Programme - Wednesday 18 October 2023

Patagonia’s ice fields are difficult to access and still largely unknown to climate researchers. Extreme mountaineer and ice climber Robert Jasper lives in the southern Black Forest. Together with his colleague Jörn Heller from Freiburg he has ventured into barely explored areas in order to collect important data and samples for further research on behalf of climate expert Tobias Sauter. As a result of climate change, glaciers are irretrievably shrinking in the Patagonian Andes, a mountain range that extends beyond the borders with Chile and Argentina.

On the routes of nomads and on the historic Silk Road, a group of snowboarders and freeriders embark on an expedition to one of Kyrgyzstan’s most remote corners. In the Kakshaal Too Massif in the Tien Shan Mountains, near the Kyrgyz-Chinese border, a number of unknown mountains and steep flanks beckon to be discovered. We witness an adventurous journey to their destination, then touching encounters with local people and their culture, finally fantastic powder slopes offering perfect lines and bold steep descents – all this propels the athletes into a state of bliss and into a space where time seems to have stopped.

For The Pathan Project the director received the German Alpine Club (DAV) Prize for the Best Film in the category Mountain Experience in 2019.

A shepherdess awakes from a dream. In it, she saw a wolf approaching her herd. She devotes herself entirely to her work and looks after her sheep all summer long on a remote alp in Switzerland, completely exposed to nature and with great responsibility for the well-being of the herd. With binoculars, she searches the ridges of the surrounding mountains for the predator whose proximity she feels. When she finally comes face to face with the wolf, Queen, everything changes … A film about the relationship between humans and animals, about instincts and humility.

Iron mining used to determine the fate of Jelbang village in the district of Rolpa. After the Nepalese government closed the mines in 1989, the family of 84-year-old Raj Bahadur Budha Magar, who had worked in the iron mines since he was ten years old, lost all income. Some relatives disappeared abroad in search of work; others were killed in the civil war. The film shows how the closure of the Jelbang mine operation has affected the lives of the villagers and that of Raj Bahadur Budha.

For over four decades, Abdul Karim, commonly known as “Little Karim”, was the Karakoram’s most famous high-altitude porter – and he became a Pakistani mountaineering legend. Born in a remote village, he accompanied the most important expedition mountaineers of his time, such as Chris Bonington, Reinhold Messner and Jerzy Kukuczka. In 1985 he scaled the summit of Gasherbrum 2 in his own right (26,358 ft / 8,034 m). More important to Karim than all expeditions and summits, however, was the hope to improve the lives of his homeland people through his work and reputation. His final initiative before his death in 2022 was to create a group of female mountaineers – in a country where women rarely get to decide their fate.

Places of longing charged with high expectations are usually found just a snowball’s throw from disappointment. This also applies to ski destinations surrounded by fantastic mountain panoramas. While the image boundaries of a webcam robotically pan back and forth, interpersonal stories evolve in the foreground and social boundaries are casually transgressed. An edgy film about all-too-familiar encounters and the tragedy nascent in what seems harmless – a painfully realistic, but also humorous episodic mockumentary.

The freeriders of the Mountain Tribe Crew traverse the Tyrol from Fieberbrunn to St. Anton am Arlberg on skis and thus fulfil a long-cherished dream. The Cross Tyrol tour covers more than 300 miles (500 km) through mountains and valleys. The skiers do not avail of any transportation, with the exception of ski lifts located along the planned route. The group dives deep into this expanse of nature and into lonely glacier landscapes, but also crosses tourist hotspots removed from the solitude of the mountains, thus demonstrating the contrasts in Tyrol’s mountains.

In 1976, British mountaineers Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker succeeded with a first ascent of the famous Changabang West Face, one of the most challenging routes in the Himalayas. It took them 25 days to reach the summit at an altitude of 22,520 ft (6,864 m). Their route instantly became legendary. In 2022 three climbers from the New Zealand Alpine Team try their luck. Will they make it?

Marek Molek and Bruno Grassi are about to reach the summit of the “Great Troll”, the last and most difficult unclimbed mountain. A violent storm, exhaustion and poor snow conditions prevent them from reaching the top. While they argue about whether they should stand by the truth, special correspondent Mike Bacon fails to make contact with them and waits anxiously at base camp.

In 2018 the director received a Special Mention by the Jury for Viacruxis.

A western doesn’t necessarily have to be filmed in the Rocky Mountains! 1873, Emmental: Where is Johanna Frey? Separated from her family and sold into contract work, her sister Luisa goes in search of Johanna. Two rural police officers come across the body of the priest, who was shot in cold blood – at his side cowers a young, completely traumatised woman. While Jost tries to find out the motives of the crime, Christen finds a first lead. And for Luisa, a journey between retribution and redemption begins.

A-Song, a young Bunun porter, goes deep into the mountains to help with a search and rescue operation. As a newcomer, he doesn’t expect to be the one to find the dead mountaineer Tzu-Chiao. Unable to make contact with his team, A-Song gets lost on Luan Wu Mountain. His sole company is the lifeless body on his back. Above his heavy breathing, he hears someone whisper, “Take me up to the mountains.” Life and death don’t usually intersect, but the longing for home brings them together.

Deep in rural Nepal, a handful of friends support Jagat Lama in fulfilling his promise to his dying father to establish medical care in their native village of Kumari. Under Jagat’s leadership, they begin to build a self-sustaining community with many innovations for the entire region: electricity, a training centre for women, a school, a community farm and an infirmary. Less than two years later, an earthquake shakes Nepal and destroys everything. How is Jagat supposed to keep his promise?

When Elsa’s team achieves a breakthrough with GIGA HILL, the conscientious project manager comes away empty-handed. She is told she lacks the necessary “spunk” for Dubai. In order to prove it to herself and the others, Elsa takes on the next best challenge: the dangerous climb to the top of “Jubelspitze” (Mount Cheerpeak). Self-confident influencer Bobby is also on his way to the top. Both want to conquer nature, the only question is at what price, since neither of them considers turning back an option.

In April 2018, seven people died on the famous Haute Route in the Valais Alps – frozen to death from exhaustion in snow and ice, just 1,800 ft (550 m) from a refuge hut. What happened? After two years of research, this film answers many open questions for the first time: through documentary testimonies from survivors as well as with the help of events reconstructed in fictionalised scenes.

For Sherpas – Die wahren Helden am Everest (Sherpas – The True Heroes on Everest), the director received the 2009 Audience Award.