinemaScope
, Nouveaux Horizons (1953).
Additionally, Tchac took the images of the highest fights of WWII and the freedom of Torino, Italy
which was titled Tempête sur les Alpes (1944-1945).
Alpinist
Alpinist is a quarterly American magazine focused on mountaineering ascents worldwide. It was originally published out of Jackson, Wyoming and was founded in 2002...
, explorer, photographer and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. Born in Rueil
Rueil-Malmaison
Rueil-Malmaison is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of France. It is located 12.6 kilometers from the center of Paris.-Name:...
, France, Ichac was one of the first people to introduce electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
in cinema with Ondes Martenot
Ondes Martenot
The ondes Martenot , also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales, is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot. The original design was similar in sound to the theremin...
for Karakoram (1936) and released the first French movie in CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, Nouveaux Horizons (1953).
Filmography
Ichac directed movies of French explorations during the years 1930-1950. Expeditions he directed include:- Karakoram, the first French expedition in Himalaya, KarakoramKarakoramThe Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...
(1936) - The first documentary film in the world about the Pilgrimage to Mecca (1940).
- A l'Assaut des Aiguilles du Diable (1942).
- Expeditions of Jacques-Yves CousteauJacques-Yves CousteauJacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water...
to the Mediterranean seaMediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
(1948), the Red SeaRed SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
(1955 : preparation of the realisation of the The Silent WorldThe Silent WorldThe Silent World is a 1956 French documentary film co-directed by the famed French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and a young Louis Malle. The Silent World is noted as one of the first films to use underwater cinematography to show the ocean depths in color...
), and Lake TiticacaLake TiticacaLake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It sits 3,811 m above sea level, making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world...
(1968). - French Polar Expedition in GreenlandGreenlandGreenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
with Paul-Emile VictorPaul-Émile VictorPaul-Émile Victor was a French ethnologist and explorer.Victor was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He graduated from École Centrale de Lyon in 1928. In 1934, he participated in an expedition traversing Greenland...
(1949). - Victoire sur l'Annapurna, film on AnnapurnaAnnapurnaAnnapurna is a section of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes Annapurna I, thirteen additional peaks over and 16 more over ....
being reached as the first 8000m summit reached in 1950 by Maurice HerzogMaurice HerzogMaurice Herzog is a French mountaineer and sports administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, and reached the summit with Louis Lachenal. Upon his return, he wrote a best-selling book about the expedition...
and Louis LachenalLouis LachenalLouis Lachenal , a French climber born in Annecy, Haute-Savoie, was one of the first two mountaineers to climb a summit of more than 8,000 meters. On 3 June 1950, along with Maurice Herzog, he reached the summit of Annapurna I in Nepal at a height of 8,091 m...
). - Les Etoiles de MidiStars at NoonStars at Noon is a 1959 French mountaineering film directed by Jacques Ertaud and Marcel Ichac. It was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival....
(1959). Entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival9th Berlin International Film FestivalThe 9th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 26 to July 7, 1959.-Jury:* Robert Aldrich * Johan Jacobsen* Charles Ford* John Bryan* Ignazio Tranquilli* Shigueo Miyata* Wali Eddine Sameh* O. E...
. - Le Conquérent de l'inutile, a film he made about the life of his friend and mountain climber Lionel TerrayLionel TerrayLionel Terray was a French climber who made many first ascents, including Makalu in the Himalaya and Cerro Fitzroy in the Patagonian Andes ....
(1967).
Additionally, Tchac took the images of the highest fights of WWII and the freedom of Torino, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
which was titled Tempête sur les Alpes (1944-1945).
Awards
- Silver Lion in the Venice film festivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
for Karakoram. - Directed winner of the Prix du documentaire at Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in 1952. - Produced An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge which won and Academy Award for Academy Award for Live Action Short FilmAcademy Award for Live Action Short FilmThis name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...