2023 – 20th International Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee, 18-22 October – Call for Entries (Short Version)
NL/Press Release – Call for Submissions (short version)
20th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 18 to 22 October 2023
Cinematic Time Travel on a Milestone Birthday
The International Mountain Film Festival turns 20 this year! The cinematic thrills on offer at Germany’s only open mountain film competition will be chosen in the coming months: From now until 31 May, filmmakers from all over the world can submit their latest productions. In addition to the most engaging films, the festival programme will include a variety of special anniversary features.
20 Mountain film festival years at Lake Tegernsee – that calls for a celebration. “Preparations for this autumn’s anniversary edition of the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival are in full swing,” states festival director Michael Pause full of anticipation. He also announces: “As a gift to our loyal guests, so to speak”, the very best films from 19 festival years will be shown at screening venues in addition to this year’s competing films. “We are looking forward to celebrating mountain film and the institution of cinema with a cinematic journey through time.” A new festival trailer is being produced. And on the occasion of the milestone anniversary, a new outdoor screening location will be added: a tent pitched on Tegernsee’s “Point” peninsula.
Call for new productions from around the globe
Until the end of May film makers can submit their latest productions from the mountain world. Productions can be submitted to three categories, which approach the mountains from different thematic angles. The first category, Mountain Experience, puts alpinism and sportive encounters with the mountains centre stage. The best film in this category is awarded the Prize by the German Alpine Club (DAV). Landscape portraits and investigations of environmental issues are the focus of the second category, Mountain Nature. Films in the third category, Mountain Life, take stock of ethnological and cultural aspects in the encounter between people and mountains. The best film across all categories will be awarded the festival’s main prize, the Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee (worth 3,000 euros). Furthermore, the most outstanding junior film maker (the author or director must be no older than 32 upon the film’s completion) receives the Otto Guggenbichler Prize, named after the Mountain Film Festival’s founder. Finally, there are special prizes for the Most Outstanding Camera Work, for the Exceptional Film, and of course the Bayern2 Audience Award.
Please find all further prizes and their worth as well as the Call for Submissions at: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
Information and Call for Submissions available from: Special Office Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany, phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de,
www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
2023 – 20th Internat. Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee – 18 – 22 October – Call for Entries
NL/Press Release Call for Submissions – March 09, 2023
20th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 18 to 22 October 2023
Cinematic Time Travel on a Milestone Birthday
The International Mountain Film Festival turns 20 this year! The cinematic thrills on offer at Germany’s only open mountain film competition will be chosen in the coming months: From now until 31 May, filmmakers from all over the world can submit their latest productions. An international jury awards prizes to the best. The winners will receive nine prizes across three competition categories, endowed with a total of 10,500 euros. In addition to the most engaging films, the festival programme will include a variety of special anniversary features.
20 Mountain film festival years at Lake Tegernsee – that calls for a celebration. “Preparations for this autumn’s anniversary edition of the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival are in full swing,” states festival director Michael Pause full of anticipation. He also announces: “As a gift to our loyal guests, so to speak”, the very best films from 19 festival years will be shown at screening venues in addition to this year’s competing films. “We are looking forward to celebrating mountain film and the institution of cinema with a cinematic journey through time.” A new festival trailer is being produced. And on the occasion of the milestone anniversary, a new outdoor screening location will be added: a tent pitched on Tegernsee’s “Point” peninsula.
The festival as a stage for encounters
Great stories, captivating footage, authentic characters and an exciting competition: At the 20th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, guests will once again be swept away by the fascination of the mountains, the creativity of filmmakers and protagonists. In the various screening venues, the entire spectrum of the “modern mountain film” genre can be admired on the big screen: the classic documentary as well as the weird short film and the gripping docudrama. Since the festival’s premiere exactly 20 years ago, the organizing team has been striving to bring the world’s best and most interesting films to Lake Tegernsee – as well as the people behind the stories. After all, festivals are always more than just the sum of their films. A festival is successful when it allows the makers and protagonists to emerge – when it gives them a stage for meaningful encounters. The many thousands of spectators who come to the mountain festival at autumnal Lake Tegernsee know and appreciate this.
Call for new productions from around the globe
Until the end of May film makers can submit their latest productions from the mountain world. Productions can be submitted to three categories, which approach the mountains from different thematic angles. The first category, Mountain Experience, puts alpinism and sportive encounters with the mountains centre stage. The best film in this category is awarded the Prize by the German Alpine Club (DAV). Landscape portraits and investigations of environmental issues are the focus of the second category, Mountain Nature. Films in the third category, Mountain Life, take stock of ethnological and cultural aspects in the encounter between people and mountains. The best film across all categories will be awarded the festival’s main prize, the Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee (worth 3,000 euros). Furthermore, the most outstanding junior film maker (the author or director must be no older than 32 upon the film’s completion) receives the Otto Guggenbichler Prize, named after the Mountain Film Festival’s founder. Finally, there are special prizes for the Most Outstanding Camera Work, for the Exceptional Film, and of course the Bayern2 Audience Award.
Please find all further prizes and their worth as well as the Call for Submissions at: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
Information and Call for Submissions available from: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany, phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de,
www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
2022 – Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival October 19-23 – Winning Films – Jury Statements
Winning Films 2022
Jury Statements – 22 October 2022
Great Prize by the City of Tegernsee
Alpenland (Alpine Country)
Robert Schabus, Austria
This film by Robert Schabus offers a timely representation of the mountains, and also represents our times. Impressive wide angles and laconic long shots reveal how the evolution of our civilisation endangers the habitat of 13 million people across eight countries. The cinematic narrative connects diverse stories from the entire Alpine region: A Carinthian mountain farming family is worried about the future subsistence of their farm. A world-famous Bavarian ski resort cannot exist without snow cannons, each of which costs as much as a social housing unit. A French doctor worries about medical care because more and more hotels in the mountain valley are shutting down. Over the course of 32 years, a Portuguese mountain railway employee in Zermatt has witnessed the glacier recede by 700 metres. An Italian farmer seems like a true outsider, because he prefers to be with the sheep and earn poorly than to work for more money in the factory. Does sustainability have to equal poverty? Do we have to give up economic growth to save the world? This mountain film does not answer such questions, but it makes us think deeply about them.
Prize by the German Alpine Club for the Best Alpine Film (Category Mountain Experience)
Höhenrausch – Die Entwicklung der Höhenmedizin (Altitude Sickness – The Development of High-Altitude Medicine)
David Pichler, Nicolai Niessen, Germany
One of the most feared dangers for extreme mountaineers lurks inside them: high altitude sickness (German: “Höhenrausch”, meaning “altitude frenzy”). The documentary film of the same title presents the history of this condition and related research in an impressive and dramaturgically gripping way. Fascinated, we follow the study’s director, high-altitude physician Marc Berger, his research team and the study participants during an experiment at the highest mountain refuge, the Margherita Hut (14,940 ft / 4,554 m above sea level). This narrative thread is completed by interviews with mountaineer, expedition doctor and high-altitude physician Peter Bärtsch, who explains altitude sickness in an objective and understandable way; with his colleague Oswald Oelz, who tells of experiments on his own body, which have contributed significantly to gaining knowledge; and with Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who reflects on this disease as an active and professional extreme mountaineer.
The jury was convinced by this approach to the complexities of altitude sickness. The successful interweaving of the mountaineering and scientific perspectives pulls viewers into its “frenzied” vortex.
Prize in the Category Mountain Nature
Yukon, un rêve blanc (Yukon, a White Dream)
Mathieu Le Lay, France
“Yukon – Un rêve blanc” adheres to a classic narrative pattern: The hero sets out alone towards a remote destination to seek his fortune. In this French film, wildlife photographer Jérémie Villet travels to the Canadian province of Yukon to pursue his passion: He takes photos of animals adapted to life in cold and snow. This passion is fuelled by something like an insatiable longing for absolute beauty. In the middle of winter, in great solitude and freezing cold, Jérémie is looking for a mountain goat. This almost unreal creature lives in a kind of mountain-nature that seems almost abstract, even inanimate: everything is white and cold. Congenial to the photographer’s magical pictures is the film’s footage. The crew around Mathieu Le Lay has managed to capture the good fortune of this unusual hero when, after many privations, he finally shoots the hoped-for photo.
Best Film in the Category Mountain Life
Lo Combat (You Fight)
Gaël Truc, France
With “Lo Combat” the audience can expect a real treat: By means of the feature film and ironically used quotes from the crime genre, its young Italian director Gaël Truc tells the story of a young, still inexperienced veterinarian who finds her way through thick snow to a farm where a cow experiences difficulty calving. When the stable door opens, tradition (farmer) and modernity (young female veterinarian) face each other with surprise. The farmer’s long doubtful look at the young woman embodies most of what is known about the relations man-woman, old-young and urban-country. In 15 short minutes, this light-footed and bold film deals with archaic questions, because inside the stable, it’s all about life and death, and also about the awareness of where our cultural roots run – all of which convinced the jury.
Otto Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Film Maker
Royaye yek Asb (Dream of a Horse)
Marjan Khosravi, Iran
Junior director Marjan Khosravi takes us into the archaic world of the Iranian mountains, home to the fifteen-year-old mountain farmer’s daughter Shahnaz. The documentary short film is about a young woman who revolts against the patriarchal structures of her family. She wants to attend school, learn and write stories. However, her father has a different vision: she and her three sisters are to be married as early as possible, as their two brothers will receive additional land in exchange. The film, which provides strong insights into the threatened yet still wild and free life of the mountain farmer’s daughter and her siblings, ends with a few lines from one of her own stories: “One day a father scolded his daughter: she should not study, it was useless and she had to marry. So, she picked up her rope and went up the mountain to collect firewood. Suddenly, she saw a snake on the path, the only thing she was afraid of in this world. She said to herself: I shall face fear once and for all.”
It is remarkable how the microcosm in Shahnaz’s mountains connects back to the current situation in Iran.
Prize for Outstanding Camera Work
Le grand marais (The Great Moor)
Clara Lacombe, France
Clara Lacombe’s film stages the lives of animals and plants with great care and affection. At the same time, the camera’s gaze seems to capture the interest of some species in the human world. Camera, sound, music and spoken content merge into an organic unit that creates a fairy tale atmosphere – exciting for children and adults alike. Today, this utopian world may only be possible within a nature reserve. Virtuoso camera work reveals a model for the coexistence of humans and nature.
Prize for the Special Film
The Disappearance of Janusz Klarner
Franciszek Berbeka, Poland
This film puts us on a scent. It takes us to the Himalayas to find out why certain people mysteriously disappeared. One of them is Janusz Klarner: Many years after his first ascent of Nanda Devi East, he left his apartment in Warsaw, never to return. This can only be attributed to the vengeance of the mountain goddess, whose peace the Polish mountaineers disturbed with their summit assault. At any rate, this is the conclusion towards which director Franciszek Berbeka propels us, when cheekily combining footage and facts just the way he wants. The result is a movie in the style of a silent film documentary that makes us viewers shudder and speculate: about the sense of monstrosity that overcome us like a mountain avalanche, like a hail of bombs. About the monster that looks at us and stays etched into our minds forever when people are abducted and disappear for good. The Special Mountain Film Prize
goes to “The Disappearance of Janusz Klarner” because with its experimental ways, it encourages us so beautifully to tell mountain films in excitingly different ways.
Honourable Mention by the Jury
Kjerag Solo
Alastair Lee, United Kingdom
Thanks to use of special camera technology, Alastair Lee succeeds in letting the audience participate up-front in a daring solo ascent on a Norwegian Bigwall. The film shows images of the highest intensity and climbing scenes shot from the most extraordinary vantage points.
Honourable Mention by the Jury
Inheritance
Aiymkul Temirbek Kyzy, Kyrgyzstan
In this short film, Aiymkul Temirbek conveys the preservation of an (artistic) craft tradition in Kyrgyzstan in a calmly observing narrative form. Almost in passing, the film succeeds at making us reflect on dwindling traditions and societal change.
Honourable Mention by the Jury
The Fading Nomads
Wie Shengze, China
The film “The Fading Nomads” by Chinese director Wie Shengze shows where the dream of a modern life can lead. He made it his mission to visit a Mongolian nomadic family twice with his camera. Once at a time when the family is breaking up and part of the family is giving up traditional nomadic life. 18 years later a second time to see what became of their vision. Arriving in a satellite town, the film impressively shows how people subordinate themselves to the constraints of modern life, even if they suffer under them. Now, only a dream remains of the formerly free yurt life with horse races in the high mountains’ wild nature. Wie Shengze’s creation poses the crucial question for all civilised societies: What do we give up, and in order to gain what? Who can claim that this question concerns only China? The fact that this authentic and critical snapshot from a closed-off country reaches us at all makes the film even more valuable. The jury would like to express their gratitude for this impressive contribution to the Mountain Life category with an Honourable Mention.
2022 – Tegernsee Internat. Mountain Film Festival October 19-23 – Winning Films
19th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival 2022
List of Winning Films 2022
Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee (€ 3,000)
“Alpenland (Alpine Country)” von Robert Schabus | NGF Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion | Austria
Prize by the German Alpine Club (DAV) for the Best Alpine Film / Category Mountain (€ 1.000)
„Höhenrausch – Die Entwicklung der Höhenmedizin (Altitude Sickness – The Development of High-Altitude Medicine)“ von David Pichler | Nicolai Niessen/berckwerk | Germany
Best Film in the Category Mountain Life – awarded by the Tegernseer Erdgas-Versorgungsges. (€ 1,000)
„Lo Combat (You Fight)“ von Gaël Truc | Aries Film | Italy
Best Film in the Category Mountain Nature (€ 1,000)
„Yukon, un rêve blanc (Yukon, a White Dream)“ von Mathieu Le Lay | Mathieu Le Lay Prod. | France
Otto Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Film Maker (€ 1,000)
„Royaye yek Asb (Dream of a Horse)“ von Marjan Khosravi | Milad Khosravi for Seven Springs Pictures | Iran
Prize for Outstanding Camera Work (€ 1,000)
„Le Grand Marais (The Great Moor)“ von Clara Lacombe | France
Prize for the Special Film (€ 1,000)
„The Disappearance of Janusz Klarner“ von Franciszek Berbeka | The Polish Nat. Film, TV & Theatre School | Poland
Honourable Mentions by the Jury
„Inheritance“ von Aiymkul Temirbek kyzy | Kyrgyzstan turkey university Manas | Kyrgyzstan
„The Fading Nomads“ von Wie Shengze | Parallax China | China
„Kjerag Solo“ von Alastair Lee | Posing Productions | United Kingdom
Bayern 2 – Audience Prize (€ 1.000,-)
„Yukon, un rêve blanc (Yukon, a White Dream)“ von Mathieu Le Lay | Mathieu Le Lay Prod. | France
2022 – Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival,October 19-23 – Awards Ceremony
Press Release/Awards Ceremony 2022-10-22
Tegernsee Mountain Film, 19th International Festival from 19 – 23 October 2022
“Alpenland” receives the Great Prize by the City of Tegernsee
The winner of the 19th Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival has been announced: The Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee, endowed with 3,000 Euros, goes to the film “Alpenland” (Alpine Country) by Robert Schabus. David Pichler and Nicolai Niessen receive the German Alpine Club (DAV) Prize for the Best Alpine Film in the category Mountain Experience for their documentary “Höhenrausch” (Altitude Sickness). The awards in the categories Mountain Nature, Mountain Life and the Otto Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Film Maker, endowed with 1,000 Euros each, go to the films “Yukon, un rêve blanc” (Yukon, A White Dream / France), “Lo Combat” (You Fight / Italy) and “Royaye yek Asb” (Dream of a Horse / Iran).
Austrian director Robert Schabus is the big winner of the 19th Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival. His film “Alpenland” prevailed against around 80 international productions and won the Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee, endowed with 3,000 Euros. According to the jury, his film “offers a timely representation of the mountains, and also represents our times.” Impressive wide angles and laconic long shots reveal how the evolution of our civilisation endangers the habitat of 13 million people across eight countries. “Does sustainability have to equal poverty? Do we have to give up economic growth to save the world? This mountain film makes us think deeply about it,” reads the jury statement.
A frenzy that pulls readers into its vortex
One of the greatest dangers for extreme mountaineers is altitude sickness (German: “Höhenrausch”, which translates to “altitude frenzy”). The documentary film of the same title by German film makers David Pichler and Nicolai Niessen presents the history of this condition and related research in an impressive and dramaturgically gripping way. Fascinated, we follow the study’s director, high-altitude physician Marc Berger, his research team and the study participants during an experiment at the Margherita Hut (14,940 ft / 4,554 m above sea level). The jury was convinced by this approach and states: The successful interweaving of the mountaineering and scientific perspectives pulls viewers into its “frenzied” vortex.
The film receives this year’s German Alpine Club (DAV) Prize for the Best Alpine Film in the category Mountain Experience.
Everything is white and cold
In the film “Yukon, un rêve blanc” by Frenchman Mathieu Le Lay, wildlife photographer Jérémie Villet travels to the Canadian province of Yukon to take photos of animals adapted to life in cold and snow. In the middle of winter, in great solitude and cold, Jérémie is looking for a mountain goat. Everything is white and cold. Congenial to the photographer’s magical pictures is the film’s footage. “The crew around Mathieu Le Lay has managed to capture the good fortune of this unusual hero when, after many privations, he finally shoots the hoped-for photo,” states the jury and awards Le Lay the Prize for the Best Film in the category Mountain Nature.
Inside the stable, tradition and modernity clash
All jury members agree: With “Lo Combat” viewers can look forward to a veritable treat. By means of the feature film and ironically used quotes from the crime genre, its young Italian director Gaël Truc tells the story of a young, still inexperienced veterinarian who finds her way through thick snow to a farmstead where a cow experiences difficulty calving. When the stable door opens, tradition (farmer) and modernity (young female veterinarian) face each other with surprise. This convinced the jury. “Lo Combat” by Gaël Truc receives this year’s Prize for the Best Film in the category Mountain Life.
Junior Film Maker Prize goes to female director from Iran
The Otto Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Film Maker 2022 goes to a young female director from Iran: Marjan Khosravi. Her documentary short film “Royaye yek Asb” is about a young woman who revolts against the patriarchal structures of her family. The jury finds “remarkable how the film’s microcosm connects back to the current situation in Iran.”
This year’s Prize for the Special Film goes to Franciszek Berbeka from Poland for “The Disappearance of Janusz Klarner”. The Prize for Best Camera Work is awarded to Clara Lacombe from France for “Le grand marais”. In addition, three films received Honourable Mentions by the Jury: “Kjerag Solo” by Alastair Lee (United Kingdom), “Inheritance” by Aiymkul Temirbek (Kyrgyzstan) and “The Fading Nomads” by Wie Shengze (China).
Cinema has returned! The 19th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival comes to an end
The jury, consisting of Karsten Scheuren (Germany), Stefanie Holzer (Austria), Alexander Donev (Bulgaria), Stefan König (Germany) and Thaïs Odermatt (Switzerland) spent many hours in the dark screening room to carefully analyse the strengths and weaknesses of 80 films from around 30 nations. The end of each Mountain Film Festival in Tegernsee is marked by the grand award ceremony for the winners of the competition. The winning films are presented in short sequences, and jury members explain the decisions behind the awards. Many of the winners accept their trophies in person. This means an occasion for all participants to celebrate together – film makers, jury, supporters and organisers.
Grand anniversary in 2023
“Mountain film has returned to the cinemas,” festival director Michael Pause is happy to say during the closing event at the festive Barocksaal venue in Tegernsee. “I myself was particularly pleased by the many wonderful encounters and interactions with numerous prominent film makers over the past few days. All this is finally possible again in fully occupied screening venues.” The mountain film scene had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and for this reason alone, the months of preparation work were worthwhile. Johannes Hagn, Mayor of Tegernsee, takes a similar view: “We can be satisfied with what we achieved this year. Expectations were actually exceeded. And there was a lot of positive feedback from visitors.” Fans can already look forward to next year: In 2023, the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival will celebrate its 20th edition.
Information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Germany, phone +49(0)8022-1801 – 37; bergfilm@tegernsee.de, Internet: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
2022 – Tegernsee Internat. Mountain Film Festival – October 19-23 – Strong Women and Strong Messages
Press Release – Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival 2022-10-17
Strong Women and Strong Messages
The staggering breadth of the mountain film genre can be experienced at the 19th Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival: On five festival days, an exquisite shortlist of the very best international productions will be presented, celebrity guests included. Here are some films not be missed – thanks to their surprising attitudes and daring perspectives.
On Wednesday’s opening night, the spotlight is on strong women in the mountains: “Sophie Lavaud – Lady 8000” is a contemporary high altitude expedition film, which sheds light on gender issues”, as this is an all-female expedition. With more than ten ascents under her belt, Sophie Lavaud stands a good chance of becoming the first Swiss woman to stand on all fourteen eight-thousander peaks. She would also be the fifth woman worldwide to fulfil this dream. Thursday caters another expedition film with “Dhaulagiri is my Everest”. It explores the history of high-altitude mountaineering and impresses its viewers with strong protagonists and memorable words of wisdom: In 1984, Zoltán Demján climbed two eight-thousanders without additional oxygen. First, he conquered the South Face of Lhotse Shar, then the South Pillar of Mount Everest, where the weather turned his descent into a dramatic experience. In a third, no less fascinating expedition film, a bunch of young French climbers boldly devise a mini-expedition and scale a 6.500 ft (2.000 m) ice wall to a 22.300 ft (7.000 m) peak, in Saturday’s “A l’ombre du Chamlang” (In the Shadow of Mt Chamlang). The North Face of Mt Chamlang is one of the last large unclimbed walls of the Himalayas. This film allows us to immerser ourselves in the best of 21st century Himalayan mountaineering.
On Saturday, Germany’s current top high-altitude mountaineer David Göttler will attend the Nepal Night at Ludwig-Thoma-Saal and reveal how he climbed the highest mountain on earth last spring without additional oxygen. Three Everest eras will be on show during this screening block: previously unpublished material from the 1920s in “Everest – by Those Who Were There”, the film “Sea to Summit” from 1992 and film sequences by cinematographer David Göttler with running live commentary. “Everest: Sea to Summit” by Michael Dillon is an absolute must-see. Dillon’s approach: Everest is 8.848 meters high, but most climbers start out on foot in Lukla, at around 2.600 m. His film protagonist emerges from the floods of the Indian Ocean, then walks step by step from sea level to the highest point on earth.
Mountain celebrities star in the screened films, such as Stefan Glowacz with his film “Wallride”, which he also produced: Together with ninja warrior Philipp Hans, the pro climber undertakes a sustainable XXL bike tour through the Alps, during which the two moreover succeed with first ascents on three challenging climbing routes. With well-known tongue-in-cheek, Belgian star climber Nicolas Favresse and a younger friend also hop into the bike saddle, bringing along their two dogs (who comment on their masters’ rather odd behaviour throughout the film). The physical torture experienced by top climbers can be witnessed in the film “Massiv Trad Attack” (Friday, 5 pm at Medius). In the audience for this screening will be Ralf Dujmovits – the first and so far the only German to have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders. Afterwards, and extensive cinematic portrait of Dujmovits is scheduled to run. This will be his first visit to the festival.
Two Bavarian winter sports stars and gold medal winners will also appear at the Mountain Film Festival: During its opening screening, we can admire Viktoria Rebensburg on a ski tour traverse of the Salzburg mountains as well as ascending Mt Grossglockner. She scales this mountain as confidently as if it were familiar Mt Leonhardstein in her home village Kreuth. On Friday, ex-biathlete Laura Dahlmeier can be seen forming a rope team with the “Huberbuam” (Huber boys). The three went climbing together on one of Montblanc’s large and difficult pillars. On stage, Dahlmeier will share more about her passion for the mountains.
Alpinist and climber Tom Dauer as well as Stefan Glowacz and his team will present their respective films to the audience in person and thus contribute to the intimate festival atmosphere. During the Bayern 2 Night on Thursday at Barocksaal, sport climber and climate activist Lena Müller will address the question: “Summit Bliss and Climate Crisis – How Do Those Go Together?” This outstanding climber can also be experienced during the film “More than a Route”, where she teams up with a female friend. Film makers from the Tegernsee region will also be present on site: Rosenheim film maker Puriah Ravahi, winner of the award in the Mountain Experience category in 2017 with his thought-provoking base jump film “Last Exit”, reports in “Back to Iran” on a ski touring trip to his native country.
Does festival director Michael Pause have a favourite? If he did, he wouldn’t reveal it in advance. Just this much: Two films displaying particularly great camera work count as likely candidates for an award: In 2015, Frenchman Mathieu LeLay received both the award in the category Mountain Nature and the Award for a Junior Film Maker. This time, he impresses with “Yukon, a White Dream” with stunning wildlife footage from Canada’s enchanted North. The film “Big North” by Italian film maker Dario Acocella takes us to Alaska as well as into the haunted literary heart of wilderness escapes.
In the end, every single mountain film fan is spoilt for choice: which one(s) to choose from the approximately 80 film titles? Everyone will have to make up their own mind according to their tastes and preferences. The screening venues tend to specialise on the following genres: extreme athletic feats at Medius, nature and culture at Quirinal and Ludwig-Thoma-Saal; the opening ceremony, retrospective and awards ceremony will take place at Barocksaal. Experimental films are offered at Schalthaus. The family cinema matinee screenings will take place at Thomasaal. Aficionados already know: the top films will be shown several times on different days. And the greatest cinematic excellence is guaranteed during Sunday’s matinee, when all winning films will be screened at full length.
Festival director Michael Pause would like to share one personal recommendation, independently from award speculations: “The disappearance of Janusz Klarner”. This film does not pamper to the mainstream, but tells a fascinating story backed up by excellent camera and editing work. Pause states: “Every hardcore film fan should try and catch this one by the end of the festival.”
Information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Germany, phone +49(0)8022-1801 – 37; bergfilm@tegernsee.de, online: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de Please find detailed descriptions of all films as well as of festival fringe activities in the print and online programmes.
2022 – 19th International Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival – Around the World in Five Days
Press Release – Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival 2022-09-02
Around the World in Five Days
Visitors to the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival, which is taking place for the 19th time from 19 to 23 October, embark on a unique journey. This year’s programme has just been published and reveals which visually stunning stories, documentaries, short and feature films await viewers. Once again, around 80 high-quality films with an unmistakable mountain focus, submitted from 28 countries, flicker across the screens – and carry audiences off to all corners of the globe. From as early as mid-September, mountain film fans can secure tickets for their favourite films.
From 19 to 23 October, the Mountain Film Festival attracts visitors to Tegernsee for the 19th time. Festival director Michael Pause promises yet another high-class programme: “Many outstanding films compete this year.” Also, prominent guests are expected, such as Viktoria Rebensburg, Laura Dahlmeier and Stefan Glowacz, who will personally present their respective films and thus contribute to the special festival atmosphere. Away from the silver screen, a varied fringe programme offers hikes among the picturesque Tegernsee mountains.
A quick browse through the print or online programme to study the short synopses of the approximately 80 listed films inexorably draws anyone into the diverse and fantastic world of the mountains – and of the films, which, given the intensity of the footage, will once again enthral viewers for five days. Densely packed screening blocks and highly exciting topics and protagonists make it difficult for the audience to decide which films to watch at Tegernsee screening venues. Numerous films are shown repeatedly to make sure nobody has to miss a top pick.
This year’s frontrunners include the film “Wallride”, in which climbers Stefan Glowacz and Philipp Hans take the audience on a sustainability-oriented extreme transalpine tour by mountain bike. The two adventurers have no idea what tribulations this journey across 1,413 miles (2,274 km) and up 151,522 ft (46,184 m) of altitude has in store for them. This year, Thursday’s Bayern 2 Night at the Barocksaal venue will focus on the highly topical question “Summit Bliss and Climate Crisis – How Do Those Go Together?” Elisabeth Tyroller and Georg Bayerle welcome, among others, sport climber and climate activist Lena Müller. At the same time, films by the adventurer and artistic all-rounder Martin Schließler will be shown at Ludwig-Thoma-Saal as part of his retrospective. A truly special film selection is always on offer on Friday’s German Alpine Club Night (DAV); this year, ex-biathlete Laura Dahlmeier will be personally present. And on Saturday at 10 a.m., the mountain film marathon’s final stretch begins with a matinee.
The end of every film triggers the question: Will it score this year’s Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee? The decision resides with the top-class international jury and thrills until the very end. Anyone who cares to know the complete competition outcome, should attend the award ceremony on Saturday: Here, festival visitors experience some of the best film makers in person and watch excerpts from all award-winning films. On Sunday, finally, all award-winning films are screened once more at full length.
Further information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, phone +49(0)8022-1801 – 37; bergfilm@tegernsee.de
Box office (ticket sales start on 16 September) and print programme are available at the Tourist-Information Tegernsee, Germany, phone +49(0)8022-92738 – 62; tegernsee@tegernsee.com; online at www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de or www.muenchenticket.de. All films as well as fringe events are described in detail in the print programme and online.
19th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival 2022 – Festival is back
Press Release – Festival is back – 2022-04-30
19th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 19 to 23 October 2022
The Mountain Film Festival is back!
After the Covid-related cancellation in 2020 and a courageous “reboot” under pandemic conditions in autumn 2021, this year’s International Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee must confront the reality of war in Ukraine. Nevertheless: like other mountain film festivals around the world, the Tegernsee event 2022 will strive to continue as a success. Once again, a “real” festival will take place. Preparations are in full swing. Producers and film makers have until May 31st to submit their latest mountain films.
Just as we were beginning to hope for an end to the pandemic, Russia’s attack on Ukraine paralyses us with horror. “Many people find it difficult to rally their spirits,” says Festival Director Michael Pause. “It helps to do something that makes you feel good! Go roam around nature, meet friends, go to concerts, theatres, cinemas and other cultural events. We’ve all missed that.”
This year presents a new challenge indeed: to get people off the couch and out of their home office, to gather the community at Lake Tegernsee and to enchant them with that special atmosphere that defines any authentic festival. The City of Tegernsee and the team of organisers have proven over the past 20 years that if there is one thing they excel at, it’s mountain film festival hosting. They have brought a veritable piece of “high cinematic culture” to the valley, Pause explains: “The festival’s evolution over the past two decades gives us great pleasure. Now it’s up to us to free people from their lethargy and rekindle the fire that all mountain fans feel.”
The festival’s cooperation partners – Bavarian Public Broadcasting (BR), the German Alpine Club (DAV), Tegernsee Valley Tourism (TTT), Tegernsee Friends of Mountain Film (Bergfilmfreunde Tegernsee e.V.) – pool their resources in these difficult times. Despite all obstacles, we feel great anticipation: to finally see films on the big screen again, together with our community! Film makers, more than anyone, are red hot for this opportunity. Festival-goers can look forward to a “proper” event with excellent films and that accustomed festival atmosphere: having fun together, exchanging ideas with like-minded people, actors and mountain film makers.
Festival Director Michael Pause is currently looking forward to just such an exchange of ideas at the 70th Trento Film Festival. The world’s oldest mountain film festival runs from April 29th to May 6th in northern Italy. It has established an important opportunity to make new contacts in the film community and to get up to speed with news and trends in the mountain film genre. The annual gathering of mountain film festival organisers also takes place in Trento.
Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing at Lake Tegernsee. This coming autumn, an international jury awards prizes to the best competing mountain films. On show are high-end films that evidence the genre’s special appeal. Audiences are in for surprising and creative contributions from international film makers. It is noteworthy that mountain films can be surprisingly sensitive and not quite as action-packed as one might assume. They present topics the mainstream would simply ignore. Until May 31st producers and film makers can submit their latest mountain films to the three categories “Mountain Experience”, “Mountain Nature” and “Mountain Life”.
Please find all further prizes, endowments and the Call for Entries at: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
Information and Call for Entries: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany, phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de,
www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
2022 – 19th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival – Call for Submissions
Press Release – Call for Submissions – February 2022
19th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 19 to 23 October 2022
Peaks and Valleys
We still have many months to go before the 19th International Mountain Film Festival, but Germany’s only open mountain film competition is beginning to take shape: film makers from all over the world can now submit their latest productions. The closing date for entries is May 31st. In October, an international jury will evaluate the films and award prizes to the strongest submissions.
Classic documentaries, inventive short films, exciting docudramas, memorable portraits –modern mountain film holds space for many film genres and an infinite number of topics. At the coming Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, audiences may once again expect to be enthralled by the magic of the mountains and by the stunning creativity of film makers and protagonists.
“To qualify for the Mountain Film Festival, submissions need to present a strong theme and good stories from the mountains as well as authentic characters,” explains Festival Director Michael Pause. Ever since the festival’s inception in 2003, the organisational team has been trying to bring the world’s best films to Tegernsee. “That is our mission and what we owe our audience,” Michael Pause declares. After all, a significant number of the many thousands of viewers who attend the mountain film festival at the autumnal Lake Tegernsee have become steady regulars.
Time to submit new productions!
Until the end of May film makers can submit their latest productions from the mountain world. Productions can be submitted in three categories, in which the film makers approach the mountains from different thematic angles. The category Mountain Experience puts alpinism and sportive encounters with the mountains centre stage. The best film in this category is awarded the Prize by the German Alpine Club (DAV). Landscape portraits and inquiries into environmental issues are the focus of the category Mountain Nature. Films in the third category, Mountain Life, take stock of ethnological and cultural aspects in the encounter between people and mountains. The best film across all categories will be awarded the festival’s main prize, the Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee (worth 3,000 euros). Furthermore, the most outstanding junior film maker (the author or director must be no older than 32 upon the film’s completion) receives the Otto Guggenbichler Prize, named after the Mountain Film Festival’s founder. Finally, there are special prizes for the Most Outstanding Camera Work and for the Exceptional Film (the respective prize money of 1,000 euros is provided by the Tegernsee Rotary Club).
Please find all further prizes and their worth as well as the Call for Submissions at: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
Information and Call for Submissions available from: Sonderbuero Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany, phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de, www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
2021 – Mountain Film Festival – Press Kit 16 Oct. 2021 – Contents
18th International Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee
13 to 17 Oct 2021
Press Kit
Contents
PT02 Jury
PT03 Stunning Mountain Films
PT04 Special Story
PT05 Jury Statements
PT06 List of Winning Films
Contact:
Internationales Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee
Tel. 0049/(0)8022/1801-37
E-Mail: bergfilm@tegernsee.de
www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
All textual and image material also available online at:
www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de/presse
2021 – Mountain Film Festival – Press Kit 16 Oct. 2021 – PT02 – Jury
Press Release/Jury 02/2021
Tegernsee Mountain Film, 18th International Festival from 13 – 17 October 2021
Jury Members 2021:
Stefan König (Germany, i.a. author, expert on mountain film history)
Sebastian Marseiler (South Tyrol, i.a. culture and nature film maker)
Julia Brunner (Austria, i.a. camera operator, cutter, film maker)
Thijs Horbach (Netherlands, i.a. Director of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival)
Titus Arnu (Switzerland/Austria, i.a. journalist, author)
Mountain Film’s New Responsibility
This year, the festival jury did not conduct its work as usual, united in Tegernsee, but in advance and alone, each member in their own office. Instead of animated discussions, it involved focused watching in one’s own privacy. How did the jury handle this unusual situation?
“Sitting together, drinking coffee, discussing – I honestly prefer it that way,” Stefan König admits and probably expresses the entire jury’s heartfelt opinion. Sebastian Marseiler also considers this “hermit work” less than optimal: “I miss the discussions, the other perspectives.” However: “Under the given circumstances it was a good and practical solution,” concludes Stefan König.
And so, five jury members immersed themselves into the world of mountain film in very different locations over the past couple of days. They were impressed by “Cows Dancing on the Roof”, this sober and sobering look at a reality that is often glorified in the heimatfilm genre. “It captivated me and lingered in my mind,” states Julia Brunner. The film received an honourable mention.
One production that didn’t win a prize moved Sebastian Marseiler deeply – he can empathise with the situation of Ladakhi school children very well: “The documentary ‘Chaddr – Beneath us the River’ really touched me, because it reminded me of my own biography: being torn from my familiar environment in order to visit a school, balancing two worlds and returning home with the certainty of having to leave again.” The category “Mountain Life” however received a strikingly high number of strong submissions, “pretty much all of which deserved an award.” A similar film did indeed receive the main prize.
Stefan König will particularly remember the film “What Will This Do to Us?” by Caroline Fink. This very short art film deals with loneliness during the times of Covid. „It seems to me that a lot of film makers have become more thoughtful,” Stefan König reflects. “This may also have something to do with the fact that clips sponsored by the outdoor industry or disguised power lemonade advertisements never made it into the program.” Julia Brunner believes that there were already signs of change before the pandemic: “Where extreme adventure used to rule supreme, there can be much more today: people, cultures, animals – films that only “slightly” brush the subject of mountains. It doesn’t always take hardcore action, drama, death, fast-paced music, adrenaline. A slower tempo has its own merits. “I think people now choose their mountain adventures and mountain stories with more respect for nature and the fragility of life.”
Stefan König wishes to clarify that the current “mountain craze” puts certain demands on the mountain film scene: “In some areas, the mountains are literally overrun. How much of this mass onslaught can be sustained by natural environments and how much by those dwelling in valley towns? This results in mountain film’s new responsibility.” The mountain film scene has already picked up on that, according to Thijs Horbach: “Film makers show that you can experience adventure, nature and mountains close to your home. And that it is possible to make good films without having to travel around the world.”
But how did the jury finally agree on the awarding of the prizes? A three-hour video conference soon revealed that independently of one another, all five jury members had made very similar preliminary decisions. “We ended up having a lively discussion of merit based on mutual respect,” Sebastian Marseiler sums up. Had it been a live event in one location, “we would probably have just discussed more,” says Julia Brunner. “It does however make a difference when you view the same film at the same time and debate it immediately afterwards,” counters Stefan König. “But in this particular case I believe the awards would have gone pretty much to the same recipients no matter what.”
2021 – Mountain Film Festival – Press Kit 16. Oct. 2021 – PT03 – Stunning Mountain Films
Press Release Mountain Film Festival 2021 03/2021
Tegernsee Mountain Film, 18th International Festival from 13 – 17 October 2021
Stunning Mountain Films and Ample Space in Screening Venues
The films “Children of the Snow Land” (Grand Prize of the City of Tegernsee) and “Balandrau – Frozen Hell” (Prize by the German Alpine Club for the Best Alpine Film) impressed not only the Tegernsee jury, but also the festival’s audience, who enjoyed plenty of legroom this year. They emerge as an unusual festival’s glorious winners.
“Takes getting used to”, said some. Although, who wants to get used to looking at sold-out but half-empty movie theatres? Let’s rather listen to the sigh of relief that seemed to travel through Tegernsee over the last few days: “The Mountain Film Festival is back!”
94 Films thrilled the audience in Tegernsee
“It was lovely and I enjoyed the legroom,” said a happy spectator from around Stuttgart, laughing. There are advantages to everything. Thanks to 252 submissions, the programme curators led by festival director Michael Pause were able to pick from a bumper harvest this year, which they did with gusto. After a yearlong festival hiatus, 94 films made it into the programme, more than ever. In most of the 44 screenings, the live hosts were able to welcome interesting guests from all over the world: for example paraclimbing world cup bronze medalist Jacqueline Fritz during the Bayern2 Night, three members of the 1970 Nanga Parbat expedition at its retrospective, and Ganesh Panday from Nepal during the Nepal Night. When the people of Tegernsee celebrated their “home game” at the Medius screening venue and a group of local snowboarders presented their cherished mountain hut on screen, thunderous applause followed. A great success, even if the boarders didn’t make it onto the list of winners – or might they still score the audience award?
A quietly intelligent film
Top recognition goes to a film of quiet intelligence, grandiose landscapes, unvarnished humanity and hope, as the jury put it. This year, it awards the touching documentary “Children of the Snow Land” by Zara Balfour and Marcus Stephenson (Great Britain/Nepal) with the Grand Prize of the City of Tegernsee. For the first time after twelve years of schooling in Kathmandu, three teenagers hike on lonely paths back to their remote home villages, a journey of several days. They speak of separation pain, homesickness, curiosity, fear and amazement. They cautiously return to their past, soon to embark on a hopefully better future.
Devastating, because it can happen to anyone
This film will rattle anyone who has ever been to the mountains: The Spanish documentary “Balandrau – Frozen Hell” by Guille Cascante is dramatic, disturbing, heart-wrenching. It reconstructs a mountain tragedy in the Pyrenees that cost ten people their lives. “What stands out is not only the extraordinary camera work, but above all the shocking triviality of this incident: The mountains seem doable, nobody could have foreseen this catastrophe,” comments the jury, having awarded “Balandrau” with the Prize by the German Alpine Club for the Best Alpine Film.
Utter stealth …
… in the icy upper regions of the Himalayas is not the snow leopard’s sole domain.
Those who want to see it up close must also move with utmost caution. French photographer and filmmaker Stéphane Jacques and his brother masterfully demonstrate as much in the film “On the Track of Snow Leopards”. They defy ice and loneliness in order to perhaps savour the joy of getting intimately close to these extraordinary animals. For this achievement, they receive the Prize for the Best Film in the Category “Mountain Nature”.
Spectacular balancing act in the Dolomites
Valentin Rapp is the proud recipient of the Otto Guggenbichler Young Talent Award. With his camera he follows professional slackliner Lukas Irmler in search of the perfect highline between the Schlern und Langkofel massifs. “The film is exactly like highlining in the Alps: spectacular, comparatively low budget and breathtakingly beautiful,” the jury concluded.
“A big step towards normality”
Despite restrictions, considerable additional effort and total cancellation of the entire fringe program, the festival organisers can offer a convincing summary. “We definitely had a very strong programme of films this year,” confirms Michael Pause. “I was particularly pleased with the many wonderful encounters that finally became possible again.” It seemed to him that the mountain film scene was literally ready to pounce on this kind of opportunity, and for that reason alone the effort was worth it. Tegernsee Mayor Johannes Hagn sees the situation similarly: “Last year we were able to transmit a sign of life, but this year we have taken a big step towards normality. And in 2022, everything should be back to the way we and our visitors remember it. We look forward to that!”
2021 – Mountain Film Festival – Press Kit 16 Oct. 2021 – PT04 -Special Story
Press Release Special Story 04/2021
Tegernsee Mountain Film, 18th International Festival from 13 – 17 October 2021
The Gift
In addition to the endowed main prizes, the Tegernsee jury may award films with an “Honourable Mention”. Often, touching stories stand behind these special productions that have not (yet) made the leap to the top. As is the case with “Weightless – Life is to Whistle” by Daniel Anker and Thomas Senf.
20 years ago, Daniel Anker, one of the quiet heroes of Swiss alpinism, scaled the Eiger North Face together with extreme climber Stefan Siegrist – and opened a new chapter in the history of alpine climbing with the route “La Vida es silbar” (Life is whistling). For Daniel Anker, it is a gift to be able to repeat the tour for his 60th birthday. His dream: to freeclimb it while shooting a film which mixes feelings from the present and the past. The Cuban film “La Vida es silbar”, after which the route is named, is also supposed to play a role.
The first part of the dream does not quite come true. “Only” a “normal” ascent of the difficult route seems possible, no free ascent without grabbing a rope. But what does that even matter? Don’t give a hoot, most would probably say. More satisfying is the way in which the “mental script”, which Daniel Anker has been developing for a long time, is turning into a touching film. He receives support from Swiss filmmaker Thomas Senf.
“I was rather naive,” recalls Daniel Anker. He simply called the production company Trigon-Film responsible for “La vida es silbar”, promptly got lucky and connected with a mountain-loving manager who instantly gave him permission to use excerpts from the film. And so, Thomas Senf and Daniel Anker are able to hit the wall and let two completely contrary worlds merge: the Eiger North Face and Cuba. Dancing and climbing. “They interweave climbing footage with excerpts from the art house film, combining reflections on gravity and the meaning of extreme climbing with the movie score. A pleasantly calm film with dizzying views from up high as well as serious depth,” the jury stated.
The film can not only be seen in Tegernsee, but by now is included as a bonus track with “La vida es silbar” (www.firmingo.ch). No separate marketing for the film exists as yet. It seems that none of the organisations Daniel Anker approached have “bothered” to take a closer look at the film. That could change quickly with the honourable mention in Tegernsee, as it did for some others who collected their first laurels here. But the best of all gifts probably is to see how the images affect their audience. How everybody catches their breath when looking deep down from the Eiger North Face – and how the applause at the German Alpine Club Night in Tegernsee almost doesn’t stop.
2021 – Mountain Film Festival – Press Kit – 16 Oct 2021 – PT05-Jury Statements
Winning Films 2021 – Jury Statements – 16 October 2021
Grand Prize of the City of Tegernsee
“Children of the Snow Land”
Zara Balfour, Marcus Stephenson, Great Britain/Nepal
The film makes for a touching documentary about separation and a sensitive narrative regarding difficult re-discoveries, suggestively mixing professional footage with the personal feelings of three young people. Two boys and a girl from extremely remote Himalayan valleys spend several days ascending on arduous paths to their hometowns. At the ages of five and six they had to leave their parents’ home to go to school in the capital. They haven’t seen their relatives for twelve years. Into their phone’s camera, they talk about the pain of separation, homesickness, curiosity, fear and amazement. Keenly, they observe the difficult living conditions back home and carefully approach their relatives and their archaic way of life. These images will travel back with them to the big city school that prepares them for a better life. This experience will seed their obligation. “I would like to earn a lot of money one day so that my mother can live like a queen!” says 16-year-old Tsering with youthful exuberance. Ultimately, it is a soft-spoken film that presents grandiose landscapes, unvarnished humanity and hope.
Best Film in the Category Mountain Experience
“Balandrau – Infern Glaçat” (Balandrau – Frozen Hell)
Guille Cascante, Spain
In dramatic, disturbing, heart-wrenching fashion the film reconstructs a mountain tragedy that cost ten lives. What stands out is not only the extraordinary camera work, but above all the shocking triviality of this incident: The mountains seem doable, the various groups’ tours are easy and not too long, nobody could have foreseen this catastrophe. Particularly touching is the fact that the victims are average consumers of alpinism – it could have happened to anyone, nobody would have been invincible. A film that gets under your skin and makes you question your own actions in a fresh light.
Best Film in the Category Mountain Nature
“Sur les traces de la panthère des neiges” (On the Track of Snow Leopards)
Stéphane Jacques, France
It often takes a long journey to discover the treasures of nature. This film draws us into the impossible expedition to the snow leopard. Combining breath-taking Himalayan landscapes with the daily worries of two photographer brothers, Stéphane Jacques allows us to intimately join this special quest. We experience the simplicity of mountain life in high Himalayan valleys and the joy of an exceptional encounter with nature – quite as if it were our very own adventure.
Best Film in the Category Mountain Life
“Nomades d’Iran, l’instituteur des monts Zagros” (Nomads of Iran – The Shepherd Children’s Teacher)
Louis Meunier, France
With calm images, the film narrates the transformation of a Middle Eastern farming culture. For the last time, the families set out on the long journey of their traditional transhumance, moving their livestock nomadically with the season. They are accompanied by the village school teacher: he uses every opportunity to teach the children, who walk and work alongside their parents. The next generation needs education in order to succeed in a new world. Told at the steady pace of the journey, the film has a lingering effect – and makes you think.
Otto Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Film Maker
“Alpine Highlines”
Valentin Rapp, Germany
Do you have to go to Patagonia or the Himalayas to experience spectacular mountain adventures? No, you don’t, and the pandemic might make it impossible anyways. For an extraordinary alpinist venture, professional slackliner Lukas Irmler only needs a highline, jagged peaks like those in the Dolomites and a few like-minded people. In “Alpine Highlines” he and his friends go looking for the perfect highline between the Schlern and Langkofel massifs. The experience of this film actually compares to high alpine highlining: spectacular, relatively low budget and breathtakingly beautiful.
Prize for the Most Outstanding Camera Work
K2 – The Impossible Descent
Camera: Bartek Bargiel, Poland
A Polish ski mountaineer makes alpine history when he successfully descends from K2’s summit all the way to its base entirely on skis. The drone used to film the ski run ensures that the film does justice to this exceptional sporting performance. Together with the camera, it shapes part of the story itself – it geolocates, delivers life-saving medication and captures sensational images. Sometimes we come to wonder who the film’s actual hero is – the skier or the drone with its pilot. Anyone who dislikes flying objects that buzz like outsized mutant bumble bees must still concede their potential to perform great deeds. Drones will play an important role in the future of mountaineering. In this adventure documentary, a drone and its pilot/cameraman have achieved something outstanding.
Prize for the Special Film
“El gran hito” (The Great Milestone)
Ignasi López Fàbregas, Spain
Ignasi López Fàbregas tells a high alpine tale by unusual means – as an animated film that toys with all the clichés of mountain adventure. There is the summit collector who wants to climb the supposedly impossible summit, his wife who admires him from the valley and the annoyed, grumbling mountain guide. But nothing goes according to plan – and the mountaineering lady becomes the surprise heroine of this lovingly made short work of art. “El gran hito” is great fun and presents to its audience a very unique and witty take on alpinism.
Honourable Mention by the Jury
“Anche Stanotte Le Mucche Danzeranno Sul Tetto” (Tonight also the Cows will Dance on the Roof)
Aldo Gugolz, Switzerland
The idyllic setting is deceptive. When a corpse is found not far from a Ticino alpine pasture, a young mountain-dwelling family’s peaceful, if also chaotic, alternative life starts to show cracks; social reality also increasingly catches up with them. The film only slowly reveals how one story connects with the other. The film makers have succeeded in creating a poetic documentary located between the utopia of simple mountain life and the melancholy of its inevitable end. A sober and sobering look at a reality that is often glorified in the alpine heimatfilm genre.
Honourable Mention by the Jury
“Schwerelos – Das Leben ist Pfeifen” (Weightless – Life is to Whistle)
Thomas Senf, Daniel Anker, Switzerland
The film “Schwerelos” by Thomas Senf and Daniel Anker combines two strongly contrastive worlds: the Eiger North Face and Cuba. In 1999, Daniel Anker and Stefan Siegrist set a milestone in alpine climbing with the route “La vida es silbar” (Life is to Whistle), which is named after a Cuban feature film. Senf and Anker interweave climbing footage with excerpts from the art house film, combining reflections on gravity and the meaning of extreme climbing with the movie score. A pleasantly calm film with dizzying views from up high as well as serious depth.
Honourable Mention by the Jury
“Was sie wohl tun wird mit uns?” (What Will This Do to Us?)
Caroline Fink, Switzerland
The short film impresses with its carefully arranged aesthetics and presents itself as a complete miniature work of art, where images and spoken words complement each other to great effect. The protagonist’s brief statements have an existentialist touch and, together with the sequence of images, create a lyrical testimony to the pandemic experience.
2021- Mountain Film Festival – Press Kit – 16 Oct 2021 – PT06 List of Winning Films
18th International Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee – Winning Films 2021
Great Prize by the City of Tegernsee (€ 3,000)
“Children of the Snow Land” by Zara Balfour, Marcus Stephenson (Großbritannien/Nepal)
Prize by the German Alpine Club for the Best Alpine Film in the Category of “Mountain Experience” (€ 1,000)
“Balandrau – Infern Glaçat (Balandrau – Frozen Hell)” by Guille Cascante (Spain)
Prize for the Best Film in the Category “Mountain Nature” (€ 1,000)
“Sur les traces da la panthère des neiges (On the Track of the Snow Leopards)” by Stéphan Jacques (France)
Best Film in the Category “Mountain Life” (€ 1,000) awarded by the Tegernseer Erdgas-Versorgungsges. (€ 1.000)
“Nomades d’Iran, l’institeur des monts Zagros (Nomads of Iran – The Shepherd childern’s Teacher) by Louis Meunier (France)
Otto Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Filmmaker (€ 1,000)
“Alpine Highlines” by Valentin Rapp (Germany)
Best Camera Work (sponsored by Rotary Club Tegernsee)
“K2 – The Impossible Descent”, Camera: Bartek Bargiel (Poland)
Prize for the Special Film (sponsored by Rotary Club Tegernsee)
“El gran hito” (The Great Milestone) by Ignasi López Fàbregas (Spain)
Honourable Mentions by the Jury (non-cash prizes)
“Anche Stanotte Le Mucche Danzeranno Sul Tetto (Tonight also the Cows will Dance on the Roof)“ by Aldo Gugolz (Switzerland)
“Schwerelos – Das Leben ist Pfeifen (Weightless – Life ist o Whistle)“ by Thomas Senf, Daniel Anker (Switzerland)
„Was sie wohl tun wird mit uns? (What Will This do to Us?)“ by Caroline Fink (Switzerland)
Bayern 2 – Audience Prize (€ 1.000,-)
„Das Riesending – 20000 Meter unter der Erde (Mega Cave – Six Thousand Feet Below Ground)“ by Freddie Röckenhaus (Germany)
„Hütt’n“ (Hut)“ by Philipp Marquardt (Germany)
Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival 2021 – Opening
Press Release/Opening 01/2021-10-14
Tegernsee Mountain Film, 18th International Festival from 13 – 17 October 2021
Riveting Films from the Mountain World
Every autumn, when the mountain film scene meets in Tegernsee, suspense is the name of the game – from the very first second. The thrill is shared: by audiences when protagonists clamber across icy ridges at dizzying heights, and by film makers when the jury puts their heads together.
As always: It’s all about the mountains – and only about the mountains. Despite such consistency, nothing is repetition. New perspectives and unfamiliar thoughts, courageous authors and surprising stories gripped the audience as early as the opening night.
After a year’s hiatus, the desire for new experiences is great, which is evident during the festival opening. The baroque hall is sold out, but seats must remain free. “Due to the current high incidence, we can only operate the festival on a smaller scale,” explained Mayor Johannes Hagn at the opening. “But the Mountain Film Festival is an important element of our cultural life, which is why we have done everything we can to ensure that it can take place this year.” Even if the effort is greater and the number of visitors is lower.
The programme is packed with 94 films screened across six venues until Sunday. This time, the best films from a two-year period make it onto the screen, and one can expect a lot accordingly. Film makers, producers or protagonists are often on site; on stage they authentically portray what might remain obscure to the audience. Such encounters are as much a part of the festival as the films themselves and added their special charm to the opening: for example, when ex-ski racer Michael Veith described what it’s like to be at the start of the Streif in Kitzbühel. And how he thinks he has an inkling of how Polish mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel felt when he buckled on his skis on K2 and tackled the “impossible descent”. Next, incredible drone images literally pulled the baroque hall audience into the eight-thousander’s icy gullies.
Suspense also surrounds the international jury: it has to decide who will receive an award at Germany’s only mountain film festival linked to a competition. This year, the jury does not watch the films together on site, but does so separately “in a quiet space” (aka: the home office). The exchange of ideas takes place via video conference, which at the moment is certainly the best solution. “But it is definitely nicer and more interesting to do so together in one place,” was the jury’s verdict on the matter. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony on Saturday evening in the baroque hall, to be broadcast on the BR livestream (on Bergauf-Bergab, on Mediathek and on BR Kulturbühne).
Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee 2021 – Silver Screen Returns to Tegernsee in Autumn
Press Release 2021-07-12
18th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 13 – 17 October 2021
Silver Screen Returns to Tegernsee in Autumn
Due to restrictions, cultural life largely stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic spikes; by now, activities are slowly resuming. The mountain film genre seems to have survived the enforced hiatus quite well, at least according to organisers of the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival: 240 productions from a stunning total of 38 countries were registered this spring. The pre-selection jury and the team of organisers currently face the challenge of forging an attractive festival programme from the most watchable cinematic peaks.
Have you ever watched a mountain film from Kazakhstan? Or from Taiwan? How might a film team from Egypt approach the mountain theme? 240 films present 240 different vantage points, stories, approaches. The mountain genre clearly fascinates film makers from around the globe.
“Don’t be fooled by this impressive figure. We had to filter quite strongly, because in a surprisingly large number of films the mountains did not play a leading part,” Tegernsee Festival Director Michael Pause regrets to say. “Still, we are able to assemble an exciting and diverse programme. We will present great and even some outstanding films in all categories!”
The selection will cover the entire modern mountain film spectrum: Gripping documentaries about alpine peak performances and exciting reportages will equally entice audiences as moving portraits by and about mountain people.
Naturally, the subject of the pandemic will also play a role on the Tegernsee silver screen. “In my opinion, a film festival should always create a stage for extraordinary films which introduce viewers to new perspectives and broaden their horizons,” Michael Pause points out.
This in turn makes the current year a particularly interesting one for witnessing the unusual routes film makers from all over the world chose during the lockdown. Michael Pause refuses to reveal too much: “I can only tell you this: You may expect surprises, you may expect suspense and veritable big screen thrills!”
Please note: The festival programme will be available from September onward in online and print format. For now, it seems that the festival can take place as “in-person” event, as a physical meet-up for passionate mountain (film) fans with protagonists and film makers. For up-to-date news on the finalised October format, please refer to www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
Contact: Intern. Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee
Rathausplatz 1
83684 Tegernsee
Germany
E-mail: bergfilm@tegernsee.de – Phone: +49 (0) 8022-1801-37 or -53
Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee 2021 – Relaunch after the Pandemic
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.
