The first New Zealand film to be nominated for an Academy Award was the 20-minute documentary Snows of Aorangi. It follows an international group of three skiers down Aoraki/Mt Cook, also known as Aorangi. The director, camera operator and editor was a young photographer named Brian Brake, who was then working for the National Film Unit. He later became an internationally renowned stills photographer with the Magnum photo agency. This clip shows the skiers as they reach the lower slopes of the mountain.