There’s a haunting quality to Ecuadorian Oscar submission “Behind the Mist,” Sebastián Cordero’s intimate documentary on scaling Mount Everest. On one hand, Cordero’s twinning of mountaineering and filmmaking reveals spiritual similarities to both endeavors. On the other hand, his visual texture reveals hidden layers through its lo-fi aesthetic — one that emerges by necessity, given the harsh conditions — resulting in images that feel introspective about their own creation.

Cordero’s main subject is Iván Vallejo, the first Ecuadorian to reach Everest’s peak — without the help of Pxygen too. After achieving this feat in 1999 (and again in 2001), Vallejo hopes to commemorate his climb by returning to the top of the world in 2019. Naturally, he invites Cordero along to document him, but the filmmaker and the mountain maverick have opposing ideas of what the movie should be.

This search ends up taking philosophical form, as the “Europa Report” director...