Swiss athlete Christian ‘Chrigel’ Maurer is considered one of the world’s best paraglider pilots. Growing up in the Bernese Oberland, Chrigel’s passion for flying began when he was just seven years old. At the age of sixteen, he obtained his paragliding licence and decided to turn his passion into a profession. Under the nickname “The Eagle”, Maurer wrote an unforgettable page in the history of the sport, becoming the only person in the world to have won the Red Bull X-Alps, (the world’s toughest paragliding competition) eight times in a row.
The movie “Der Künstler des Himmels” takes us inside Chrigel’s extraordinary journey, not only as an athlete, but as a true artist of the sky. His feats are an act of pure art: a combination of skill and passion that transcends the boundaries of sport. The film questions the importance of art in human life. Is it possible that art, can help to preserve humanity, to evolve its thinking? Can sport itself be an art form? What about flying? Is this not the form of art, understood as self-expression, that human beings most desire?
Maurer’s flight is not just a personal victory, but a declaration of love for nature and its fragile and sublime balance. Each jump is a hymn to the beauty of the world and to the strength of man. As he prepares to defend his title for the ninth time, expectations are high, but Chrigel has always managed to surprise us. Since his first participation, he has always flown beyond the limits, proving that the feat is never just a question of technique, but of art in motion.
The film invites us to reflect on whether or not art can really change the world in any way? What is certain is that art, like sport, has the power to awaken the collective consciousness, transforming our view of the world and ourselves. “Der Künstler des Himmels” presents us with Maurer’s flight as a metaphor for this transformation. He invites us to recognise the art that is hidden in the gesture of flying, in the impulse to always go further. With this film, “Der Künstler des Himmels” hopes that we learn to understand that every form of art, big or small, can contribute to generating new awareness and beauty.
In this aerial portrait of one of the most extraordinary athletes of our time, “Der Künstler des Himmels” urges us to look upwards, to see art in the flight of an eagle and in the spirit of a man who decided to soar higher than anyone else.
