Programme - Wednesday (13 October 2021)

8:00 pm | Barocksaal
Opening
Opening

Lock Down Rock Up

Nico Hambleton | Nicocam, 3rd Rock | Great Britain | 10 min. | English/German subtitles

Lock Down Rock Up

Nico Hambleton | Nicocam, 3rd Rock | Great Britain | 10 min. | English/German subtitles

Jerome Mowat is a paramedic. During the global pandemic, he works at the forefront of the fallout and braves all its challenges. For him, climbing is an optimal way to reduce stress levels and draw new strength. Powerful images get under the audience’s skin.

 

K2 – The Impossible Descent

Slawomir Batyra | Red Bull Media House | USA | 65 min. | German

K2 – The Impossible Descent

Slawomir Batyra | Red Bull Media House | USA | 65 min. | German

Andrzej Bargiel is not necessarily one of the big names in ski mountaineering. Yet in 2018 he conquers K2 without bottled oxygen and dares an audacious descent on skis from its summit to base camp. After an ascent of 60-plus hours, he carves his mark into the rock and ice flanks of this giant mountain. A show of strength that requires superhuman physical and mental prowess, but also a tireless crew to accompany the extreme mountaineer.

 

L’ escalade libérée (Antoine de Menestrel – Freed Climbing)

Benoît Regord | Air Libre Prod | France | 26 min. | French / German subtitles

L’ escalade libérée (Antoine de Menestrel – Freed Climbing)

Benoît Regord | Air Libre Prod | France | 26 min. | French / German subtitles

Antoine de Menestrel used to be one of the best French sport climbers. Honestly and with empathy he describes his beginnings in the South of France and his feelings at a time when he wrote climbing history. Today, at the age of 55, a lot has changed: he claims to have moved on from free climbing to “freed climbing”. He is now is able to love being on his way more so than reaching his goal – and looks after his body during the process.)

 

Am Gipfel (At the Summit)

Helmut Milz | Bayerischer Rundfunk | Germany | 7 min. | German

Am Gipfel (At the Summit)

Helmut Milz | Bayerischer Rundfunk | Germany | 7 min. | German

A hiker reaches the summit and enjoys silence as well as breath-taking mountain scenery. But his serenity is short-lived: First he is disturbed by an over-the-top fitness freak, then two young citywomen arrive on the hunt for the best Instagram shot and finally a group of tourists undertake their virgin attempts at yodelling. Even a supposedly like-minded mountain pal pursues completely different interests.)

 

8:00 pm | Ludwig-Thoma-Saal
Milestones
Milestones

El gran Hito (The Great Milstone)

Ignasi López Fàbregas | Ana Benigna Vega Pérez | Spain | 12 min. | no spoken content

El gran Hito (The Great Milstone)

Ignasi López Fàbregas | Ana Benigna Vega Pérez | Spain | 12 min. | no spoken content

A well-heeled mountaineer’s hobby is to “collect” the highest peaks. He is still missing one: the ascent of this one inaccessible mountain. He wants to reach its summit, no matter the cost. A wife is fed up with waiting at home for her husband to return from his mountain adventures. She sets out on her own, choosing an easier route. But as a woman, she has to face completely different obstacles. The two fates interlink en route during this unique animated film set in the early days of mountaineering.

 

Balandrau – Infern Glaçat (Balandrau – A Frozen Hell)

Guille Cascante | Lastor Media SL | Spain | 79 min. | Catalan/German subtitles

Balandrau – Infern Glaçat (Balandrau – A Frozen Hell)

Guille Cascante | Lastor Media SL | Spain | 79 min. | Catalan/German subtitles

In December 2000, an unexpected blizzard claims the lives of ten climbers in the Pyrenees. It is one of the gravest tragedies in Pyrenees history – also for those who survive the inferno to tell their gripping tale.

 

8:00 pm | Medius
In Paradise
In Paradise

Swissway to Heaven

Guillaume Broust | France | 55 min. | multi-language/German subtitles

Swissway to Heaven

Guillaume Broust | France | 55 min. | multi-language/German subtitles

Switzerland is a paradise for all who love extensive climbing tours. With his very special sense of humour and unbridled enthusiasm, Cedric Lachat targets tours with cult status. His destinations are the Eiger, Gastlosen, Wendenstöcke, Lauterbrunnen and the Rätikon. En route he meets various climbing pioneers, while archive images trace the development from traditional mountaineering to modern sport climbing.

 

The Tears of Shiva – The Holy River Karnali

Mikel Sarasola | Spain | 31 min. | English/German subtitles

The Tears of Shiva – The Holy River Karnali

Mikel Sarasola | Spain | 31 min. | English/German subtitles

Development cannot happen without change. Fundamental transformations are currently under foot in Nepal. Water reserves are used to generate energy and thus make life easier for people. However, at a high cost. Before it is too late, four kayakers set out to discover the secrets of one of Nepal’s wildest, most remote rivers. They intend to grab their chance before people devoid of any consideration destroy this paradise like so many others.

 

Building Bridges

Johannes Olszewski | One Inch Dreams GmbH | USA | 5 min. | English

Building Bridges

Johannes Olszewski | One Inch Dreams GmbH | USA | 5 min. | English

In the middle of lonesome Utah, a group of extreme athletes are planning something extraordinary against a grandiose backdrop. This inspires a cynical old local to reflect upon his own approach to life – and what it means to build bridges. The film has already received numerous awards.

 

8:00 pm | Schalthaus
Guilt and Innocence
Guilt and Innocence

The Untold Story of Fatma Kayaci

Orhan Tekeoglu | Nurdan Tekeoglu | Turkey | 40 min. | Turkish/English subtitles

The Untold Story of Fatma Kayaci

Orhan Tekeoglu | Nurdan Tekeoglu | Turkey | 40 min. | Turkish/English subtitles

Everyone is talking about the fate of 16-year-old Ali Kayaci. He was spending time at alpine pasture with his aunt Fatma when a fire claimed his life. Many blame Fatma for being careless. When Fatma finds out about the allegations by relatives and neighbours, she is hit hard. She decides to leave her village so that she never has to face its inhabitants again.)

 

Solo Trekker

Jing-Ye Chang | Yi-Hua Wang | Taiwan | 25 min. | Mandarin/English subtitles

Solo Trekker

Jing-Ye Chang | Yi-Hua Wang | Taiwan | 25 min. | Mandarin/English subtitles

Deep in the night, high up in the mountains: a young lumberjack illegally felling cypress trees discovers a trekker who has broken his leg during a tumble from a rock. The trekker is a solo traveller and offers the man ten times the price of a tree for bringing him back down to the valley. What will the lumberjack decide? And will he reveive his reward?

Skitour in die Unterwelt (Ski Tour into the Underworld)

Jürgen Schafroth | Allgäufilm | Germany | 27 min. | German

Skitour in die Unterwelt (Ski Tour into the Underworld)

Jürgen Schafroth | Allgäufilm | Germany | 27 min. | German

The Romans already utilised the elongated, distinctive rock faces of the Gottesackerwände and Mount Hohe Ifen in the Allgäu Alps for the purpose of orientation. The flat valleys strewn in-between are desert-like rock landscapes marked by crevices and deep holes. In winter, wind and snow create bizarre shapes. A ski tour across the Gottesacker Plateau presents an opportunity to investigate the history of this unique landscape as well as its hidden cave systems, including the famous Hölloch Cave.)

 

8:00 pm | Quirinal
Rite of Passage
Rite of Passage

Chaddr – Unter uns der Fluss (- Beneath us the River)

Minsu Park | Karbe Film | Germany | 90 min. | Ladakhi, English/German subtitles

Chaddr – Unter uns der Fluss (- Beneath us the River)

Minsu Park | Karbe Film | Germany | 90 min. | Ladakhi, English/German subtitles

18-year-old Tsangyang comes from a village in Ladahk. To get to her school in Leh, she hikes across the Chaddr every year, a mountain pass that by now is life-threatening: The river whose ice once provided firm footing no longer freezes over. Such changes are fundamental. Climate change directly affects people’s lives in distant Himlayan regions. One last time, Tsangyang and her father brave the river challenge to get her to her final exam in time. The exam result will decide her future.)

 

8:00 pm | Sporthalle
Ueli Steck
Ueli Steck

Ueli Steck – Auf schmalem Grat (On a Narrow Ridge)

Jacqueline Schwerzmann | Schweizer Rundfunk | Switzerland | 95 min. | German

Ueli Steck – Auf schmalem Grat (On a Narrow Ridge)

Jacqueline Schwerzmann | Schweizer Rundfunk | Switzerland | 95 min. | German

Ueli Steck probably was Switzerland’s most well-known mountaineer. Three years ago, at the age of 40, he met with a fatal accident in the Himalayas. He previously climbed the highest north faces of the Alps at record speeds and without a rope. What drove him to his limit like that? And who was the human individual inside the famous mountaineer? As a teenager he already knew that climbing was his sport. His parents and two brothers describe how he handled celebrity and its public pressures as well as his own fear of going too far.