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| 2011 Extended Film Descriptions |  |
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All of these films will be screened at the film festival July 1-5.A Prayer for the Wind Horse - Session #2 Saturday 11am The Wind Horse is a mythical Tibetan creature which combines the power of the wind and the strength of the horse to carry prayers from Earth to the Gods. Every year, it is called on by villagers living high on the Tibet-Nepal border to give them the courage and stamina to undertake a journey through some of the wildest mountain terrain in the Himalaya - an odyssey that defines almost every aspect of their earthly existence. Shot over three months filmmaker John Murray follows one family man Kharma Tshering as he guides his wife and children through one of the most hazardous human endeavours on the planet. They must escape their mountain home before the winter snows cut them off without enough food to see them until spring. On foot and yak, their journey is always a race against time and weather. Anirniq - Session #5 Sunday 11am “Anirniq” is Inuktitut for ‘breath’ and is a short fable of an Inuit man confronting the loss of his father when he was a young boy on his first narwhal hunt. Filmed on location on the northern tip of Baffin Island, the story explores the Inuit belief that when someone dies, their spirit goes into the living creatures around them and thus the Inuit saying: “The great peril of our existence is that our diet consists entirely of souls.” The story and concept was crafted based on the rules of the Parallel Lines competition which challenged filmmakers from around the world to interpret a set six lines of dialogue. The film had to use all six lines and no others in the exact order they were presented. The project was an extremely rewarding challenge and the filmmakers are proud of the final film that they created and the lengths they went to see it through! Received the Best Short Film Award at the recent Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival. Arktos: The Internal Journey of Mike Horn - Session #5 Sunday 11am Arktos is the amazing story of Mike Horn who has gone along the Arctic Circle alone for 27 months, 20,000 km, without using any motorized transportation. He has faced ice storms, temperatures down to -50°C, polar bears, a fire that destroyed most of his equipment and nearly burned him alive and he was the first man to cross entire Siberia on foot. But first of all, Arktos is a human tale. He met Simon the Inuit who taught him to build an igloo in 20 minutes, Vassia, an elderly Russian fisher and so many others. After all, Mike met himself. The film shows with the poetry of the images the motivations of one of the greatest adventurer of the century. As It Happens Session - Session #12 Tuesday 7.30pm Most films documenting expeditions are edited and produced in the safe confines of a studio, removing them from the reality and soul of the experience. Renan Ozturk and Cory Richards wanted to break this mould, releasing short video dispatches of their technical new alpine climb on Tawoche (6,498m), high in the Himalaya. Using limited equipment, they shot, edited and released five dispatches throughout their expedition which were followed by thousands of people via social media. Despite being on the road, the camera work and editing is flawless allowing viewers at home to be inspired as it happened.
Azadi: Freedom - Session #10 Monday 7.30pm A cultural ski documentary set in the disputed region of Kashmir, as seen through the eyes of skiers. The crew travel into the mountains surrounding the Gulmarg Ski Resort in order to capture the aesthetic beauty of the landscape and the livelihoods of a people eager to dispel the stigma that Kashmir is a dangerous place to travel. The film singles out the colorful and iconic local characters within the skiing culture of Gulmarg and conveys their passion for the mountains. By allowing the Kashmiri people to show where they are from and significantly, where they are going, the essence of what Kashmir means to it's people and what it can mean to the rest of world is articulated. As foreigners with relatively little experience or understanding of Kashmir, expressing the temperament of post-war Kashmir is best left to the locals. With it's fertile valleys and glaciated mountains that form the very beginning of the Great Himalaya Mountain Range, the region has a distinct allure for skiers/snowboarders and travelers. With the world's highest gondola rising to 3980m above sea level, the skiing potential is boundless. Through the pursuit of skiing the mountains surrounding Gulmarg in search of the ultimate ski run the crew encounter people who have a symbiotic relationship with the very same mountains. Through beautiful cinematography, interviews, animation and quiet pauses, this backcountry ski film will give you a greater understanding of one of the most negatively publicized regions on the planet... and leave you yearning for winter. Baffin Babes - Session #2 Saturday 11:00am The spectacular Baffin Island is located in the Canadian Arctic. During 80 days in spring 2009, the Baffin Babes put on their skis and covered a distance of 1200km in the untouched artic wilderness. During the expedition the skiers were faced with challenges like temperatures down to -40 C, strong wind, heavy snowfall and meetings with the white King, the polar bear. Balaton - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm A short film about a weekend spent at a competition at the Balaton lake in Hungary, demonstrating hard work, rivalry, and above all, a time well-spent with friends
Bike Trials: Regaining Balance - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm Bike trials requires not only athletic ability, but intense practice and concentration to be able to perform moves that make the impossible look easy. This documentary follows the riders through the course of their season, where they face obstacles such as heavy competition, injuries, physiotherapy, and finding support in their struggle to reach the world podium. This rarely seen look at the human side of bike trials shows what it involves to be a world class athlete in this unique sport, and features some of the top trials talent North America has to offer.
This is a short film of Mary Jenner making the first female ascent of Bleed in Hell (E8) in Borrowdale in the Lake District. The highlight of the film is simply Mary's climbing style – smooth and in control, yet obviously giving 100% effort, the climbing speaks for itself.
Book of Legends - Session #12 Tuesday 7.30pm An international team of white water kayakers travel to Siberia in search of the world class white water found in the Bashkaus River in the Altai Mountains in Southern Siberia. In 1975 a Russian explorer Igor Bazilevski and his team of ten men tried to make the first decent of the gorge on the lower Bashkaus River in the Altai Mountains in Southern Siberia. In the early stages of the gorge, the team struck tragedy when six out of ten were swept away to their death by the powerful river. The next year the four survivors retuned to the gorge to place a memorial plate, as well as a book at the point in which they lost their lives. In this book the names and the story of the tragic but heroic explorers was left to be seen only by those that have the courage to take on and conquer the mighty lower Bashkaus. After every decent the names of those that survive and the stories of their decent are logged into the Book of Legends. On the 17th July 2010 an international team of whitewater kayakers headed to the Altai Mountains in search of kayaking the hardest rivers that Altai has to offer and to test them selves against the mighty Lower Bashkaus, in the hope to add their names to the Book of Legends. Received the Best Water Film Award at the recent Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival. Brothers Wild - Session #12 Tuesday 7.30 Two brothers – Timmy O’Neill, a pro climber, and Sean O’Neill, who is paralyzed from the waist down – push the limits of adaptive climbing, conquering the 3,000-foot face of El Capitan. Then it’s on to the Ruth Gorge of Alaska, where they cross a treacherous glacier to climb a remote rock wall. In a storm-stricken land that would challenge even able-bodied climbers, Timmy and Sean face their greatest challenge yet. Caminho Teixeira - Session #2 Saturday 11:00am The film was produced with the aim of showing people the historic achievement of the historic ascent of the Finger of God in April 1912. Chimaera: Sounds of Winter - Session #1 Friday 7.30 pm In mythological terms, Chimaera refers to a fusion of forms that is the personification of winter. To make this short film a unique camera system capable of shooting over 1000 frames per second was used. Chimaera slows our perception of reality and offers an unprecedented look at a skier's life.
Cold - Session #1 Friday 7pm On February 2, 2011, Cory Richards became the first American to summit an 8,000m peak in winter and it almost killed him and his partners. Cory filmed the climb as it happened, and filmmaker Anson Fogel has transformed that footage into a raw, unflinching view of humanity at its limits, and in the process created a completely new kind of mountaineering film.
Crossing the Ditch – Session #3 Saturday 4pm Spanning 2200 kilometres between Australia and New Zealand, the Tasman Sea is one of the world’s deadliest and most treacherous oceans. No one had ever successfully navigated the Tasman by kayak, although many had tried. Crossing the Ditch tells the story of two young Australians, James Castrission and Justin Jones, who battle ten-metre towering waves, massive storms, shark-filled seas, and strong currents to conquer the Tasman Sea. Darkened Horizons - Session #2 Saturday11am
This animated film, made by 6th-8th grade students, reflects on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its environmental impact.
Deeper - Session #10 Monday 7.30pm From the award winning producers at Teton Gravity Research (TGR) comes the most progressive big mountain snowboarding film to date, Deeper follows Jeremy Jones and other top freeriders as they travel to the world's snowboarding meccas and venture past the boundaries of helicopters, snowmobiles, and lifts to explore untouched realms. Hang on tight as Jeremy faces the biggest challenges he has ever encountered in snowboarding. All night hikes, sleeping on peaks, camping 65 miles from civilization, 20 below temperatures, 10 day storms, and 20 mile days bring the adventure back into riding. Deeper puts the viewer in the athletes' boots, from the trials and tribulations to mind-boggling breakthroughs in the sport of snowboarding.
Eastern Rises - Session #3 Saturday 4.00pm A wild band of fly fishermen risk life and limb in one of the last wild places on earth, the Russian Far East. They brave Cold War helicopters, grizzlies, massive mosquitoes, and even Bigfoot to explore rivers that have never been fished before and search for the ultimate fish story.
Electric Dreams - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm Two friends take on a first descent in a Fiordland river, but first they have to get up it..... Feel the Hill - Session #11 Tuesday 3.00pm The sport of long boarding attracts all kinds of people. Feel the Hill demonstrates some of the multiple disciplines of long boarding and the sense of freedom that comes with the sport.
High Five - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm Whistler Creek Productions examine another fine day in mountain paradise from the perspective of six different people with one thing in common, the pure joy that comes from a perfect High Five! Holtanna l'Aventure Antarctique - Session #9 Monday 3.30pm A French team flies to the remote region of Antarctica called Queen Maud Land to climb and BASE jump with wing suits. Probably making the first basejumps on the continent. In the Shadow of the Mountain - Session #6 Sunday 4pm The Shadow of the Mountain is a documentary that charts one climber’s exploration of the motivations of climbers; why they take the risks they do in the pursuit of their sport. Hugh Barnard is a mountain guide and filmmaker from Wanaka, prompted by the death of a climbing friend he sets out on a journey to discover just what it is that drives his friends to climb. His quest leads him on a mountaineering trip with Everest climbers, ice-climbing on frozen waterfalls and on an introspective journey that questions his own and other climbers’ attitudes to risk. Jump for Joy - Session #10 Monday 7.30pm Why would you build a ski jump in the Nevada desert, on top of a skyscraper? Well to ski BASE jump from of course!
Kranked Kids - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm A short coming-of-age mountain bike parody. La Logia - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm This is the story of six kayakers on the mighty Lower Rauma river in Norway where they try and kayak the 20m high “Flemming Fossen” waterfall. Then the kayaking adventure travels to New Delhi, where they start a journey for the quest of first descents of remote rivers deep into the Indian Himalaya. Last Paradise - Session #9 Monday 3.30pm In the remote wilderness of New Zealand, when necessity was the mother of invention, a maverick bunch of kids concocted a dream that they would one day share with the world. In Last Paradise, through 45 years of stunning original footage we relive the journey of legendary extreme sports pioneers on the roads less travelled. Les Dessous de Ganesh - Session #7 Sunday 8pm A trip to India can be an unsettling experience, even if the goal is climbing, but it is hard to miss the exuberant animation that prevails there. The amazing contrasts, scents, sounds and colors accompanied the Petzl team and local climbers in their explorations between Hampi and Badami. Le Nid (The Nest) - Session #11 Tuesday 3.00pm St. Hilaire Touvet village is perched like an eagle's nest in a cliff at the heart of the Massif de la Chartreuse. When children become adults they wanted to keep their dreams of kids. When one is small, one dreams of flying ... And when you grow up, we take off for real! Hang gliding, paragliding, speedflying, base-jumping ... they are within range of the adventure wings, flying to the beat of the four seasons. Many men are ascendant Birds, unless it's the reverse... Light the Wick Festival Cut - Session #11 Tuesday 3.00pm This winter the TGR crew of athletes and cinematographers captured the most jaw-dropping footage ever witnessed. The team traveled around the world to uncharted destinations, as well as some of their favorite stomping grounds. Follow the crew as they discover the previously unskied big mountain playground of Petersburg, AK, find the best snow Croatia has seen in fifty years, ski deep pillows in undiscovered Italy, hit full throttle riding in British Columbia, and experience epic free-riding at Ripley Creek and North Cascades Heli. Light The Wick showcases the most talented and well-rounded athletes in skiing together in one must-see film.
Life Cycles - Session #11 Tuesday 3.00pm A cinematic and stunningly beautiful portrait of the sport of mountainbiking, expressing the passions behind one of man's greatest inventions...the bike! Life Cycles tells a spectacular story of the bike, from its creation to its eventual demise. A visually stunning journey, with thought provoking narration, Life Cycles uses Ultra HD to document the many stories surrounding the mountain bike and its culture. The sound track is incredibly soulful and gritty. Ryan Gibb and Derek Frankowski paint with the camera using time lapse, textures and movement. Ride along into breath taking natural settings, as we battle the elements, showcase the progression of riding, take a road trip, fix the bike, and show the destruction and eventual creation of trails. Living The Dream - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm My quintessential day here in Boulder Colorado. For most of the last 6 years I've been a traveling vagabond following my passion for rock climbing. This existence involved sleeping outside in wild places, hitching rides, having very little belongings, a drained bank account and some gourmet dumpster diving for food. I climbed everyday and lived my dream. These days I'm a domesticated man. By most people's standards I'm still living in the ghetto with my 1988 beater car and trailer-like house. Each day I find time to escape to the nearby rock spires and bag a summit. Making this creative short I realized that I still live my dream everyday...! Mammalian - Session #2 Saturday 11.00am A 2,000 km arctic canoe journey from Yellowknife to Rankin Inlet provides the setting for this intimate, sideways look at the largest wilderness area in North America. Home to some of the greatest populations of large mammals on earth, pressures from industry and climate change make the future of this sanctuary uncertain. From the deepest heart of the barrenlands, the filmmakers have emerged with a compelling portrait of the landscape and a new discovery that will shock the natural world. Mazungu - First descent of the Congo River - Session #6 Sunday 4.00pm Phil Harwood's epic, 5 month, source-to-sea solo descent of the 2922 mile Congo River in Central Africa by Canadian Canoe. Flowing through savanna, thick swamps and dense tropical rainforest, the Congo River has never been descended from source to sea from the true source in North Eastern Zambia. Due to endemic corruption, political instability and years of war, not to mention the crocodiles, hippos, waterfalls and huge white water, the area is a world away from our ‘western society’ and visited by only the most adventurous. Miracle in the Storm - Session #6 Sunday 4pm The remarkable true story of how a German paraglider survived lightning, pounding hail, minus 50-degree temperatures and oxygen deprivation after a storm system sucked her to an altitude higher than Mount Everest. The story of a paraglider who survived a terrifying flight through a storm that lifted her so high she lost consciousness and suffered frostbite. Ewa Wisnierska was in eastern Australia training for the World Paragliding Championships when a storm carried her paraglider to 9500m, about 1,000m higher than Mount Everest. A Chinese paraglider, He Zhongpin, was killed by the same storm, but Miss Wisnierska's paraglider remained upright for more than 30 minutes even though she was unconscious. She came round about 500m from Earth, with frostbite on her face and ice in her lightweight flying suit. Muy Caliente - Session #4 Saturday 8pm The story of Tim Emmett making the first ascent of Muy Caliente! (E10) in Stennis Ford, Pembroke. No Ceiling - Session #7 Sunday Glenn and Heather journeyed to Mt Meru (6672m) in a remote part of the Garwhal Himalaya in India to see if they could break the record for the world’s highest BASE jump. But first Heather, a regular and quite non adventurous woman, had to learn how to BASE jump and climb. They went on to pioneer a new route on Mt Meru and after 23 days of climbing and waiting for a weather window, Glenn and Heather are poised to jump from a ledge on the east face at 6604m. The climbing team included Wanaka mountaineer Mal Haskins.
North Shore Morning Commute - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm Follow bike shop owner Matt Juhasz as he takes you on his unconventional morning commute to work. Situated at the base of Mt. Fromme in North Vancouver is the home of North Shore Bike Shop owner MAtt Juhasz. Just like the rest of us, Matt has to wake up early for his daily commute to work. But in stead of hopping on a bus or even on a road bike, Matt jumps onto his mountain bike and catches a little bit of dirt along the way.
Oceans of Fear - Session #6 Sunday 4.00pm Follow Leo Houlding on his life long dream of climbing a big wall in South Africa as he makes a fast repeat of the incredible 'Oceans of Fear' in the stunning Klein Winter Hoek. Oil in Eden - Session #1 Saturday 11.0am One of the last bastions of Canadian wilderness, the Great Bear Rainforest, on BC's north and central Pacific coast, in now endangered. It's one of the last bastions of Canadian wilderness: the Great Bear Rainforest, on BC's north and central Pacific coast. Home to Orca and humpback whales, wild salmon, wolves, grizzlies, and the legendary spirit bear - this spectacular place is now threatened by a proposal from Enbridge to bring an oil pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands and supertankers to this fragile and rugged coast. “Oil in Eden” reveals the majestic places and vibrant cultures at risk from this proposal – and the growing public movement to stop it.
On Assignment - Session #12 Tuesday 7.30pm Climber, skier and mountaineer Jimmy Chin has spent his life behind the camera and from that viewpoint has chronicled incredible feats in some of the most breathtaking places in the world. This film follows Chin to Yosemite Valley and films him as he shoots a National Geographic story on the climbing culture in Yosemite. It’s a short portrait of a passionate athlete who has melded his loves: climbing and photography. “I think the most honest photos happen when both the subject and the photographer are just in the moment,” he says in the film, and “the rest of the world has just fallen away.”
Shenanigans - Session #11 Tuesday 3.00pm Split into the key seasons of summer and winter, Shenanigans shows the outdoor activities of a group of young wanaka mates Snow - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm Weather or not? A snowstorm brings the best of both worlds in the animated short. Sparks Fly Upwards - Session #7 Sunday 8.00pm On December 3, 1910, Australian Freda Du Faur climbed into the history books as the first woman to reach the summit of Aoraki/ Mount Cook. She went on to complete many impressive climbs in the Mount Cook region in the following seasons. However her later life was darkened by depression, and she faded into obscurity after her death. Speedfly 8000 - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm In preparation for their 8000m attempt on October 2011 the Speedfly team head to the upper Tasman Glacier in the Southern Alps for some crazy descents.
Team Oseven - Session #1 Friday 7.30pm This film is based on the Freud theory that ‘hapiness is a child’s dream fulfilled in maturity’. This film was shoot in 5 days in Chamonix, during the Nissan Outdoor Games.
The Continuum Project: Norway - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm The film follows some of the world's best climbing talent around the globe to document bold new routes and daring repeats on ice, rock, and in the alpine. The film focuses on these climbers' drive to explore, their passion for the mountains and the climbing lifestyles. The Desert River - Session #1 Friday 7pm Every spring in Haines, Alaska, a river bulges and rages towards the sea, fed by the thawing of a massive mountain snowpack. Jon Larsson and Stephan Drake travel to Haines, Alaska, where every spring a river bulges and rages towards the sea, fed by the thawing of a massive mountain snowpack. These same mountains fuel the hunger of those willing to test their skills against the desolate white beauty of Alaska’s high desert - giving life to river and skier alike. The Fanatic Search, A Girl Thing. Festival Cut - Session #7 Sunday 8.00pm Follow Swiss climber Nina Caprez as she makes the first female ascent of the 150m Ultime Demence 8A+ (NZ grade 30) in the Verdon Gorge, France The Forgotten Himalaya - Session #5 Sunday 11.00am Wanda Vivequin has collected some 10,000 baseball caps donated by caring Canadians. The film follows her from Canada to the remote Humla district in Northwest Nepal on her quest to distribute them to some of the poorest people on this planet in the hope of helping prevent cataracts. Caps against Cataracts has many layers that will form the basis of this fascinating and feel-good documentary: The Last Wild Race - Session #5 Sunday 11 am 56 adventurers from across the globe converge on Chilean Patagonia for the 9th edition of the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. For 10 days, 14 teams will test themselves in an unforgiving wilderness of fierce winds, icy rivers and impenetrable forests. This film follows the teams as they trek, kayak and bike over 600 kilometers in the last wild race on the planet. The Longest Way - Session #7 Sunday 8pm This is a time-lapse, made up of roughly 1.400 photographs, depicting a one-year walk from Beijing to Ürümqi in 2007/2008. Unlimited growth of hair and beard add liveliness to the resulting video. The complete distance was covered on foot. Just plain good-old walking. There are scenes on airplanes, trains and boats, which were acquired during breaks. This is not a strict "1-picture-a-day" video, since there are many instances where several shots were taken on the same occasion. The intention is to show movement in the background, include other people in the frame, and make the video more interesting. The reference to Teacher Xie in the end is a dedication to a great master of walking. Received the Jury’s Award at the recent Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival. The Prophet - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm Following the UK's top big wall climber Leo Houlding as he revisits his 10 year project, an exceptionally steep, loose and difficult route on the east face of Yosemite's El Cap. Leo describes the route as 'the wildest climb I've ever been on'. This has to be seen to be believed, crazy climbing. Winner of the Grand Prize at this years Kendal Mountain Film Festival. The Swiss Machine - Session #1 Friday 7pm Ueli Steck may be the greatest speed alpinist the world has ever seen. In this film he tells the stories of his record-breaking ascents in the Alps, accompanied by stunning aerial footage of him racing up 8,000 foot alpine faces. Ueli joins Alex Honnold in Yosemite to attempt speed records there. His ultimate goal: take his one-man alpine speed game to the largest, highest walls in the world.
A ski film based up to the mountains surrounding Mt Cook. A trip like this requires a lot of planning and the logistics of organizing 9 people to under take a very ambitious mission in one of the wildest parts of NZ . There are so many variables that you cannot control and one of the biggest skills is being able to adapt with what ever is put in front of you. On top of having to hike for days on end, there was carrying over 23kg of camera gear including two cameras, tripods, lenses, mics, snow shoes, harness, crampons, ice axes, camping gear etc.
Towers of the Ennedi - Session #12 Tuesday 7.30pm Renan Ozturk and veteran climber Mark Synnott bring young climbing stars Alex Honnold and James Pearson to the Ennedi to explore its untouched landscapes. Together they endure a long, bumpy drive across the sand flats of a godforsaken country to reach an incredible destination: gardens of towers filled with graceful fingers of rock, bottle-shaped formations and lithe arches. With its stark and poetic footage, as well as jarring images of unpleasant travels, this film shows that sometimes you can have just as many adventures trying to reach your destination as you can once you get there. Tuzgle: Argentina - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm The Swiss climber Nina Caprez, accompanied by nine French climbers, go explore a new climbing hot spot in Argentina. The area is an an altiplano littered with boulders and crags nested at 4200 m of elevation under the Tuzgle volcano. The movie illustrates the daily life of the group in this unexplored wonderland. As days fly by, they realize that the true value of their discoveries is way beyond their expectations... One of the best bouldering destinations of South America has been unveiled. Twin Towers - Session #9 Monday 3.30pm Follow the first Dane in his attempt to climb the extremely hard mixed route, Twin Towers in Switzerland, Windsurfing Movie - Festival Cut - Session #11 Tuesday 3.00pm Gain a glimpse into the future of windsurfing through the eyes of Red Bull athlete Levi Siver. Massive waves, big jumps and adrenaline fueled raw windsurfing. Yosemite Falls High Line - Session #1 Friday 7.00pm Filmmaker Renan Ozturk shows us a new angle on slack lining as Dean Potter attempts a perilous crossing at Upper Yosemite Falls.
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Bleed in Hell - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm
The Whole Nine Yards - Session #4 Saturday 7.30pm
NZ
Mountain Film Festival Office
P.O.Box 563, Wanaka 9192, New Zealand Tel +64 3 443 1609 • Mob 0274 909 003 • nzmff@xtra.co.nz • www.mountainfilm.net.nz