Mountain film buffs to occupy Cankarjev dom arts centre

Ljubljana, 15 February - Mountain film buffs will be able to enjoy the 10th edition of the International Mountain Film Festival this week. Bringing 46 films from all over the world, the festival will see "everything connected to mountains", according to festival director Silvo Karo.

Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom.
Intervju z direktorjem gorniškega festivala Silvom Karom.
Foto: Nebojša Tejić/STA

Divided into four categories - mountaineering, climbing, mountain nature and culture, and mountains, sports and adventure - the selection of films includes awarded films, such as Meru and First Ascent Kunyang Chhish East.

Enthusiasts will also have the chance to see the short mountain-biking film Darklight and skateboarding/paragliding flick The Race of My Life.

Apart from that, Karo highlighted the US film A Line Across the Sky, which follows Join Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold as they take on the Fitz Roy traverse - one of the most sought after achievements in modern mountaineering.

"Climbers used footage from mobile phones... during bivouacing they set the phone and take jabs at each other...Such inserts make for an entertaining film," Karo noted in an interview for the STA.

Mountain enthusiast will moreover have the opportunity to listen to several mountaineers, including British trad climber Hazel Findlay, the first woman to climb an E9 route, and the Austrian legend Kurt Diemberger, who stood atop Makalu and Mt. Everest in 1978 and was part of the first expeditions to Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960).

"It is very interesting to hear Diemberger's story today - how they prepared for expeditions in those times," Karo added.

The biggest mountain film event in Slovenia, a part of the International Alliance for Mountain Film, has been visited by some 35,000 film and mountain buffs, who saw around 400 films.

The festival will be held at the Cankarjev dom arts centre in Ljubljana, as well as in cinemas in Celje, Ptuj, Krško and Domžale.

nd/eho
© STA, 2016