SYNOPSIS
A documentary about American and Bolivian women's strength to move beyond domestic violence. As a testimony to overcoming difficult ordeals using strength and support, seven women set out from San Francisco to climb a 20,000-foot peak in the Bolivian Andes. They discover their Bolivian counterparts face an uphill battle of their own, lacking a single shelter in La Paz, the capital of more than 1 million inhabitants. But three local activists prove resilient and resourceful, on the issues as much as on the snowy trek. Beset by winter storms and altitude sickness, braving the failure and fatalities of other teams on the mountain, the Women With Altitude go for the summit with the Bolivian mindset of Querer es Poder—If there's a will, there's a way.

CREATIVE TEAM
Sarah Vaill (Director, Writer, Producer) is a freelance writer for foundations, film, and television, based in Los Angeles, California. Currently she consults for V-Day, the foundation arm of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, developing grassroots networks in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa working to end violence against women. A set of Sarah’s original MONOLOGUES was commissioned by the Women’s Funding Network to celebrate their 20th Anniversary in 2005. Bilingual in Spanish and English, Sarah was the Global Fund for Women's Program Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean from 1997-2000. There, she co-produced WHERE THE ROAD ENDS AND THE WALKING BEGINS, a documentary of the Africa Outreach Initiative in 1999. Active in Docu-Link and the International Documentary Association, she recently completed UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting with a television pilot and 3 feature film scripts.

Arthur Yee (Director of Photography) received a BA in Broadcasting at San Francisco State University, and is today an award-winning Cinematographer specializing in documentary productions. His work has aired on AMC, A&E, FOX, MSNBC, HISTORY Channel, NASA, National Geographic Channel, PBS, NBC News, TLC and TechTV. Among his most recent documentaries are DOWN IN A HOLE, THE THIRD MONDAY IN OCTOBER, and AGING OUT - a national PBS series about the foster care system funded by the Annie Casey Foundation and Executive Produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Roger Weisberg (Sound and Fury) and Vanessa Roth. See the complete range of his work at www.decemberpictures.com.