FILM PROGRAM – 24 NOVEMBER, SUNDAY
Film program
25 November, Sunday
Big Hall
10:30 / 11:30 –Lost in Karakorum, France, 2018, Antoine Girard/Damien Lacaze, 54`
Summer 2018. The 1500 km epic bivt Flight of Damien LACAZE and Antoine GIRARD in the core of Himalaya and Karakorum mountains. This journey is actually a prelude and acclimatization to climb the Spantik (7027 m) from the nearest city in two days, thanks to paragliding. Is it really achievable ? What are the limits of such an escent ? Can we really come back unscathed? Presented by the director Antoine Girard – Q&A
11:30 / 12:10 – Everest – joy and sorrow, Milan Ognianov, Metodi Savov, 40`
About the tragedy and the triumph and the Bulgarian national expedition in 1984, which makes the second of the only two ascents along the “Cruel Road” – the Western ridge of Everest, and the first complete traverse in the massif of the highest peak in the world. Remark the 35th anniversary of the first Bulgarian expedition to Mount Everest in 1984. and 90 years of organized mountaineering in Bulgaria.
12:10 / 13:00 – break
13:00 / 14:00 – See presentations!
14:00 / 15:40 – Free Solo, USA, 2018, Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, 100`
Professional rock climber Alex Honnold attempts to conquer the first free solo climb of famed El Capitan’s 900-metre vertical rock face at Yosemite National Park. From award-winning documentary filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi (“MERU”) and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin comes National Geographic Documentary Film’s FREE SOLO, a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world’s most famous rock … the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park … without a rope. Oscar ’19 – Best Documentary Award; BAFFA ’19 – Award for Best Documentary
15:40 / 17:43 –Manaslu, Austria, 2018, Gerald Salmina, 123`
The idea for the film is based on the life story of Hans Kammerlander, his most significant successes and tragedies. The triumph which has made him world famous, is the fastest ascent to the summit of the Mount Everest in 16h 40 min in 1996, followed by the first ski run from the summit of the highest mountain in the world. His most painful moment, in 1991 at the Manaslu in Nepal, where he tragically lost two of his best friends. In autumn 2017, Kammerlander and his partner Stephan Keck return to the Manaslu to climb the 8163 -meter high summit and eventually descend a new route by skis. After 26 years, this ascent does not only challenge Hans Kammerlander but confronts him with the tragedy from 1991, which he has not been able to overcome yet. A biopic of one of the greatest mountaineers of our time, represented with archive footage and with the help of many actors in reenacted scenes.
Visitor`s Information Center Hall
11:00 / 11:40 – Perception of freedom, Bulgaria, 2018, Nikola Bagarov, 28`
The film aims to show us some of the opportunities for skiing and snowboarding in Bulgaria and beyond, whether on the slopes or freeriding. It is presented through the eyes of people, who love winter sports and it is inspired by the beauty of Bulgarian nature. Another main goal is to encourage people to spend more time in the mountains, so they can feel the freedom it gives us. Winter sports enthusiasts from 16 to 68 years of age participate. Stunning views, powder skiing, racing and many tricks from different people are featured. The film is mainly filmed in Vitosha, Borovets, Pamporovo, Musala peak and Pirin mountain. Part of it, however, was shot in Austria and Germany at the resorts Hündle and Damüls, which could serve as an example for development of the smaller resorts in Bulgaria. Presented by the director Nikola Bagarov – Q&A
11:40 / 11:50 – Alone, Germany, 2018, Franz Walter, Robert Jasper, 10`
Every year we get a little older. One day you turn 50. How you choose to celebrate is up to you. Alpinist and mountain guide Robert Jasper is heading out to Greenland for a solo expedition. He leaves the small village of Kulusuk with his sea kayak. After twelve days of paddling and carrying heavy loads Robert reaches his basecamp at the foot of Molar Spire. Calmly, concentrated and all by himself he begins the ascent of this 500m rock face.
11:50 / 12:36 – Pin Pam Pou, Peru, Spain, Lina Schuetze, Luis Rizo, 46`
“Pin Pam Pou, Peru Expedition” is a singular documentary film that reflects the great human personality of the Pou Brothers, Manu Ponce and Pedro Galán, at the same time as it narrates the three projects that this team of climbers carried out on the wild and unknown big walls of Peru. Each route that they propose, implies a quite complicated process that not anyone can handle with so much facility and positive naturalness as the brothers Iker and Eneko Pou. Perhaps their extensive experience helps to take things calmly, but always keeping a 100% positive attitude is not something very common, and less when you suffer at below zero, diarrhoea devastate at more than 4,000 meters altitude and you have to keep your team in high spirits. PIN relates the first climb in their expedition through the Latin American country of high mountains, with a route opening in the Amazon jungle, a spectacular setting. PAM is the testimony of the liberation of a route established by a strong Italian climbing team and POU is possibly one of the strongest route openings in the trajectory of the brothers and perhaps one of the highest difficulty proposals so far in the Peruvian Andes.
12:36 / 13:00 – break
13:00 / 14:20 – This Mountain Life, Canada, 2018, 80`
The awe that mountainous landscapes evoke is universal, yet most seldom venture into true wilderness. Martina and her 60 year-old mother Tania embark on a six-month trek through the treacherous Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada in a journey that has never before been completed by a duo. Their adventure is interspersed with beautifully crafted portraits of high-altitude human endurance and passion—an avalanche survivor, a snowshoe artist, a snowbound convent—that are by turns captivating and inspiring.
14:20 / 15:13 – Ani, the nuns of Yaquen gar, Italy, 2018, Eloise Barbieri, Roberto Dall`Angelo, 53`
In the mid-80s Akhyuk Lama, a Buddhist monk, went to meditate on the sacred plateau of eastern Tibet. Little by little countless pilgrims joined him, thus founding Yaqen gar, an immense “Buddhist settlement” where about 20,000 monastics reside, two thirds of them are nuns. It is a holy site that the Chinese government wants to demolish. The female quarter is a village made up of shacks, the nuns are of all ages and are united by the same spiritual quest and desire for emancipation, many of them belong to the Chinese Han ethnic group. The director is the only Western woman to have managed to live alongside them, she stayed in Yaqen gar for a month, despite the police searches. She recounts the life they lead in this very special place that may soon cease to exist.
15:13 / 16:11 – Tien jaguara/Spirit of Jaguar, Slovakia, 2018, Pavol Barabas, 58`
Four friends are heading into the Amazonian jungle for a challenging journey. They paddle down the wild rivers and hike through deep forests to become a part of the Indian Hodi tribe. The mysterious Sierra Maigualida Mountains, which haven´t been crossed by any European human being ever before, hides them from the surrounding world. Living side by side with Indians in their natural way of life and spending many days in their village show them how to respect the nature and its balance. Indian tribe Hodi represents the opposite of our western culture. It is their pleasure from the simple things and happiness from life versus our never- ending urge and desire to buy and possess.
16:11 / 16:23 – Bayandalai – Lord of the Taiga, Spain, 2018, Aner Etxebarria Moral, Pablo Vidal Santos, 12`
From inside his yurt deep within the heart of the Taiga, Bayandalai ‒an elder of the Dukhas tribe‒ muses about the significance of life and death in the largest forest on Earth. He is the last of the great reindeer herders of the Taiga.
16:23 / 16:27 – Iceberg Nations, Spain, 2019, Fernando Martín Borlán, 4`
Nations are liquid and ephemeral but, what is a nation?
Turzestvena Hall
11:00 / 12:00 – People’s trail, Bulgaria, 2019, Petar Vanev, 15` – Presentation of the book The Path of People
The sidewalk is also a path, but how to recognize soul mates on it. From Mount Spring in northern Georgia, another path, the Trail of People, begins to meander, to those who inspire faith in humanity. With its 3,500 km to Mount Katadin in Maine, Appalachians are gathering, or rather attracting, thousands of people from every corner of the world with diverse professions, ages, faiths and interests, but one thing is the same between them all. The love of nature is what makes them real people. The Trail of People shares personal stories and motivation for those who dare to travel the entire length or dedicate their lives to maintaining the trail, caring for it, and personal development. Presented by Petar Vanev
12:30 / 13:00 – break
13:00 / 13:30 – Le Refuge des Gwich‘in/The Refuge of the Gwichin, France, Irina Alles, 27`
A small group of natives of northern Alaska live 200 km above the Arctic Circle. They have been in harmony with nature for ten millennia, but today they are threatened by climate change. We traveled 500 kilometers through the tundra to record their stories.
13:30 / 13:47 – Potchemu/Why, France, 2018, Remy Maisonnave, 17`
почему or POTCHEMU, Which means “why?” in Russian, is a 17 minutes ski movie directed by Oprim Media over the last winter. This short-film is composed of two chapters: a first part showcasing some ski-touring near Baikal Lake in Siberia, and a second part focused on heliskiing in Kamtchatka. Through this movie, Yannick Besançon, Enki Hediard, Julien Colonge, Anthony Calvet, and me Remy Maisonnave, wanted to put these beautiful but little-known regions of Russia back in the spotlight, and also to show a story of friendship and sharing around skiing & telemark-skiing, our common passion.
13:47 / 14:20 – The first from the north, Bulgaria, Marin Hristov, Grigor Vatev, 32`
In the Tian Shan Mountain Range, a beautiful mountain rises. Khan Tengri is also the northernmost peak at 7,000 meters in the world, noticeable since the high latitudes have a shorter climbing season due to worse weather and thinner air. Han Tengri is a massive marble pyramid covered with snow and ice. At sunset, the marble glows red, giving it the name “Bloody Mountain” in Kazakh and Kyrgyz. On August 7, a team of four Bulgarians (Zheko Vatev, Stefan Vatev, Plamena Petrova and Grigor Vatev) reach the summit in good weather. Plamen also became the first Bulgarian to reach the top from the north. Presented by the directors
14:20 / 15:40 –Are You Sleeping, Brother Jakob?, Austria, 2018, Stefan Bohun, 80`
Are You Sleeping, Brother Jakob? is a very considerate, personal film about both farewell and reunion. The scattered archival footage, showing the brothers as children and teens – on mountain tops in summer, swimming together, wildly dancing and cavoting – impart an unforeseen levity. The search starts in the Tyrolean valley Lareintal and eventually ends in a hotel room in Porto with the realisation that this is not particularly a film about sadness but the necessity of grief. And about finding those who accompony us in life.
