Grand Prize of the International Mountain Film Association...

Grand Prize of the International Mountain Film Association.



The jubilee 10th mountain film festival is in full swing – films about alpinism, climbing, adventure, mountain nature and culture are being screened in Ljubljana, Celje, Krško, Ptuj, and this weekend also in Domžale. On the round anniversary, the Slovenian festival hosts a meeting of the International Mountain Film Association, which will award the grand prize for 2016 tomorrow, February 18, to the American production house Sender Films. Today, lectures by this year's guests begin in Cankarjev dom: Kurt Diemberger, Domen Škofic, Jack Tackle and Hazel Findlay.



The 10th mountain film festival on its round jubilee hosts a meeting of the International Mountain Film Association, which every year awards a lifetime achievement award to acclaimed creators of mountain films. This year it goes to Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen and Josh Lowell, the storytellers of Sender Films, who more than anyone else have brought the beauty, adventurous spirit and extraordinary efforts of climbing sport to broad audiences. The list of accolades they have received at numerous festivals around the world is very long, and in the ten-year history of the Mountain Film Festival they have always been present with their latest film production. They have enthralled Slovenian audiences with Prvenstveni vzpon, Po robu, Sam v steni, Švicarski stroj, Točka brez povratka, Napredovanje, Honnold 3.0, Visoka napetost, Vroča punca, Učitelj, Težko težko, Vstaja v Dolini and yesterday's screening Črta na nebu. Almost always they have also taken home some festival award, and thus they are more than deserving recipients of the 2016 grand prize of the International Mountain Film Association. The award ceremony of the International Mountain Film Association for 2016 with screenings of climbing films Visoki in mogočni, Spopad na Peklenskem ranču and Orbayu will be on February 18 at 6 p.m. in Linhart Hall of Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana.



At Slovenia's largest mountain festival, 46 films from around the world about alpinism, climbing, adventure, mountain nature and culture are on display this year, including many award-winners from foreign festivals. The three-member international jury, consisting of the deputy director of the mountain film festival in the Tatras and vice-president of the International Mountain Film Association Gabriela Kühn from Poland, top American alpinist, mountain guide, author and lecturer Jack Tackle, and Slovenian professional musician and climber Marko Brdnik, will name the best films in individual categories (alpinism; climbing; mountains, sport and adventure; mountain nature and culture) on Friday, while the TV Slovenija award winners will be selected by Aleša Valič, Andrej Otovčevič and Andraž Pöschl. The award-winning films will be shown in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana and Metropol City Cinema on Friday, February 19, and in Domžale City Cinema over the weekend, February 20 and 21, 2016.



Austrian alpinist and recipient of the Piolet d'Or lifetime achievement Kurt Diemberger has already arrived in Ljubljana; he stood on his first eight-thousander, Broad Peak, as early as 1957 and is the only living first-ascender of two eight-thousanders (Broad Peak and Dhaulagiri) and the man who last saw Hermann Buhl alive. His lecture Koraki v neznano will be today at 8 p.m. in Linhart Hall of Cankarjev dom. Tomorrow, February 18, the lecturing baton will be taken by Slovenian sport-climbing ace Domen Škofic, who has had his most successful season behind him, including a World Cup win and numerous top ascents in natural crags, and will speak about the compromise between pure enjoyment and the immense desire to achieve more and more. Adding the finishing touch to the festival happenings will be lectures on Friday evening by American alpinist Jack Tackle, who has climbed numerous first ascents in Alaska, Canada and other mountain ranges around the world and will focus on Alaska in alpine style and the importance of self-sufficiency and dedication to the goal, and British trad climbing master Hazel Findlay, the first woman to climb an E9 route (extremely difficult climbing) and celebrated as a master of friable sea cliffs, who on her lecture Od majhnega otoka do velikih sten will also present the mental aspect of this thrilling sport.



The festival buzz, which joyfully fills cinema halls and excites numerous mountain lovers on the big screen, is complemented by the presence of several film creators. At yesterday's screening of Jurek, director Paweł Wysoczański spoke about the famous Polish alpinist Jerzy Kukuczka; at today's premiere of Dolina velikanov: balvanska odisejada v Sultanatu Oman, protagonists Philippe Ribière and producer Read MacAdam join; Slovenian creator Rok Rozman will introduce Zakaj?; at the premiere of documentary Življenje v pragozdu we look forward to Austrian director Rita Schlamberger; at the screening of Operacija Moffat, British director and climber Claire Carter; and Spanish director Angel Esteban Vega accompanies Tom. All are happily available for conversation.