Programme - Saturday 19 October 2019 - during the day

Kluane National Park is located in the southwest of the Yukon, right on the border with Alaska. Massive mountain ranges, sparse coniferous forests, grasses and colourful wildflowers characterize the landscape. However, this film focuses on the Kluane Icefield. The second largest contiguous glacier ice field outside the polar regions is about half the size of Switzerland. Here, scientists from all over the world research their fields of expertise: glaciology, geology, biology and climate science.

A cinematic expedition into an Alpine soundscape. The director has condensed dialects, sounds and songs of shepherds, dairymaids and dairymaids into a rhythmic and sensual mood.

They have remained single because the right time or the right partner never came, the farmers dwelling high above Lichtenberg in the South Tyrolean Vinschgau. Their 17 farms are located at almost 5,000 ft of altitude. They do their daily work, feed the cattle and live in rhythm with the seasons. You’d think it’s all the hard work that made them forget to look around for a farmer’s wife. But this is about much more than a missed chance at romance.

The extreme mountaineer Robert Jasper is a minimalist who masters delicate situations calmly. On his 50th birthday he makes a special gift: an expedition – all alone. In the Seekayak, he leaves the village of Kulusuk on the east coast of Greenland, after 12 days of paddling and towing his base camp at the foot of the Molar Spire to build. Solo, he climbs into the almost 500 meter high rock wall. To the climbing difficulties and the enormous effort joins the oppressive burden of loneliness.

Every summer, Crete becomes one of the most popular destinations for summer vacationers. A group of mountaineers are determined to show off the island from a completely different angle: as one of the top destinations for ski and splitboard tours. For this purpose, they are organising the first ever ski touring race on Crete.

This is the true story of the winter expedition to K2 undertaken by Krzysztof Wielicki, Adam Bielecki and Denis Urubuko. The three alpinists from Poland and Kazakhstan immediately abort their tour when a tragedy unfolds nearby, at Nanga Parbat. They manage to rescue Elisabeth Revol, a French mountaineer, in one of the most extraordinary operations in the history of mountain sports. For Elisabeth’s rope partner Tomasz Mackiewitz, however, help arrives too late.

Anna spends a summer on mountain pasture, together with pasture dog Lukki, cows, calves, chickens, ducks and many surprise guests. She helps dairymaid Kati as best she can. But besides the hard work there is also time for fun and leisure. Anna meets Friedi, one of the world’s best slackliners, who is also a great climbing buddy. Together with naturalist Steffi she observes marmots, and she learns a lot about the lives of the mountain dwellers.

It is no secret that the Dolomites are also highly attractive in winter. Some areas, however, rarely see visitors, even though the scenery is sensational and the possibilities are great – as in Val di Zoldo, with its naturally grown infrastructure and beautiful old houses surrounded by spectacular mountains. The team of TV series Bergauf-Bergab has found steep gullies, solitary summit moments, pristine powder snow slopes – and friendly locals.

As a child, the Spaniard Kilian Jornet, currently one of the world’s leading alpinists, wrote a list of all the mountain races he wants to win and all the peaks he wants to be on. In May 2017, the time has come, he fulfilled his last dream: A solo climb of Mount Everest. All points are checked.

The mountaineering year of 1959 begins with a bang: In Patagonia, Cesare Maestri from Italy and Toni Egger from East Tyrol supposedly succeed in the first ascent of Cerro Torre. Toni Egger appears to have been tragically killed during the descent. Later, doubts arise about the achievement. In 1970 Maestri reacts by nailing his way all the way up to the rocky end of the summit tower with the help of a drill and a compressor – thus ruining his reputation for good. 60 years later, Reinhold Messner puts together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle discovered by Cerro Torre experts who refute Maestri’s claims.

World premiere!

The Tyrolean Babsi Zangerl is one of the world’s best climbers. She has mastered the hardest alpine free climbing, such as the „Magic Mushroom‟ in the Yosemite Valley. Like her partner, the top climber Jacopo Larcher, she is only a „part-time professional‟. She does not like to be in the limelight and works alongside as an X- ray assistant. Babsi and Jacopo climb at eye level: At El Capitan, in Vorarlberg and bouldering in Galtür, where everything started …

On a Bulgarian mountain peak, the young Belgian Jean-Hugues Gooris climbs the tower of a decaying communist monument – and is randomly filmed. Media attention, even in the European Parliament is discussed on the ailing structure. Six months later, he returns with a bicycle and a small camera and immerses himself in the turbulent history of the Balkans. In his road movie he shows the warm hospitality of the people in different countries and mountain regions and tells touching episodes.

The homage to Maciej Berbeka, the father of the filmmaker, gives insights into the life of this great Polish mountaineer. His most important expeditions can be seen, as well as his everyday life with the family. However, the focus is on the fateful Winter Expedition 2013 on Broad Peak. Maciej then fulfilled his big dream and made it to the top. But the return was denied him.

After his initial radio work for Bavarian Public Broadcasting, the young Otto Guggenbichler moved over to the even younger medium of television. There he managed early on to combine his passion for the mountains with his new work as a filmmaker. In 1957 he travelled to Chamonix to shoot a film about the town and its local mountain, Montblanc. He brought well-known climber and cameraman Martin Schließler from Baden-Baden with him to photograph the ascent on the highest Alpine summit. Anyone who knows today’s Chamonix with its tourist bustle will be surprised by this footage.

The mountain range Otto Guggenbichler would have called home – apart from the gentle summits above Lake Tegernsee – is the Karwendel. He frequently sought it out together with his camera crews. In consequence, a film like the one produced in the 1970s about this rugged limestone massif between the rivers Inn and Isar contains numerous historical images, such as those of the construction of the Sylvenstein Dam. When the dam became operational, the old village of Fall was flooded with waters from the Isar. In the film, the tradition of hunting naturally plays a role – and also the emergence of tourism. In addition to fascinating footage, Guggenbichler’s personal and humorous comments will get viewers smiling.

A breathtaking trip by paraglider from the French Alps to the coast of South America, from the Azores to Brazil. You can feel the wind in your face and be inspired by cloud towers and fascinating landscapes – just like the birds only see. So just sit back and enjoy!

Martina Halik sets out with her sixty-year-old mother to ski down the treacherous coastal mountains of British Columbia to Alaska in six months on a 2300-kilometer route. For the two women so enthusiastic about the high mountains, the tour becomes a hard adventure: an avalanche almost costs their lives, they find a snow- covered monastery and meet an artist on snowshoes.

The documentation has already been awarded several times.