Film Program – 21 September, Wednesday
Film program
21 September, Wednesday
Visitor Information Centre Hall
11:30 / 12:00 – The park ranger – Steivan Luzi’s first year in the Swiss National Park, 2021, Switzerland, 27`
It was like winning the lottery. Steivan Luzi was chosen as a park ranger for the Swiss National Park. 90 people applied for the job. The 31-year-old has a good eye and a passion for nature from his grandfather, who had the same job. A There is no specific training as a park ranger. Most of it is learned in practice: counting wild animals, finding the places where fish have laid their eggs, documenting flowers and informing tourists. Because of his new dream job, however, he is no longer allowed to go hunting, and that is anything but easy.
12:00 / 12:30 – Zenerù, 2021, Italy, Andrea Grasselli
At the end of the winter, Flaminio, a resistant shepherd, prepares materially and spiritually for the arrival of the spring through daily rituals, using the tools he built for himself: he moves and sows the ground, shears the sheep and makes a woolen suit for the new season. The communities of the valley chase the winter away with cowbells and bonfires through the ritual of Scasada dol Zenerù, which is inserted into the story of the shepherd’s life as a dreamlike element that draws on an ancestral memory. Flaminio’s sensitivity, strongly connected to Nature, allows him to perceive when it is time to call the community to act, starting the ritual.
12:30 / 13:15 – break
13:15 / 13:32 – ACROSS emptiness, 2021, Italy, 2021, Luca Albrisi, 17`
“ACROSS emptiness” is the story of an authentic Dolomitic crossing made by a group of splitboarders and ski mountaineers into the alpine void created by the closure of the ski resorts during the winter of 20/21 after the impact of the pandemic. A journey capable of creating the background for a comparison between the emptiness of wild areas and the emptiness left by highly anthropized ones. An opportunity to question the future of alpine valleys, the ski monoculture and the fundamental role of the outdoor community in environmental activism.
13:32 / 13:52 – Dream Mountain, 2020, USA, Kyle Ruddick, Cira Crowell, 18`
When is it right to follow your dreams? Let’s take the lead of international mountain guide, humanitarian, and 2016 National Geographic’s People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita, as she questions, then follows her intuition on the most important expedition of all – her own life. Dream Mountain offers insights into her struggle to balance mountaineering with motherhood, and the pressures of respecting her traditional culture while pushing boundaries as an elite female athlete.
See BanskofilmfestKIDS program.
Turzestvena Hall
11:30 / 11:56 – Mario gets two dogs – for the protection of the sheep in Vrin, 2021, Switzerland, Beat Manetsch, 26`
Last year, 257 animals were killed by wolves. That is why Mario Alig decided to take advantage of the offer and the recommendation of the Confederation: he bought two guard dogs. The Agridea association, which takes care of the matter on behalf of the Confederation, organised everything. Mario Alig thus got two Pyrenean mountain dogs, Amy and Kira, both two-year-olds. From the arrival in Vrin, to acclimatisation, the ascent to the alp, life on the alp, the return home to Mario – the report documents the first year of the two dogs with Mario Alig and his wife Jovita in Vrin.
11:56 / 12:30 – The Watchers, 2021, Georgia/Poland, 27`
Two little brothers have to stay alone in their remote hut, to protect it from the obscure threat, while also dealing with their own fears and fantasy.
12:30 / 13:30 – break
12:30 / 13:30 – Opening ceremony – Exhibitions – See exhibitions
13:30 / 14:15 – In Fanes – andata e ritorno, 2021, Italy, Paolo Vinati, 45`
The Alpe di Fanes, in the Natural Park Fanes-Senes-Braies in the Dolomites, for centuries, in the summer season, have been home to cattle, horses and goats from the Badiotti municipalities of Marebbe, La Valle and Badia. In Fanes, quadruped guests stay from the end of June to the last weeks of September; but the outward and return journeys are by no means easy.
14:15 / 14:21 – Sous les pins/Pines, 2020, Belgium/France, Sébastien Baillou, 6` – анимация/animation
Marguerite is an old lady, she remembers an important moment of her childhood at Frejus in the South of France during the sixties.
14:21 / 15:13 – Les Nouveaux Siffleurs d’Aas / The New Whistlers from Aas, 2020, France, Richard Martin-Jordan, 52`
We are in the atlantic pyrenees, at the bottom of the Ossau valley. The inhabitants of the hamlet of Aas communicate by whistling. They invented the whistling language. This language, whose origin has always remained a mystery, has almost disappeared. Today it’s reborn thanks to the enthusiasm of some passionate whistlers.
15:13 / 15:33 – Telenovela à l’Everest / Telenovela on Everest, 2021, Nicolas Bossard, Switzerland, 20`
This film features the ascent of Everest via its northern ridge by Facundo Arana, an Argentinian actor, very famous around the world for his roles in the Telenovelas. The story told by the actor himself, his guide Tendi Sherpa and the Swiss cameraman Nicolas Bossard. The story is intended to be as close as possible to the reality of life on the slopes of this sacred mountain. A three-dimensional vision between the dream of the summit, the management of the expedition and the execution of his camerman-work at 8,848 meters. A different view on commercial expeditions to Everest with unique images taken at over 8,800m above sea level.
15:33 / 16:37 – Aware 哀れ,2022, Spain, Gerard Olivé, 34`
Aware is a Japanese word, it is a “mono no aware” concept that means: The deep feeling caused by the ephemeral beauty of nature, I think this concept perfectly reflects the bivouac philosophy, enjoy those little ephemeral moments that give the mountain See how the sun hides behind a sea of snowy mountains, the colors of the sunset, which change every minute that passes, that precise moment when you see the first rays of the sun after spending long hours inside your bag. Moments that make you feel totally happy, even for those small and ephemeral moments and that is for me the bivouac, the search for happiness.
16:37 / 18:00 – brеак – See exhibitions
18:30 – Central Square “Nikola Vapcarov” Opening ceremony of Banskofilmfest`2022 (In case of bad weather, the screenings will be held at the Big Hall, Culture Center “Nikola Vapcarov”)
Central Square “Nikola Vapcarov
18:30 / 20:00 – Opening ceremony of Banskofilmfest`2022
Screenings:
20:00 / 20:16 – Santiago, 2021, Bulgaria, Andrey Koulev – animation
A film about the friendship between a child and an old fisherman. Inspired by Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. Andrey Koulev is a producer/film director/writer/illustrator; studied Film Directing at NATFA; illustrator and designer of books and magazines; a member of the Union of Bulgarian Fine Artists and the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers. Since 2011, Art Director of the World Festival of Animated Film, Varna. Filmography: The Fool Moon, Poet and Pegasus, Line, The Piano Player, Love With Occasional Showers (Golden Rhyton for Best Animated Film, 2015), Fishes Swimmers Boats (2017), The Nights of a Lonely Messenger (2017).
20:16 / 21:02 – Doo Sar. A karakoram ski expedition film, 2022, Poland, Jakub Gzela, 46`
Two peaks, two friends, and two ski descents. Andrzej Bargiel and Jędrek Baranowski roam through Karakoram to create their own history. This movie is a skiing journey told by friends, full of passion and love for high mountains and skiing over 6000 meters.; The Karakoram Ski Expedition aimed to climb and ski down two six-thousands – located in the Ghidims-Dur Valley, Yawash Sar II peak (6,178 m above sea level) Laila Peak (6,096 m above sea level) situated in the Hushe Valley. Both peaks are in the Pakistani Karakoram, the second largest mountain range after the Himalayas. The other goal of the expedition was to explore new areas in terms of potential goals of future travels. The journey was completed with double success. Both peaks were conquered just ten days apart and skied down.; The first of them – the virgin peak of Yawash Sar II was climbed by Andrzej Bargiel on April 30th, 2021, as the first man in history. After reaching the peak, Andrzej Bargiel skied down to the base. Although the assumption of this part of the expedition was only partially realized. Andrzej climbed the summit on his own while Jędrek Baranowski waited in the middle of the mountain height due to insufficient acclimatization. Skiing down a heavily icy summit cone was achieved with the help of ropes. The summit attack took place after less than one day at the base camp and the setting up an advanced base camp at the foot of the mountain.; The second – Laila Peak, was conquered jointly by Andrzej Bargiel and Jędrek Baranowski on May 10th, 2021, as the first Poles in history. Due to snow conditions and icing in the summit cone, skiing was not possible from the very peak. Therefore, they decided to leave the skis 150 meters below the summit, from where the ski descent to the base began.; This film is not only a story about mountain struggles. It is primarily a story of an adventure related to getting to know the local culture and meeting many interesting people, spending time together with friends during many hours of trekking.; The expedition was a part of the Hic Sunt Leones project (in Latin, “Hic Sunt Leones” means “here are lions”, and it’s a Latin phrase used to describe unexplored and unknown territories), a unique ski project initiated by Andrzej Bargiel himself. Inspired by his previous experiences, he demystified the stereotype of a “martyr” climber and used his knowledge to organize expeditions individually. This project’s primary goal is to make ski descents of the highest mountains in the world and prove that skiing is possible even at the Top of the World. The project’s opening expedition was Shishapangma Ski Challenge – the first Polish ski expedition to the Himalayas. Its main goal was the quick ascent to the Shishapangma summit (8,013 m a.s.l.) and then ski descent.
