Competition film screenings

180° South
directed by: Chris Malloy
USA, ‘85

The film is a reconstruction of an expedition that took place in 1968. Back then Yvon Chouinard, the founder of ‘Patagonia’, and Doug Tomkins, who established ‘The North Face’, set out to ascend a volcanic Cerro Carcovado in South America. Nowadays the feat will be repeated by Jeff Johnson, a contemporary hippie, climber and surfer, backed up in his attempt by the two ‘forefathers’.

Alpy Bertchesgadeńskie (Die Bertchesgadener Alpen)/The Bertchesgadener Alps

directed by: Jan Haft
music: Jörg Magnus Pfeil
Germany 2011, ‘43

This film is a journey from the Lake Königssee up to the peak of mighty Watzmann ( 2713 m), in Germany’s only Alpine National Park. The rocks of these mountains tell a story from a time when everything was covered by a huge ocean. There are remote places where hardly anyone ever passes by. We will see animals and plants which adapted perfectly to this beautiful habitat.

Azadi: Freedom
directed by: Anthony Bonello
Canada 2010, ‘27

The film is set in the disputed region of Kashmir, an area deemed  ‘the most dangerous place in the world’ during the violent militant insurgency of the 1990’s. The director and his crew find an aesthetically beautiful landscape and  people eager to restore ‘ a paradise on earth’ in Kashmir. Through beautiful cinematography, interviews, animation and quiet pauses, this backcountry ski film will give you a greater understanding of one of the most negatively publicized region on the planet.

Nuit Blanche/Sleepless Night
directed by: Samuel Tilman
music: Pierre de Surgères
Belgium 2010, ‘20

As night falls, a party of mountain climbers is trapped outside by a violent storm. A rescue patrol is dispatched but until it arrives their only lifeline is Serge, a mountain rescue policeman whom Ariane, one of the climbers contacts on her mobile. Serge tries to reassure mountaineers over the phone and help them fight off the cold. But the storm is raging and Serge gradually realizes that he may not see them through the night.

Riegler Brothers
directed by: Eduardo Gelner
Austria 2010, ‘26

A portrayal of two mountaineering brothers who could not be more different. Florian is a farmer who works in their parents’ vineyard while Martin is a student of architecture, a carpenter who is keen on playing the saxophone and bass guitar. However, both of them share one passion – climbing.

Carnia Monte Rosa – il mio mito è Sylvain Saudan/Carnia Monte Rosa – My Legend about Sylvain Saudan
directed by: Giampaolo Penco
Italy 2010, ‘30

Sylvain Saudan (62), the father of extreme skiing, dubbed ‘Skier of the Impossible’ is a living legend. His two younger colleagues Luciano de Crignis (47) and Fabio Iaccini (30) are going to repeat his feat and ski down the entire Marinelli Couloir on the east face of Monte Rosa. Will they succeed?

Fjord
directed by: Skule Eriksen
music: Øistein Boassen
Norway 2009, 24’

This highly acclaimed film is the author’s personal story about the Naerøyfjord in Norway. It is a meditation on the beauty of nature and the change of seasons.

Flirting with Heights
directed by: Jean-Michel Bertrand
France 2010, ‘75

Hidden under a rock or still in his shed, Jean-Michel Bertrand tries to disappear. Only patience and discretion will allow magic to happen. This film is the result of several years of shooting, essentially in the region of  Champsaur, in the Alps. The native valley of the director becomes his home again. Each day is an occasion to melt into the landscape, to watch and understand nature.  His first quest is to see the eagle, to find its nest, to follow it and live with it without being seen.

Le Nid/The Nest
directed by: Antoine Boisselier, Christophe Tong, Nicolas Assael
France 2010 , 52’

Once upon a time there was a group of kids who clung to their childhood dream as they got older. Hang gliding, paragliding, speedriding, speedflying, BASE jumping… adventure flies on its own wings as the seasons change. Take a closer look at their story, their way of life, their feats and you can safely assume that they’re humans with birds rising.

Holtanna, l’aventure antarctique/Holtanna – Antarctic Adventure
directed by: Sam Beaugey
France, 52’

In the heart of the Antarctic, at the foot of the Holtanna mountain range, in the land of Queen Maud, four adventurers, all mountain professionals, are attempting to make the first base jump on the continent.
Amongst them are a professional snowboarder and base jumper, a guide and Himalayan specialist, a skier and base jumper, and a polar expedition guide and base jumper.
In extreme conditions, with temperatures hitting -40 degrees, they will be left on their own for two months on the ice cap, waiting for the right weather conditions in which to climb the gigantic granite cliffs. An extraordinary human and sporting adventure, in the grandiose and frozen landscapes of a still unspoilt continent.

Raclette Kirghiz
directed by: Sandra Hebler
Switzerland  2010, 23’

Marlene Galetti is a Swiss mountain guide and a cheese maker. On finding out that despite being nomads and herders, the Kirghiz cannot produce cheese, she decides to head for Kyrgyzstan in order to teach people there how to make use of  local milk in order to produce Swiss cheese.

Summer pasture
directed by: Lynn True, Nelson Walker, Tsering Perlo
USA ,‘86

An intimate glimpse into the experiences of a young Tibetan family, struggling to reconcile their traditional way of life with a rapidly modernizing world.

Linea continua
directed by: Hervé Barmasse, Giacomo Bertel, Damiano Levati
Italy  2010, ‘17

Four generations, one sole purpose :going to the mountains in search of adventure, again and again! This is the Barmasse family of Valtournenche: mountaineers, alpinists, explorers and mountain guides. On the 17^th of March, 2010  father and son set off to make a first ascent on  a couloir , which plunges for 1200 meters from Enjambée, towards the base of the South Face of Matterhorn. An old project, attempted 24 years prior by Marco’s father, taken up on this day by Marco and his son, Hervé. A difficult route, defined by some of the greatest alpinists of the 1980s as ‘one of the last logical projects in the Alps’, still remained incomplete in 2010.

Miage
directed by: Edmond Carrère, Pierre Redon
France 2009, ‘53

Tourist industry considerably transformed the life of the inhabitants of Contamines-Montjoie Valley and Haute Savoie in the last fifty years. However, nowadays, when it is not so lucrative any more, it is a time for reflection. Consequently, bitterness begins to emerge. This film is the story about changes, which are sometimes for the worse, about tradition, which people fail to respect and only realise it when it is too late.

Entre Nós/Between Us
directed by Erick Grigorovski
music: Caio Braga
Brasil 2010,  ’14,45

Despite being an experienced climber, Luisa’s father makes a mistake while climbing the big mountain with his daughter. As a result they fall hundreds of meters down, disappearing into mist and trees. Isolated, alone in a chilly rainstorm, Luisa needs to gather all her strength and skills to escape unscathed.

A Little Bit Mongolian
written and directed by: Michael Dillon
Australia 2009, 55’
music: Paul Jarman and Peter Kennard, singers from Gondwana choir and Baatarsukh ansamble (throat singing)

A year ago Angus went to Mongolia on a family vacation . He watched with envy as local children galloped across the wild empty grasslands. Back home in Australia, he started training, riding 25 kms home from school each day. And now he is back in Mongolia. He must find a trainer willing to take him on. He must learn new skills. He must find the courage within himself to become the first foreign boy ever to compete in the big Nadaam Festival horse races. This is the heart-warming story of one boy’s determination to make his dream come true.

Strange Motivation
directed by: Marcin Pius
Poland 2011, ’28

A short story about a short trip to the Tatra mountain. As usual, the weather was bad and the climbing conditions were poor. The only thing which was unusual was the level of motivation. However, it was conditioned by a desperate craving for money and fame. Unfortunately, it ended up with calling out the mountain rescue team.

People of the White House
directed by: Łukasz Gabryelski
Poland 2011, ‘26

Film about Young Polish freeriders.

No Celling – the BaseClimb 3 Story
directed by: Glenn Sinlgeman
music: David Skinner
Australia 2010, ’55

Heather Swan was a divorced working mother with no experience in adventure before she married Glenn Singleman. Glenn is an Emergency Physician, a professional adventurer and an extreme sport film-maker. He holds the world record for the highest BASE jump from the Trango Tower in Pakistan (20 608 ft). Glenn believes that anyone who can overcome their fears and follow a sensible training program could do what he has done. But no one took him seriously until Heather decided to break his world record for BASE jump. This film is about physical, mental and emotional transformation and overcoming fears.

Rescue from the Sky
directed by: Jerzy Porębski
camera: Janusz Dworzaczek, Bartosz Iłowski
music: Royalty Free
Poland  2010, 53’

In the film three people: Tadeusz Augustyniak, Robert Augustyniak and Maciej Gasienica recall the beginnings of  the helicopter mountain rescue in Poland, in the Tatra and Bieszczady mountains, on land and sea.

L’Artigiano Glaciale/Ice  sculptor
directed by: Alberto Meroni
Switzerland  2010, 40’

The glacier is dying. Like so many others throughout the world, seventy years has seen it lose a third of its majesty. The protagonist is the Basodino glacier which, at 3272 metres above the sea level, dominates the Alpine foothills. The film is a week-long trek of discovery and sensation, immersed in the unpredictability of nature.

Sfinga/The Sphinx
directed by: Vojko Anzelic, Gregor Kresal
Slovenia 2011, ‘70
music: Tomaž O. Rous, Siddharta

Triglav is the symbol of Slovenia, and its northern face with the Face of Sphinx is a real challenge for climbers. The film compares the first ascent of this wall with the first free-climb on it. We find out why the Sphinx does not want the climbers to solve the riddle. We also discover  the crucial role which ‘a butcher’, a piton placed in the rock by the first climbers plays.

El tresoro de la gran nieve/The Treasure of the Great Snow
directed by: Carmen Portilla
music: Juan Manuel Cortés
Spain 2009, ’56

In the spring of 2009 Edurne Psaban with the team of TVE’s programme ‘On the Verge of the Impossible’ are heading towards Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. In Kangchen Base Camp Edurne meets Eun Sun from South Korea, who could be the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousand-meter peaks just as Edurne. The documentary shows the hard trek to base camp in the gorgeous scenery of Nepal’s remote east and the progress of the expedition including a lot of Spanish humour. 

Swiss machine
directed by Pete Mortimer, Nick Rosen
USA 2010, ‘19

Ueli Steck may be the greatest speed alpinist the world has ever seen. In this film he tells the stories of his record-breaking ascents in the Alps, accompanied by stunning aerial footage of him racing up 8,000 foot alpine faces. Ueli joins Alex Honnold in Yosemite to attempt speed records there. His ultimate goal: take his one-man alpine speed game to the largest, highest walls in the world.

Святлище грёз/Sanctuary of Dreams
directed by: Siergiej Wołkow
music: Maksym Rudźko
Russia 2009, ’31

This is a movie about  willpower, about freedom and value of  human life.  This is a film about a desire to be in harmony with the world. It shows us how high a man can go, following his principles, regardless of how difficult it could be.

Tchang
directed by: Gonsalo Visedo, Daniel Strömbeck
camera: Aitor Uribarri
music: Paco Prieto
Spain  2010, ‘27

Two Basque mountaineers have an accident on one of the toughest peaks in southern Spain.  Two Spanish Civil Guards from the search and rescue team manage to locate them on an icy ridge. After a daring rescue, the weather turns foul and a strong blizzard forces the four men to seek refuge in a small cave. Surviving this night  will change the life of one of the Basque mountaineers forever.

“The Prophet”
directed by: Alistair Lee
USA 2010, ,43

Following the UK's top big wall climber Leo Houlding as he revisits his 10-year project, an exceptionally steep, loose and difficult route on the east face of Yosemite's El Cap. Leo describes the route as 'the wildest climb I've ever been on'. This has to be seen to be believed, crazy climbing.

Trou de Fer - Želazna diera)Trou the Fer - The Iron Hole
directed by: Pavol Barabás
music: Michal Novinski
Slovakia 2011, ‘56

Trou de Fer (The Iron Hole) is a unique and spectacular natural site located in the middle of the Réunion National Park in the Indian Ocean. Thanks to the volcanic activity and persistent rainfall the ground collapsed and  formed a piece of art which cannot be found elsewhere on our planet. This canyon is Everest among the canyons - only the best of the best are able to abseil into its depths and there is no guarantee that they will manage to get out…

Dolpo Tulku Heimkher in den Himalaya / Dolpo Tulku – Return to the Himalayas
directed by: Martin Hoffmann
music: Hans Christian Oelert
Germany, 2010, 101’

Sherap Sangpo leaves Dolpo and joins a Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu at the age of 10. From then on his life changes dramatically. He is recognized as a reincarnation of a high ranking Tulku and is sent for the next seventeen years to a monastery in South India. But it's time to return to his remote Himalayan region, a place that he has grown distant to. Dolpo is one of the most isolated regions in the world, located in the north-west of Nepal, bordering Tibet. The region has been able to conserve its archaic Buddhist culture. The protagonist has to choose between fulfilling the duties as a reincarnation and developing  an area in the Himalayas, which has been forgotten for the last five hundred years, and which had therefore  the chance to preserve its original Buddhist culture.
 

Up and Down
directed by: Mathias Mayr, Matthias Haunholder, Sascha Schmid
music: Ludwig Heili, Michael Drabosenig     
Austria, Germany, ‘26

Before you go down, you must go up. How? The film shows how one can reach the starting points of the lines. From Ski-Doo to aircraft and helicopters, the free rider’s each mode of transport is right. But the most original of all modes of transport, the ordinary foot  remains, of course, the central theme.

Zapad na istoku/The West in the East
directed by:  Nisvet Hrustić
music: Amer Šehić
Bośnia i Hercegowina/Bosnia-Herzegovina  2010, ‘22

In search of a new relationship with nature, a man tries to construct a house for himself in the woods, doing his best to link up to a distant water source. With few financial resources, he uses timber off-cuts as construction material, conserving the environment, amidst the hilarity of the whole local community. Will he succeed? Will he be able to forget about his urban life and new technologies?

Cold
directed by: Anson Fogel
music: Gustavo Santaolalla
USA 2011,  ‘19

On February 2, 2011, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards became the first  who climbed Gasherbrum II, one of Pakistan’s 8,000 meter peaks in winter! It almost killed him and his partners. Cory filmed the climb as it happened, and filmmaker Anson Fogel has transformed that footage into a raw, unflinching view of humanity at its limits, in the process creating a completely new kind of mountaineering film.