In the Shadow of Karakorum

In 1954, a German-Austrian expedition led by Mathias Rebitsch set off for the difficult-to-access Karakoram Mountains, geographically north of the Himalayas. They come across the Hunza, a people who live in the valley of the same name and believe they are descended from the soldiers of Alexander the Great. The documentary conveys impressions of the poor life of the Hunza people, the harvest, a court hearing, festivals and the children's everyday school life. Finally, the expedition sets off again and sets up its main camp on the moraine ridge of a glacier, where they measure the glacier and the earth's magnetic field. Finally, some men from the research community set off for a sub-peak of Batura.

• Eugen SchuhmacherWriter
• Mathias RebitschWriter
• Eugen SchuhmacherDirector
• Erich BenderOriginal Music Composer

• Ernst Fritz FürbringerSelf - Narrator [West Germany & Austria] (voice)
• Otto MelliesSelf - Narrator [East Germany] (voice)
• Mathias RebitschSelf - Expedition Leader
• Wolfgang PillewizerSelf - Scientific Director
• Paul BernettSelf - Expedition Doctor
• Anderl HeckmairSelf - Expedition Member
• Karl HecklerSelf - Expedition Member (†)
• Gerhard KlamertSelf - Expedition Member
• Dolf MeyerSelf - Expedition Member
• Karl Heinz PfaffenSelf - Expedition Member
• Hans-Jochen SchneiderSelf - Expedition Member
• Karl WienertSelf - Expedition Member