Ten years, five venues, one and only...

Ten years, five venues, one and only: 10th Mountaineering Film Festival





The Mountaineering Film Festival has, during a programmatically rich and distinctive decade in Slovenia, become a true mountaineering celebration in the valley and has joined the ranks of the world's most prestigious and established film festivals. The 10th Mountaineering Film Festival will visit five locations in Slovenia from February 15 to 19, 2016: Ljubljana, Celje, Domžale, Ptuj, and Krško. For this year's anniversary, the Slovenian festival will also host the meeting of the International Alliance for Mountain Film (IAMF), of which it has been a member since 2010.





From the first to the ninth festival inclusive, viewers—around 35,000 over nine years—have watched 400 films. This year, 46 films from all corners of the world will be on the program in four permanent categories: alpinism, climbing, mountain nature and culture, and mountains, sports and adventure. In Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Mestni kino Metropol in Celje, Mestni kino Ptuj, and Kulturni dom Krško from February 15 to 19, 2016, five days of inspiring stories of charismatic individuals pushing boundaries in climbing and alpinism, mysterious mountain cultures and endangered animal species, majestic images of mountains, breathtaking adventures, and resounding conservation messages from the treasure trove of the mountain world await—five days of pure mountaineering inspiration. Mestni kino Domžale will traditionally host screenings of the winning films on February 20 and 21 this year, so the taste of mountains in the valley will last the entire third week of February.





The mountaineering festival has delighted Slovenian audiences in past years with numerous distinguished guests from the world of alpinism and climbing—and it will be the same this year, when Hazel Findlay, the British master of traditional climbing, Slovenian sport climbing ace Domen Škofic, American alpinist Jack Tackle, who wrote the history of alpinism in Alaska, and Austrian alpinist Kurt Diemberger, the only living first ascender of two eight-thousanders, Broad Peak and Dhaulagiri, will give lectures in Cankarjev dom.





British climbing master Hazel Findlay is 26 years old and has been climbing for 20 years. She started with traditional climbing on coastal limestone walls in Wales and also tried competitions, but at sixteen she gave them up and devoted herself to rock climbing, where her greatest passion is traditional climbing. For the last four years, she has been a professional climber traveling the world. She was the first British woman to climb a trad route graded E9, and the first to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, which she has done three times. Her peak in sport routes is 8c, and she has onsighted numerous 8a routes. She enjoys all types of climbing, but what attracts her most is the mental aspect of this exciting sport.





Slovenian sport climbing ace Domen Škofic was born in Ljubljana but has lived in Vrbnje near Radovljica since early childhood. Before he started climbing, he skied a lot, but with greater interest in climbing came a lack of time and will for skiing. At fourteen, he became a member of the Slovenian junior national team in sport climbing and the following year climbed his first 9a route. After finishing high school, he left junior climbing, as he had already been in the senior national team for three years. Soon he became a professional climber engaged in interesting projects, climbing world-class routes, and participating in World Cup competitions, where he has already achieved his first victory. For now, his hardest climbed route is Papichulo 9a+, but who knows what awaits him in the future …





American alpinist Jack Tackle has climbed numerous first ascents in Alaska and other mountain ranges around the world. He has visited the Himalaya, Patagonia, the European Alps, Canada, Alaska, Pakistan … He has lectured at film festivals in Banff and Trent and at National Geographic headquarters in Washington. In his lecture, he will focus on seven of his first ascents in Alaska, difficult new routes in Canada, and other important ascents he made in alpine style. The red thread of the lecture, interesting for both climbers and the general public, is the importance of self-sufficiency and dedication to the goal. Dedication, vision, and trust are the most important factors in every alpine-style ascent, where trust in oneself and one's partner is crucial.





Kurt Diemberger, Austrian alpinist, photographer, filmmaker, and author of six books, was born in Beljak in 1932 and is the only living first ascender of two eight-thousanders, Broad Peak and Dhaulagiri. In Salzburg, he completed a commercial academy and continued his studies in Vienna. After graduating, he passed the mountain guide exam and became a professional alpinist at the end of 1960. In 1978, he stood on two eight-thousanders, Makalu and Everest, and the following year on Gasherbrum II. In 1983, with climbing partner Julie Tullis, who died three years later on K2, he founded the world's highest film team. For the film K2 – Traum und Schicksal, he received the Golden Edelweiss award in 1989 at the mountain film festival in Trent. The Republic of Austria awarded him the Golden Badge of Honor for Merits, and in 2013 he received the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award in Chamonix.