They went inside mountains of ice in 1986 and filmed it on ACTUAL FILM. Madlads.
Caves of Glass is a documentary from director Sid Perou's Realm of Darkness series, focusing on the ice caves of the Austrian Tennengebirge Alps, including the Eisriesenweld and Eiskogelhöhle. It features Austrian speleologist Fritz Oedl, Belgian speleologist Guy Meauxsoone, and Ian "Tommo" White of the Northern Caving Community. First broadcast on Channel 4 on February 15, 1986, it won a Special Mention at the 5th Barcelona International Festival of Esoteric Cinema that same year.
Cinematography
16mm film inside ice caves — every frame is a miracle.
Practical Effects
Zero CGI, real ropes, real hypothermia risk.
Director
Sid Perou
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Sid Perou shot this on 16mm film with battery-powered lights that could fail at any moment. The 'Esoteric Cinema' festival win makes perfect sense — this is barely a documentary, it's a séance with ice.
The 'Realm of Darkness' series basically invented extreme sports filmmaking before GoPros existed. Perou's crew hauled 40kg of equipment through crevasses so you could watch from your sofa.
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