The Dawn Wall

The Dawn Wall is a 2017 American-Austrian documentary film directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer about Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson's successful attempt to create the first-ever big wall free climbing route—which they christened The Dawn Wall—on the historic southeast face (The Wall of Early Morning Light) of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, which had hitherto only been ascended by aid climbing techniques first pioneered by Warren Harding who made the first aided ascent of the face in 1970.

The Dawn Wall
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Josh Lowell Peter Mortimer
Starring	Tommy Caldwell Kevin Jorgeson
Cinematography	Brett Lowell
Music by	Adam Crystal
Production companies	Red Bull Media House Sender Films
Distributed by	1091 Pictures
Release date	November 18, 2017 (2017-11-18) (IDFA)
Running time	100 minutes
Countries	United States Austria
Language	English

Release

Reflection of El Capitan in the Merced River with The Dawn Wall illuminated by the early morning light

The film premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam on November 18, 2017.^[1][2]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.7/10.^[3] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[4]

Accolades

Award	Date of Ceremony	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref(s)
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam	November 22, 2017	Audience Award	The Dawn Wall	Nominated	[5]
SXSW Film Festival	March 18, 2018	Audience Award: Documentary Spotlight	The Dawn Wall	Won	[6]
Trento Film Festival	May 6, 2018	Best Mountaineering Film	The Dawn Wall	Won	[7]
		Mario Bello Award	The Dawn Wall	Won
		UIAA Prize	The Dawn Wall	Won
San Francisco Documentary Festival	June 18, 2018	Audience Award: Best Feature	The Dawn Wall	Won	[8]
Melbourne International Film Festival	August 23, 2018	Best Documentary	The Dawn Wall	Fourth place	[9]
		Documentary Audience Award	The Dawn Wall	Nominated
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards	November 11, 2018	Best Cinematography	Brett Lowell	Nominated	[10]
Mountainfilm International Film Festival Graz	November 17, 2018	Grand Prix Graz	The Dawn Wall	Won	[11]
Cinema Eye Honors Awards	January 11, 2019	Outstanding Achievement in Production	Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer, and Philipp Manderla	Nominated	[12]
Producers Guild of America Awards	January 19, 2019	Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures	Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer, and Philipp Manderla	Nominated	[13]
Cinema for Peace Awards	May 7, 2019	International Green Film Award	The Dawn Wall	Nominated	[14]
Sports Emmy Awards	August 11, 2020	Outstanding Long Sports Documentary	The Dawn Wall	Nominated	[15]
		Outstanding Camera Work	Brett Lowell	Nominated

See also

• Free Solo, a 2018 film on Alex Honnold's first free solo of El Capitan in Yosemite
• Meru, a 2015 film on the ascent of the Shark's Fin route on Meru Peak