Film program – 24 September, Friday
24 September, Friday
BIG HALL, Culture Center “Nikola Vapcarov””
13:00 / 13:14 – The Breath Connection, New Zealand, 2019, Aliscia Young, Richard Sidey, 14`
A portrait of freediver Kathryn Nevatt, former World Champion and current New Zealand record holder in all three disciplines. | | Filmed through the distinctive Central Otago seasons, the film reflects Kathryn’s philosophy and gives insight into the mind of a freediver. The Breath Connection explores our interconnectedness and affinity with the natural world, ourselves and community.
13:14 / 13:40 – Let There Be Light, Bulgaria, 2020, Vladislav Lakov, 27`
A two-and-a-half year long mission along the Kom-Emine trail to install solar powered emergency kits seeks to answer one question: Do the kindness of people and vertical elevation have anything in common.
13:40 / 13:51 – Cino, Ian, Italy, 2020, Tobia Passigato, 11`
The story of friendship between the alpine photographer Renzino Cosson and the great Italian alpinist Giorgio Bertone. Together they were the first Italian team to climb the north wall of El Capitan, in California.
13:51 / 14:08 – Innsbruck. Powder. People, Austria, 2021, Timm Schröder, Neil Williman, 17`
After many winter seasons and competitions at the highest level all over the world, a professional freeride skier from New Zealand named Neil Williman ends up in Innsbruck. There he meets many talented locals that show him just how great the mountains around Tirol are. Deeply impressed by the possibilities in this paradise, they discovered together what is possible during a global pandemic, and what is not. They have one simple, but difficult idea: to find and ride the most challenging faces around Innsbruck using public transport (let’s be honest, being stuck in traffic on a powder day is the worst feeling ever). The resorts may have been closed at the start of the winter, but that presented its own unique opportunities. Epic lines could even be accessed by walking out of Neil’s front door, along with his local and ‘imported local’ friends like FWT Champion Manu Mandl, Christoph Schöfegger, Leo Rauch and Sam Good. What possibilities opened up once the crew had to stray from the ‘normal’ path? Other welcoming local friends for Neil have been the Snowmads crew, who are well known for travelling the world in their adventure campers. Spending a week with Fabian Lentsch, Markus Ascher, Konsti Ottner and Jules Zenzmaier in campers and huts in the valleys close to Innsbruck helped discover the real soul of the place. After having ridden the gnarliest faces around Tirol that could be accessed with public transport, the crew want to give people an honest perspective. What impact did we have by choosing this option of transport? And what impact did it have on them?
14:08 / 15:10 – Journey into the depths of Lao, Bulgaria, 2020, Todor Nikolov, 64`
This documentary follows the adventures of a group of Bulgarian cave explorers en route to some of the less known and uncharted cave systems in the jungle of Lao and in the search for the mysterious cave pearl.
15:10 / 16:30 – почивка/break – Виж изложби/See exhibitions
TURZESTEVNA HALL, Culture Center “Nikola Vapcarov”
11:00 / 12:00 – Happy Stones, Bulgaria, 2020, Zoya Dimitrova, Milena Stoykova, 60`
On 2 February, 2003, Petko’s son died in an avalanche – high in the mountains of Bulgaria, in a place called Rai (Paradise). Petko was trying to find a way to fill the emptiness inside his heart when, by a twist of fate, he met Ivan, an editor. Ivan found out about Petko’s grief and upon hearing that the young man had died on the day his son was born, he said they should build a chapel near the place where the accident had occurred. A chapel to honour all the people who have lost their lives in the mountains, the lost children, but also a guide, a healing place for, according to Ivan, a lost nation. | At first, Ivan provided funding for the chapel construction. The huge challenge was that everything was carried by people or horses, just like in the old days. Not only did this require great physical effort, but also increased the cost of construction. At one point the money ran out and the construction was frozen. Petko decided to set up a fundraising association. Later, construction work resumed – with a few donations and the painstaking work of countless volunteers. Petko introduced the tradition that everyone who went to the nearby waterfall should bring a stone – a small one or a large one – for the chapel … Someone donated the cross, another one the bell, another one the windows, others did the wall paintings, etc. | In the autumn of 2018, the chapel was consecrated and opened. It is not only a memorial to honour our lost loved ones, but also a unifying image of the strength, will and spirit of ordinary people. | A symbol of the faith that each of us carries within us.
12:00 / 12:25 – Florians letzter Aufstieg/Florian’s Last Climb, United Kingdom, 2018, Harold Chapman, 25`
In 1909 the Austrian mountaineer Florian Frederick Graf von Liechtenstein left his estate near Innsbruck and travelled to Corsica for a climbing expedition. He was never seen again. Ninety years later his grandson Otto employs two film makers to help him uncover the mystery of the disappearance, but the facts get in the way of the truth.
12:30 / 13:00 – break
13:00 / 13:23 – Lifelines – the story of two friends, Germany, 2020, Frank Kretschmann, 23`
Lifelines the story of 2 friends – Roger Schäli, Stefan Siegrist – these names are widely known in Schwitzerland, even outside of alpinist circles. They stand as synonyms for state-of-the-art alpinism of the modern build: fast, hard, uncompromising. The numerous ascents they have amassed independently and together, in walls from the Alps to Patagonia all the way to the Himalaya, are only the most cursory attribute that they have in common. What is often neglected, what isn’t put into focus most of the time, is the fact that it’s people made from flesh and blood that stand behind these alpine top-performances. In the case of the aforementioned athletes it’s a shared past that goes way back which connects them closer to each other than you could possibly imagine, despite the different paths they have chosen during the course of their lives. There were the ‘wild years’ while they were roommates in the shared apartment in Interlaken. The first big ascents on walls around their hometown that the public barely recognized. After the apprentice years came their coming of age: the routes got harder, their goals shifted across the countries borders and the continent. Patagonia and Pakistan became their new stage. Everything became bigger, everything more professional, everything faster. The public started to show interest in them. Siegrist, Schäli – soon everyone knew these names. Their development as alpinists continued, but their emotional bonds from back in the day began to crumble. Many things remained unspoken and fell by the wayside. The ‘brothers’ from past days were becoming strangers. Life teaches us that many things that are unspoken stay that way. Now Roger and Stefan have come closer again after all the years. What they must have realized right away was that many things weren’t the way they used to be. One of the two, Roger, spends his time drifting between El Chalten and Kalymnos while enjoying life as an endless road trip. The other one, Stefan, lives a steady life with a house and family as a confederate icon of alpinism. But what used to connect them – climbing, the mountains, alpinism, still does so today. They came together as a team with a common goal again on Jungfrau (4158m): a first ascent on the ‘Rotes Brett’. (‚Silberrücken‘, Westwand Rotbrätt / Jungfrau / 8a+ / 350 Meter) This route is more than just a daunting line on one of the most exposed walls of the Alps. It’s a new chapter in the shared story of two people. It’s a story about the convergence, crossing, splicing of two lifelines that went their different ways for a long time. In the end this process which can’t take place without friction, without getting tangled up, culminates high up not far from their collective wall in the Silberhornhütte, which thrones atop the sharp edge of the ridge, almost symbolically. The movie ‘Lifelines’ doesn’t just want to document a daunting first ascent. It wants to take a look at what goes on behind the scenes and tell the mutual story of two exceptional climbers starting in the past all the way to the present in the process. If there is a conclusion this movie would like to reach it is this: time does not magically and by itself heal all wounds. Only a common goal can.
13:23 / 14:13 – Alaska, cercatori di avventure/Alaska, the adventure rush, Italy, 2020, Gabriele Carletti, 50`
Maurizio Belli and Fulvio Giovannini are Italian adventurers. During the last 25 years they’ve been crossing 9000 km between Alaska and Canada, following the tracks of the first gold seekers. Skiing, walking, biking and canoeing. Until they decide to face the hardest challange: from Fort Yukon to Anchorage, during the Winter. Dragging a heavy sled and sleeping in a poor tent. A story of struggle, deep bonds and global warming.
14:13 /15:27 – Alé, Italy, 2019, Marco Zingaretti, 74`
The Alé project began in October 2018 as a transversal narrative experiment, following a group of non-professional climbers for six months. The silence and concentration necessary to think about movements and one’s own body, share projects, shout under the cliff: Alé wants to be a journey. The story begins in Erri De Luca’s kitchen and the last stop is in Greece, in Athens, in the most important climbing shoe soling workshop in Europe.
15:27 / 15:32 – Spellbound, New Zealand, 2020, Richard Sidey, 5`
Wingsuit BASE jumping is often presented as a thrill seeking adrenaline rush. Spellbound takes us deeper into the more contemplative aspects of jumping, as David Walden and friends venture into the mountains around his home in New Zealand. Beautiful scenery and hypnotic cinematography eject us from our daily lives into a world of air, earth and flight.
15:32 / 15:34 – Home Soil, Bulgaria, 2020, Nikola Bagarov, 2`
Home Soil is a video, dedicated to the 26 inch bikes, filmed at Vitosha mountain, near Sofia, Bulgaria.
15:34 / 15:37 – Don’t be indifferent!, Bulgaria, 2020, Nikola Bagarov, 3`
Good citizens help tourists, by clearing the paths of their home mountain Vitosha, because otherwise there is no one to do it.
15:50 /16:30 – break – See exhibitions
16:30 / 20:00 – See presentations program – Big Hall
CENTRAL SQUARE “NIKOLA VAPCAROV”
20:30 / 20:45 – DECISIONS (with Nadine Wallner), Austria, 2019, Johannes Mair, 12`
Every decision, articulated or not, leads seamlessly to the next.” Freeride world champion Nadine Wallner is known as a brave outstanding skier. As some might know Nadine has also recently developed a passion for climbing. She is currently working on a project only elite of climbers have achieved so far: climbing the “Bürser Platte” with the surface characteristics of woodchip wallpaper. Beat Kammerlander did the first ascend of this route only using portable protection devices, highlighting the „Bürser Platte“ to other international top climbers. In addition to outstanding skills you also need nerves of steel for this project. It’s difficult to place the protection gear on a smooth wall like this. Nadine opens up on the coexistence of skiing and climbing in her life. She says that lately she has to decide more and more between the two of them: “They are fundamentally different sports, but they also have a lot in common. That became clear to me on the „Bürser Platte“. I’m a climber now, but I’ll always remain a skier at heart.” Alpsolut Pictures
The film will be presented by NAdine Wallner – official guest.
20:45 / 21:35 – Traditional Alpinism – Experiences cannot be inherited, Italy, 2021, Simon Messner, 50`
World premiere of the film:
As part of a small expedition to Pakistan, Simon circles the 8,125-metre Nanga Parbat with his father Reinhold and his girlfriend Anna. In this context Simon speaks about the first attempts to climb the mountain Nanga Parbat and the great tragedies of the 1930s, he recalls the fateful expedition in 1970 when his uncle Günther lost his life on the descent over the Diamir Flank and his father Reinhold barely survived. It is a journey to remember. The small expedition eventually visits the remote Geshot Valley. Here the people live in the most modest of circumstances in a still self-sufficient manner. It’s a world that we Europeans can hardly imagine anymore. Here, west of Nanga Parbat, father and son try to climb the Geshot Peak, which has not yet been climbed, before Simon sets off for the Karakoram to realize another project together with his climbing partner Martin Sieberer.
“For me, traditional alpinism is not just about the action itself, but also about knowing the history of a mountain, being informed about previous expeditions and being interested in the local culture. In my understanding, the traditional alpinist goes where he can act on his own responsibility and does not feel obligated to any external requirements. He looks for an honest way of dealing with his fears, doubts and insecurities in order to question himself. After all, it’s about ourselves, about experience and less about success as such. It’s up to us, it’s a matter of attitude, how we go to the mountains. But one thing is certain: if you are willing to seek the unknown, you will be rewarded with strong emotions and finally come a little closer to the question of who we are and what makes us human.“
The film will be presented by Simon Messner – offical guest.
21:35 / 22:35 – K2: The Impossible Descent, Austria, 2020, Sławomir Batyra, 60`
K2, ‘the savage mountain’ holds a mythical place in the hearts of climbers around the world- 1 in 4 do not return from it. On July 22, 2018, Polish ski-mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel makes ‘the impossible descent’ from its summit. He does it solo, and without supplemental oxygen. The mountaineering community are stunned and mainstream press take notice. This feature documentary explores the man behind the achievement and the circumstances he endured to get there. His close-knit crew (including his younger brother) overcome biblical weather, unchartered terrain, and life-threatening rescue missions. Throughout, the film explores the young Pole’s psychology and mindset; asking how a working class boy – one of 11 siblings – was shaped in to Nat Geo’s 2018 Adventurer of the Year, and a defining athlete of a generation? Equal parts tough and innovative, Andrzej creates new uses of drone technology to complete routes only dreamt about by the mountaineering hall of fame, traversing knife-edge ridges, 1000m cliffs and 75 degree slopes in a nail-biting solo ski descent. This verité driven film offers a privileged blow-by-blow account of one of mountaineering’s most coveted ‘firsts’, and examines the unique person who accomplished it.
