Film program – 23 November, Friday
23 Nov, Friday
Big Hall
13:00 pm – 14:26 pm – The Elements, Czech Republic, 2017, Tomas Galasek, 86`
“Earth, Water, Air. Three elements, three extreme sports, three extraordinary people. The fourth element burns in all of them.The documentary film called The Elements reveals the nature of three extreme sports – alpine mountaineering, scuba diving, and BASE jumping, which are associated with the symbolism of the respective characteristic elements – Earth, Water, Air. The individual areas are then represented by strong professional sportsmen – by Marek Holeček, Michal Rišian and Martin Trdla. The motto of the project mentions the fourth element which burns in all of them. Martin Trdla’s fire burned out in 2014 after an unsuccessful try to fly over the Czech highest mountain Sněžka during which Martin died tragically. In spite of the fact, or maybe for this fact, the authors decided to continue the project in an effort to introduce to the viewers the enormous enthusiasm of the main characters for their sports, which was, is and will be the essential part of the life of all of them. And all of this despite the continuity with the risk inherent in those sports. Although the conditions in the Czech Republic for a proper training in the monitored sports events are inadequate, all the three sportsmen achieved the world level in their fields. And it is this fact that even in limited conditions one can reach unlimited achievements, is one of the reasons why I decided to document at least a short part of their lives. It does not have to be only the oceans’ width or the immense height of rocks which predetermines them to rank among the most successful, but also to become the most successful.”
14:26 pm – 15:00 pm – Tamara Lunger – Facing the limit, Italy, 2018, Markus Frings, 35`
Freedom means for Tamara Lunger to push her limits, to dare the impossibility of humanity and to get to know the depths of her self. The 31-year-old extreme mountaineer climbed as the youngest woman the 8,516 m high Lhotse and entered the K2 as the second Italian woman in the history of alpinism. Nevertheless, failure is not unknown to her, a topic that should change her life. Markus Frings and Nora Ganthaler talk about the ups and downs in the life of the extreme mountaineer and accompany them on the winter expedition to the summit of Nanga Parbat. And on the 8,596 -meter-high Kangchenjunga, the Skyline Winter Expedition together with the Italian extreme climber Simone Moro.
15:00 pm – 16:16 pm – No man`s land – expedition Antarctica, Austria, Matthias Mayr, Matthias (Hauni) Haunholder, cinematography Johannes Aitzetmuller
Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all continents. Until now, only scientists, polar explorers, or mountaineers to climb Mt. Vinson have been travelling to Antarctica. Due to the extreme cold, the glaciated terrain and the desert climate, freeskiing seemed to be impossible. But the two freeskiers and adventurers Matthias „Hauni“ Haunholder and Matthias Mayr don ́t care if regions are ment to be too remote or harsh for skiing. They are getting even more attracted by so called hard conditions. Together with cinematographer Johannes Aitzetmüller they set over for an unsupported expedition into the mainland of Antarctica to find beautiful mountains for skiing. The 3 men team, each hauling a 90kg sled, covered a distance of more than 150 km by hiking and using kites. What they found, was much better than expected. The „holy grale” of free riding. Watch the movie to enjoy the most spectacular landscape humans ever skied in.
The movie will be officially presented by our special guest Matthias Mayr from Austria.
16:16 pm – 17:00 pm – break
See presentations!
Visitor`s Information Center Hall
11:00 am – 11:25 am – La Promenade, Italy, 2017, Michel Dalle, 25`
At the bottom of the highest mountains in Europe, among the “4 Giants of the Alps” as Mont-Blanc, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Grand Paradis are nicknamed, two young free-riders, Shanty Cipolli and Simon Croux, 23 and 19 years old, decided to do the entire tour of Aosta Valley on skis. A twenty day journey in the most isolated and untouched places of the Alps. Their adventure is going to interlace with a story which comes from the past. A story that occurred more than forty years ago.
11:25 am – 11:46 am – Mano, Bulgaria, 2017, Rosen Spasov, 21`
Manol Kalniev (born 1977) belongs to a borderline generation. He is a teenager when the Berlin wall falls to change the world. Manol grows up in the wildest age of the Bulgarian transition as a normal kind of guy. At the end of the 90`s his life is empty and meaningless. A series of personal events will change all that. The film portraits the present everyday life of Mano – skiing, snowboarding, cycling, kung fu, spinning and yoga. A documentary about internal and external changes, “Mano” follows its character in a fraction of his life journey.
11:46 am – 12:00 am – Women’s skimo project – opus Japon, France, 2017, Tanya Naville, 13`
Women’s skimo project is a project of several films to inspire, dream, open minds on the practice of women’s sport through ski touring and by meeting these women who dared despite the physical and mental difficulties, their cultures and the preconceived ideas of today’s society, assert themselves, give meaning to their lives by making their passions live. Laetitia Roux (world champion in ski mountaineering) and Tanya Naville go out to meet inspiring women. During this Japanese opus we meet five Japanese women skiers: three high mountain guides (Michiko AOKI, Yasuko KIKUCHI, Yuka ABE) a ski cross champion (Noriko FUKUSHIMA) and a competitor in ski mountaineering and trail ( Yukari NISHIDA). These five women tell us about being a woman in Japan and their place in the mountains and on skis. These inspiring women share their experiences with other women to encourage them to practice mountain skiing as well.
12:00 am – 12:17 am – The Faction Collective Presents: La Grave, Switzerland, 2018, Etienne Mérel, Blue Max Media, 17`
La Grave has an almost holy reputation; awe-inspiring and humbling in equal parts. Narrated by a community of locals who have been pioneering freeriding in La Grave for the past two decades, and who still reside there today, this short ski film follows Sam Anthamatten and Johnny Collinson as they discover what makes this unique ski area so mythic. Among the wild and dangerous terrain, the team discover a place of timeless legend, a place that represents a very special type of freedom.
12:17 am – 12:21 am – Dreamlife, Bulgaria, 2018, Yoan Kadiev, Vladislav Terziiski, 4`
The short film presents beautiful sceneries from Bulgaria. Against their backdrop, a “ghostly” athlete is running through the mountain mist.
12:21 am – 12:45 am – Duality, Italy, 2018, Alessandro Beltrame, 24`
Four women, four elite ultra runners talk about their double lives: as working, family women and as mountain runners.; Albeit seemingly opposite, life as a woman and as an athlete need each other to exist. These are normal women, who, at a certain point in their lives, decided to use their strength, stubbornness and dedication to do extraordinary things, to explore new paths.; Juliette, a scrupulous scientist, dreams of being able to fly to the moon; Uxue is often present on international podiums; Audrey is dynamic, good-looking, modern: she jumps from planes with the same ease and grace she shows while tackling trails; Yulia is deceptively gentle, but determined and with a strong will, a will which allowed her to survive a life-threatening illness.; The four Vibram Trailrunning Team members are special women; women who dare to go beyond, to explore the uncharted land that goes beyond their nature.
12:45 am – 13:30 pm – break
13:30 pm – 13:47 pm – “Between two worlds“, Bulgaria, 2018, Jivko Konstantinov, 16`
Nowadays, the people are leading our wild and mysterious Planet Earth to its end. “Between two world” describes Antarctica, a place which is still surviving in an era of mass consumption.
13:47 pm – 14:45 pm – Of Rocks and-Needles, Germany, Laos, 2018, Kilian Reil, 39`
For the past decade the German doctor Volker Schoeffl and his wife Isabelle have been coming to Laos. The country, squeezed in between Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia is one of the poorest in the world. Once a year the two doctors perform difficult operations, teach and support the local team and bring new equipment to the hospital. Not only do they work though. Both are astonishing climbers and so they spend their free time setting up new routes all across the country.
The movie will be officially presented by its producer Kilian Reil and our official guest Dr. Volker Schoeffl
14:45 pm – 15:00 pm – Technical break
15:00 pm – 15:40 pm – Medical Seminar with MD Volker Shoffl (Germany); Climbing injuries
15:40 pm – 16:48 pm – Poke, Argentina, 2018, Alico Roviralta, Santiago Bernaldo de Quirós, Alico Roviralta, 68`
POKE was born and raised in Malargüe, province of Mendoza, Argentina. It is in this town that he discovers his love for nature. He learns to ski as a young boy and later as an adult he starts to earn a living as an instructor. At the age of 25 he suffers a spinal cord injury that leaves him paralyzed from the waist down and this is how his life radically changes. Some years later Poke overcomes his situation and becomes the first Argentine to participate in the Winter Paralympic Games (Vancouver 2010). This leads him to promote adaptive skiing in Argentina, motivating other people in his same or similar condition to try it and bring them closer to it. Time passes and Poke goes further, he discovers new adapted sports like sit-wake, generating himself the resources to be able to carry them forward. In this way the figure of Poke grows, making people happy, showing us that life has the most beautiful places, everything depends on where one looks at it. This documentary portrays the story of a man who reveals us deep reflections on life and the human soul, showing us that boundaries are an illusion on an epic trip through The Andes.
Wasatch Mountain Film Festival; 04/2018; US
Special panel – “They can – People with disabilities and the extreme sports”
