Although Richard Hawking has a well-known surname, as his name suggests, the reason why he became famous is not science, but being a living witness of one of the most striking mountaineering stories in human history. Hawking is the name next to Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who survived the legendary disaster that took place on Peru's Siula Grande Mountain in 1985 and was imminent to result in death; However, his role has appeared mostly in retellings and documentary adaptations of this event. Touching the Void, produced in 2003, is a documentary film that brings to the big screen one of the most tragic and at the same time most inspiring moments in the history of mountaineering. This production, directed by Kevin Macdonald, is adapted from Joe Simpson's memoir of the same name and brings together the witnesses of the period and the people involved in the incident. Hawking also appears as himself in this documentary and contributes to adding realism to the texture of the film. Touching the Void has received great attention from both critics and audiences and has been accepted as one of the strongest examples of documentary cinema. In 2004, Hawking appeared as himself in two additional productions that were the continuation of this universe, namely the short documentaries Touching the Void: Return to Siula Grande and Touching the Void: What Happened Next, and continued to convey his testimonies from that period. These productions can be considered as complementary works that feed the interest created by the original documentary and examine different dimensions of the story. Although Hawking's screen career was limited to these productions, taking part in a documentary that marked his period, such as Touching the Void, ensured that his name gained a permanent place in the history of mountaineering and documentary cinema.