Mountaineering Film Celebration with 35 Films and 8 Lectures

The Mountaineering Film Festival celebrates its coming of age in grand style! From February 12 to 17 in Ljubljana, Domžale, Radovljica, and Celje, it will delight enthusiasts of alpinism, climbing, mountain nature, culture, and adventure with 35 mountaineering films, three of which will premiere at the festival: Viharnik z roba, Tam, kjer tečejo kozorogi, and Himalajska bojevnika. Iconic stories will come alive in lectures by alpinists Krzystof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy, Mikhail Fomin, Edu Marin, Matteo Della Bordella, and Rado Fabjan, sport climber Mina Markovič, photographer and director Rožle Bregar, researcher of mountaineering history Dušan Škodič, and on the photo exhibition also festival director Silvo Karo.

The 18th Mountaineering Film Festival once again brings the latest world and domestic mountaineering film production and such a rich accompanying program as never before. In Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Mestni kino Domžale, Linhartova dvorana in Radovljica, and Kino Metropol in Celje, 35 films from 14 countries will be screened - eight alpinistic and nine each in the categories of climbing, mountain nature and culture, and mountains, sports, and adventure.

The festival will open on February 12 in Ljubljana with the Slovenian documentary-feature film Viharnik z roba by Igor Vrtačnik, 100 Years of Skalašev, a true document of the time, the story of the Turistiški klub Skala and its key figures: Klement Jug, Jože Čop, Pavla Jesih, and others. In addition to Vrtačnik's film, which will also be shown in Radovljica, the festival will also premiere the Slovenian film story of mountain runners at Julian Alps Trail Run Tam, kjer tečejo kozorogi by Aliash Tepina and the documentary Himalajska bojevnika by Bosnian director Zehrudin Isaković about the 50-year friendship between alpinists Stipe Božić and Viki Grošelj.

The harvest of Slovenian films, seven in total at the festival, is complemented by the short animated film Divji petelin: Skrivnostno življenje v letu in četrt by Jernej Myint, the documentary from the LIFE Lynx project Skupaj za rise by Gregor Šubic and Timotej Vrtnik, the short film Na, v in pod Savo by Rožle Bregar, the film about the cycling ascent of Nika and Andreja to Kilimanjaro Tiha moč by Peter Vrčkovnik, and the short film about the passionate snowboarder D A NN O Č by Mitja Legat.

This year, the spotlight will be on the cult route Eternal Flame on the Karakoram tower Nameless Trango Tower in Pakistan – twice in films and once in a lecture. The Swiss film Večna lenoba is a breathtaking climbing and BASE-jump adventure, while in the American film Goreči plamen we follow the free ascent of the over 1000-meter route, about which Spanish alpinist Edu Marin will also speak at the lecture. Italian mountain and water explorer Matteo Della Bordella is also one of the protagonists of the Swiss feature Pajek v Patagoniji, which outlines the history of conquering Patagonian mountains.

Current socio-political conditions in the Middle East are touched upon in the American film Plezanje kot upor, while the Swiss film Tragedija na Haute Route about the ski touring drama of 2018 reminds us that nature is still stronger than man. That with strong will mountains can be moved is conveyed by the American films Transcendenca about top paraplegic climber Adrien Costi and Zvočna pokrajina about blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer.

In addition to alpinistic, climbing, and sports films, this year's festival will also feature a handful of exceptional ethnographic documentaries – the Polish film Sanje strica Vakha, the Italian Darovi čakanja, and the Spanish Gora spominov. Slovenes from the Bloška planota have a prominent role in the Swedish historical film Lebdenje na snegu, a story about ski making and their roles in different cultures. Cavers will be attracted by the picturesque French film Raziskovalci podzemlja, while the colorfulness of nomadic Mongolia is presented in the French feature Mongolija: Dolina medvedov.

The films will be judged by an international expert jury: former creator of the show Gore in ljudje and nature conservationist Marjeta Keršič Svetel, alpinist and mountain guide Tomaž Jakofčič, and German journalist, mountaineering publicist, and filmmaker Tom Dauer.

The accompanying program will offer a host of interesting guests, more than in eighteen years, with lectures, talks, an exhibition, and the latest mountaineering literature. On the anniversary of the first winter ascent of Everest, Polish alpinism giants Krzystof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy will revive memories of the historic February 17, 1980. Ukrainian alpinist Mikhail Fomin, living in Slovenia, will outline his alpinistic path, recipient of two golden ice axes – for a new route on Talung in the Kangchenjunga massif and for the ascent of the southeast ridge of Annapurna III. Spanish alpinist Edu Marin will present the second free ascent of the cult Eternal Flame route in the Karakoram, which he did with his brother and father, while young Italian Matteo Della Bordella, also a protagonist of the film Pajek v Patagoniji, will talk about minimalist kayak expeditions to Greenland, challenges on Bagirathi IV, and his favorite mountains – Patagonia.

Once Slovenia's most successful sport climber Mina Markovič, after ending her nearly 20-year top international competitive career, combines her love and profession – rock and sports psychology. Dušan Škodič, author of the book Triglav je naš, based on unexpectedly discovered archives, excitingly illuminates the beginnings of organized mountaineering and alpinism in Slovenia anew. Award-winning cameraman, photographer, and film director Rožle Bregar has found his second home in Iceland, a corner for exploration and documentary and commercial creation. One of the best climbers of the eighties, Rado Fabjan, member of the famous Postojna quartet, captivates with his sincerity, depth, and simplicity. In Cankarjev dom, there will also be a photo exhibition Silvo Karo: Od lesenega do zlatega cepina of one of the main actors of the golden age of Slovenian alpinism and the festival director.