Press Release – Relaunch after the Pandemic –                                             01/2021-05-10

Mountain Film Tegernsee – International Festival from 13 – 17 October 2021

Mountain Film Festival after the Pandemic
Relaunch with Open Questions and Great Confidence

While Munich cancels Oktoberfest for the second time due to the pandemic – as was to be expected –the most long-standing mountain film festival does take place in Trento, if in somewhat changed format from its previous 68 instalments. At the same time, the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival team wonders how their local event in October might turn out. The one thing they are adamant about is that “happen it will”.

For mountain film producers, the Trento spring festival has always been a fixed date. Naturally, the event hosted in the charming city of Trento on the Adige River has changed across the decades, just like alpinism itself and like the movie industry. Still, this is where the community meets. In past times, the international heroes of the climbing and expedition world congregated to get to know each other and exchange ideas; today, global stars fly in for a fleeting appearance. After all, films about breath-taking achievements and records are part of the professional mountaineering industry – expected by sponsors and craved by its audience.

When the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival premiered in 2003, its initiator Otto Guggenbichler had been a regular in Trento for many years. Festival Director Michael Pause similarly remembers his first visit to the Trento Festival in 1980: “Back then, the Trento Film Festival already had a solid structure and was a massive operation. During the Tegernsee inauguration, our Italian friends supported us with help and advice, and we are very grateful for that.” The annual journey to Trento always renders plenty new contacts in the scene and the opportunity to catch up with trends and news within the mountain film genre. One or two great Trento film hits can usually be attracted to Tegernsee before its end of May submission deadline.

In May 2021, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign conjures a silver lining into the sky for autumn events in the cultural realm, yet nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to planning. The team surrounding Tegernsee Mayor Johannes Hagn and Michael Pause is conscious of the fact that the festival relaunch (13 – 17 October 2021) will not take place at the same outstanding level which characterised the Tegernsee event before the coronavirus. “Yet I am confident that every participating individual in Tegernsee this autumn will feel like a winner – most of all our organising team,” states Hagn.
“With the arrival of submissions, the thrill of anticipation and suspense intensifies, which one feels and needs ahead of a mountain tour the same way we do as mountain film festival hosts,” Pause adds.