Garnbret, Stražar, Tomazin and Manang at the 16th Mountain Film Festival...

Garnbret, Stražar, Tomazin and Manang at the 16th Mountain Film Festival.
The upcoming 16th Mountain Film Festival, which also features the Alpine Association of Slovenia in its program, will open on February 14 in Ljubljana and Radovljica with the film Stena - Ascent to Gold, which also unveils the story of Slovenian Olympic champion Janja Garnbret. In Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, lectures will be delivered by Luka Stražar, Slovenia's most successful alpinist multiple times over, and alpinist, Himalayan climber, and doctor Iztok Tomazin, who will present the book Na meji. At the festival, we will also raffle the long-awaited monograph Z znanjem do zvezd: Slovenian School for Nepalese Mountain Guides.

The 16th Mountain Film Festival, taking place from February 14 to 19 in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Mestni kino Domžale, Linhartova dvorana in Radovljica, and Mestni kino Metropol in Celje, brings the latest world mountaineering film production this year as well. Mountain enthusiasts can look forward to 29 films, three lectures, and two themed discussions.

The festival will ceremonially open on February 14 in Ljubljana and Radovljica at 8 p.m. with the documentary film Stena - Ascent to Gold, the Olympic story of four elite climbers, including our Olympic champion Janja Garnbret, with a conversation with her enhancing the opening screening in Ljubljana. Since it is already sold out, there will be an additional screening in Cankarjev dom on February 15 at 3 p.m. The first lady of sport climbing is also the main protagonist of the film Janja Garnbret - Perfect Season, which will be shown in Ljubljana on February 16, and the next day in Domžale and Celje.

Alpinist and mountain guide Luka Stražar will take the audience through his search for balance and ascents from the past period on his lecture - from local walls through the magnificent granite of the central Alps all the way to the Himalayas and the first ascent route on Tsoboje. Alpinist, Himalayan climber, mountain rescuer, and doctor Iztok Tomazin will present smuggling and other border-related stories in the mountains from Karavanke to Himalayas along with the book Na meji, while alpinist Ivan Rejc will revive memories of the 40th anniversary of the first Primorska expedition to Aconcagua, on which they climbed the first ascent Yugoslav Route with brothers Podgornik and Zlatko Gantar.

The Slovenian School for Nepalese Mountain Guides will be in the spotlight with the release of the monograph Z znanjem do zvezd, dedicated to Aleš Kunaver and all instructors and doctors who have selflessly and voluntarily realized the noble idea of training Nepalese locals for 40 years. Romarke, three exceptional young women - Maruša Orel, Hana Geder, and Jera Musič -, will share their impressions and insights from long-distance hiking trails at a conversational evening. At the festival stand in Cankarjev dom, Planinska založba and Planinski vestnik will also offer mountaineering literature and guidebooks at promotional prices.

Luka Stražar: In Search of Balance (Cankarjev dom, February 14 at 17:30)
Alpinist and mountain guide Luka Stražar, also recipient of two golden ice axes (in 2012 for the Dreamers of Golden Caves route with Nejc Marčič on K7 West and in 2019 for the ascent of Latok 1 with Aleš Česna and Tom Livingstone), will take us through ascents from the past period - from local walls, through the magnificent granite of the central Alps, all the way to the Himalayas. How his perception of alpinism and view of his own abilities are shaped in the game of seeking balance will be shared by this representative of the current generation of alpinists through more prominent stories, such as the recent ascent of the first ascent Slovenian Direct on the Himalayan six-thousander Tsoboje and the famous Divine Providence route on Mont Blanc.

Stena - Ascent to Gold (Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana and Linhartova dvorana, Radovljica, February 14 at 20:00 & Cankarjev dom, February 15 at 15:00)
Four top climbers: Janja Garnbret, Shauna Coxsey, Brooke Raboutou, and Miho Nonaka fight for an Olympic ticket, but then the Olympics are postponed by one year due to the covid-19 epidemic. The young women had to face their psychological and physical demons, and the film provides an astonishing insight into the life of an Olympian while also revealing what it really means to be human.

Janja Garnbret: Perfect Season (Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, February 16 at 17:30 & Mestni kino Domžale and Mestni kino Metropol, Celje, February 17 at 17:30)
REEL ROCK visited Janja Garnbret and her home region, where they tried to uncover her secrets and create an intimate portrait of the young champion who entered history as the first climber to win all competitions in a World Cup bouldering season.

Iztok Tomazin: Na meji - Smuggling and Border Stories from Karavanke to Himalayas (Cankarjev dom, February 17 at 20:00)
The book Na meji is a collection of smuggling and other mountain border-related stories from Karavanke to Himalayas, from tragic post-war events in the Karavanke, to tense smuggling by a young alpinist in home mountains under the worst possible conditions, and later border adventures in the world's highest ranges, enriched with numerous reflections and rich photographic material. Tomazin's stories seem particularly relevant in the period of corona restrictions, refugee and migrant crises, and other social changes, but otherwise, as a pioneer of free climbing in Slovenia, alpinist and Himalayan climber, mountain rescuer and doctor, he chronicles his own and some foreign illegal crossings of geographical borders as well as explorations and transcendences of personal borders and limitations.

Z znanjem do zvezd: Slovenian School for Nepalese Mountain Guides (Cankarjev dom, February 18 at 17:30)
The bilingual monograph Z znanjem do zvezd: Slovenian School for Nepalese Mountain Guides, edited by Mojca Volkar Trobevšek and published by Planinska založba, is dedicated to the implementer of the noble idea of training Nepalese locals Aleš Kunaver and numerous instructors and doctors who have selflessly and voluntarily given their knowledge, experience, and time for 40 years, contributing their piece to making Nepal today a touristically developed country with excellently trained guides and top alpinists who independently pass on their knowledge to new generations. On the occasion of the book release, there will be a book presentation and conversation with the creators at the festival.

The full program of the 16th Mountain Film Festival can be viewed on the festival website www.gorniski.si.