“the real climb is the one That happens in your mind, in the stories you tell yourself about who you have to be.”

— Shelby Cude

Night sky with the Milky Way galaxy visible, silhouetted trees, tents, and a distant mountain (Meru) with city lights of Moshi and Arusha below. Shot atop Shira Camp on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Five climbers. Twenty-eight porters. One impossible weight to carry.

POLE POLE follows Shelby Cude, a high-achieving Live multi-camera director, as she escapes her burnout by documenting a Kilimanjaro expedition—but what begins as a favor for a friend's non-profit becomes an intimate reckoning with her father Donnie's death by suicide. Carrying her father's ashes and a camera, Shelby climbs alongside four strangers and twenty-eight Tanzanian porters and guides, discovering that the greatest journey isn't to the summit, but learning to let go of the guilt she's carried since childhood. When their lead guide falls dangerously ill and refuses help—mirroring her father's final years—Shelby must choose between the control she's always craved and the acceptance she's always needed. On Kilimanjaro, there's only one way up: pole pole—slowly, slowly. It's a lesson about more than just altitude.

Group of four hikers ascending a rocky trail in a forested area with sunlight streaming through the trees.

Why this story matters

POLE POLE is a documentary about grief, but it refuses to be precious about it. It's about mental health and suicide, but it doesn't lecture. It's about adventure, but the real mountain is internal. It's about privilege and perspective—five Westerners chasing meaning, supported by twenty-eight Tanzanians doing the unsung work that makes transformation possible.

The title itself becomes the film's thesis: in a culture that glorifies hustle, speed, and constant achievement, pole pole is a radical act. Slowness as survival. Patience as strength. Accepting help as courage.

But there's also something particularly powerful about this being a daughter's story. Shelby carries a specific kind of guilt—the guilt of the child who tried to save a parent, who believed that being good enough, perfect enough, vigilant enough could prevent tragedy. This is a story many daughters of troubled fathers will recognize: the hypervigilance, the perfectionism, the belief that love and effort should be enough to save someone.

Meet the Cast

  • Shelby Carol Cude

    Live Multi-Camera Director & Photographer

    A woman with a camera takes pictures of a sunset or sunrise at a campsite on a mountainside, with tents and other people visible in the background.

  • Aleya Littleton, MA, LPC, NMI

    Adventure Therapist

    A smiling woman with braided hair, wearing a gray cap, blue shirt, and backpack, standing on a trail with a trekking pole in a forested area. Two other hikers are visible in the background.

  • Anne Fabricius, DMD, FACP

    Board-Certified Prosthodontist

    Person in red winter jacket and blue hat smiling outdoors at sunrise or sunset, in snowy terrain.

  • Zachary Miller

    Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician – U.S. Air Force

    A man in outdoor hiking gear standing on a large rock with a cloudy sky and some greenery in the background, holding a backpack strap, with hiking poles leaning against the rock beside him.

  • Heather Benton, MA, LPC

    Mountaineer - Mental Health Advocate

    A woman standing outdoors on a balcony with crossed arms, smiling, wearing a navy blue t-shirt and a baseball cap, with a background of green trees and a cloudy sky.

  • Tom Kwai

    Lead Guide

    Man with a large blue backpack, sunglasses, and a gray t-shirt hiking on rocky terrain outdoors.

  • Mohammad Hemed

    Assistant Guide

    A man smiling outdoors, wearing a beige cap, dark jacket, and carrying a teal backpack, with a rocky and plant-filled background.

  • Salim Mbaga

    Assistant Guide

    A man with dark skin, wearing a gray cap with a Brooklyn Nets logo, a blue Zambian sports jersey, carrying a large gray backpack, hiking outdoors on a rocky trail.

  • Yusuf Ngaina

    Owner of Plains to Peaks

    A man sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, smiling at the camera, wearing a beige shirt and cap, with a green outdoor background.

acclimatization:

the process or result of becoming accustomed to a new climate or to new conditions.

DSC_4743 Large.jpeg
People seated inside a sheltered viewing area at a park, looking toward a hillside with trees and visitors near a large, open gate.
Group of hikers walking through a foggy, lush green forest on a muddy trail.
Group of four hikers walking along a rocky trail in a foggy, mountainous landscape, some carrying backpacks and one using an umbrella.
Group of hikers walking in a line on a trail on a mountainous landscape with clouds in the sky.
A woman sitting at a wooden dining table, smiling and talking, while being filmed by a person using a professional camera and wearing headphones in a cozy, well-lit kitchen with large windows and houseplants.
Three yellow tents set up on a rocky, volcanic landscape with more tents and small structures in the background under cloudy skies.
Five people on a rooftop patio, four women and one man, wearing matching navy blue shirts and caps, with a backdrop of green trees and cloudy sky.
Campgrounds on a mountain slope at sunset with a mountain in the background and clouds below, and several people walking around the tents.