Mountain film
Encyclopedia
A mountain film is a film genre that focuses on mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

 and especially the battle of man against nature. In addition to mere adventure, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

s who return from the mountain come back changed, usually gaining wisdom
Wisdom
Wisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...

 and enlightenment.

Bergfilme

Although the first mountain film, depicting the ascent of the Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...

 by the American climber Frank Ormiston-Smith, was released in 1903, the mountain film genre is most associated with the German bergfilme released in the 1920s. Some critics describe the German mountain film as an indigenous national / cultural genre, comparable to the American western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

.

The most important director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 of mountain films was Dr. Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck
Arnold Fanck was a pioneer of the German mountain film....

. According to an essay by Doug Cummings in the DVD release of the landmark The Holy Mountain
The Holy Mountain (1926 film)
The Holy Mountain is a 1926 Weimar Republic mountain film directed by Arnold Fanck, starring future propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl in her first screen appearance as an actress.- External links :*...

 (1926), Fanck saw his first motion picture in 1913, and after serving in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, purchased a rare Ernemann slow-motion camera, taught himself to shoot on location during an expedition to climb the Jungfrau
Jungfrau
The Jungfrau is one of the main summits in the Bernese Alps, situated between the cantons of Valais and Bern in Switzerland...

, taught himself to edit on his mother's kitchen table, and distributed the finished product himself. The film was eventually called The Wonders of Skiing (1919) and was an instant success.

The young interpretive dancer Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...

 was mesmerized by Fanck's fifth feature, Mountain of Destiny (1924) and successfully pursued Fanck and his star Luis Trenker
Luis Trenker
Luis Trenker was a German-language South Tyrolian film director, architect, and actor.-Biography:...

, convincing them to make her the star of The Holy Mountain. It took three days to write and over a year to film on location in the Alps. This started Riefenstahl's own career as a filmmaker. Fanck went on to produce the ski-chase White Ecstasy (1930) with Riefenstahl and legendary Austrian skier Hannes Schneider
Hannes Schneider
Johann "Hannes" Schneider was an Austrian Ski instructor of the first half of the twentieth century.He was born in the town of Stuben am Arlberg in Austria as a son of a cheese maker. In 1907 he became a ski guide at the Hotel Post in St. Anton, Austria where he began work on what became known as...

, then in turn served as Riefenstahl's editor on her 1932 film The Blue Light, which brought her to the attention of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

. The popularity of the German mountain films waned, then disappeared, in the run-up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Modern mountain films

Mountain films pose unusual difficulties for the filmmaking process; although parts can and have been shot in studios, filming on location is a longstanding tradition. Concerns include low temperatures, variable weather, and the objective dangers of the mountain environment. Directors may "cheat" by filming the actors in a less dangerous area, such as on the slopes of a ski resort, and intersperse with shots of the real location taken with a telephoto lens.

Although experienced climbers
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...

 are often used, in roles ranging from consulting to standing in for the actors, the resulting film may not seem particularly logical to an audience knowledgeable about climbing. For instance, a rescuer in the film may take a hard, but dramatic-looking route, even though in real life, time is of the essence, and rescuers will always go by the easiest available route.

International Alliance for Mountain Film

The International Alliance for Mountain Film (IAMF) is an organization committed to the future of mountain film. IAMF was set up in February 2000 and founding members of the alliance included film festivals in Autrans
Autrans
Autrans is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, it hosted the biathlon, cross country skiing, nordic combined, and the ski jumping normal hill events.-Reference:...

, France; Banff
Banff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....

, Canada; Cervinia
Cervinia
Breuil-Cervinia is an alpine resort in the Valle d'Aosta region of northwest Italy...

, Italy; Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, Austria; Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...

, Switzerland; Les Diablerets
Les Diablerets (Ormont-Dessus)
Les Diablerets is a village and ski resort located in the municipality of Ormont-Dessus in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.The village lies at an altitude of 1,160 metres on the north side of the massif of the Diablerets in the Swiss Alps. It can be accessed by train or by road from Aigle...

, Switzerland; Torello
Torelló
Torelló is a Spanish municipality in the comarca of Osona, in the Province of Barcelona, Catalonia. As of 2009 its population was of 13,808.-Geography:...

, Spain; and Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

, Italy and one museum, Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, Italy.

Soon other film festivals joined IAMF over time, which is now composed by twenty members from some of the most important mountain film festivals in the world and one museum, Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, Italy, representing 17 countries of Europe, Asia, and North and South America. IAMF has now become one of the main point of reference concerning mountain filming.

The following festivals are today members of IAMF, in addition to Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin.
Name Since City Country When Website
Festival International du Film de Montagne 1984 Autrans
Autrans
Autrans is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, it hosted the biathlon, cross country skiing, nordic combined, and the ski jumping normal hill events.-Reference:...

France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

first week in December http://www.festival-autrans.com
Banff Mountain Film Festival
Banff Mountain Film Festival
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is an international film competition and an annual presentation of short films and documentaries about mountain culture, sports, and environment. It was launched in 1976 as The Banff Festival of Mountain Films by The Banff Centre and is held every fall in Banff,...

1976 Banff
Banff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....

Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

beginning of November http://www.banffmountainfestivals.ca
International Film Festival for Mountains 1998 Bansko
Bansko
Bansko is a town and a popular ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Pirin Mountains at an elevation of 925 m above sea level....

Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

November http://www.banskofilmfest.com
International Mountain Film Festival Domžale 2007 Domžale
Domžale
Domžale is a municipality and city Slovenia. Domžale is known today for its flourishing small businesses, agriculture, and light industry . It is the site of the renaissance Krumperk Castle...

Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

April http://www.imffd.com
Dundee Mountain Film Festival 1983 Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

last weekend of November http://www.dundeemountainfilm.org.uk
Internationales Berg und Abenteuer Filmfestival 1986 Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

second weekend of November http://www.mountainfilm.com/
Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival
Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival
The Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival has been held in Kathmandu since 2000. Starting out as a biennial festival, KIMFF turned annual and competitive in 2007...

2000 Kathmandu Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

beginning of December http://www.kimff.org
Kendal Mountain Film Festival
Kendal Mountain Festival
The Kendal Mountain Festival is an annual festival held in the town of Kendal, England, in the third week of November "to celebrate mountain culture in film, lectures, art and literature"...

1980 Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...

Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

third weekend in November http://www.mountainfilm.co.uk/
Festival International du Film Alpin Les Diablerets 1969 Les Diablerets
Les Diablerets (Ormont-Dessus)
Les Diablerets is a village and ski resort located in the municipality of Ormont-Dessus in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.The village lies at an altitude of 1,160 metres on the north side of the massif of the Diablerets in the Swiss Alps. It can be accessed by train or by road from Aigle...

Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

last week of September http://www.fifad.ch/
Festival dei Festival 1993 Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...

Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

beginning of June http://www.festival-dei-festival.ch/
Moscow International Festival of Mountaineering and Adventure Films "Vertical" 1996 Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

April http://www.8848.ru/
Medzinárodný Festival Horských Filmov Poprad 1993 Poprad
Poprad
Poprad is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the tenth largest city in Slovakia with a population of approximately 55,000.The Poprad-Tatry Airport is...

Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

second week of October http://www.mfhf.sk/index.php?lang=uk
Taos Mountain Film Festival 2001 Taos
Taos
Taos can meanPlaces*Taos Pueblo, a Native American pueblo, Tua-tah*Taos dialect, a dialect of the Tiwa language*Taos County, New Mexico, United States*Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico...

USA second week in October http://www.mountainfilm.net/
Internationalen Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee 2003 Tegernsee
Tegernsee
Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Tegernsee lake, at an elevation of 747 m above sea level....

Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

third weekend in October http://www.bergfilm-festival-tegernsee.de
Mezinárodni Horolezecký Filmový Festival 1980 Teplice nad Metují
Teplice nad Metují
Teplice nad Metují is a small town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 1,800 inhabitants.Villages and hamlets Bohdašín, Dědov, Dolní Teplice, Horní Teplice, Javor, Lachov, Skály and Zdoňov are administrative parts of Teplice nad Metují.-External links:*...

Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

last weekend in August http://www.teplicenadmetuji.cz
Festival de Cinema de Muntanya i Aventura de Torelló 1983 Torelló
Torelló
Torelló is a Spanish municipality in the comarca of Osona, in the Province of Barcelona, Catalonia. As of 2009 its population was of 13,808.-Geography:...

Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

third week in November http://www.torellomountainfilm.cat
Festival internazionale film della montagna di Trento 1952 Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

last week of April and the first week of May http://www.mountainfilmfestival.trento.it/
Festival Internacional De Cine De Montaña Ushuaia Shh... 2007 Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Ushuaia may refer to the following:*Ushuaia, a city in Argentina.**Ushuaia Department, an administrative division**Ushuaia River**Ushuaia International Airport**Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia, National School of Ushuaia....

Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

second half of August http://www.shhfestival.com
Spotkania z Filmem Górskim 2007 Zakopane
Zakopane
Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...

Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

first half of September http://www.spotkania.zakopane.pl


There are many other mountain film festivals too which are not part of the alliance, such as the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival
Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival
Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival is an independent film festival which aims to inspire, enlighten and entertain outdoor enthusiasts, whether they are climbers, skiers or snowboarders, kayakers, BASE jumpers or explorers....

.

According to the website for the Alliance, "the Alliance determines that one of its first priorities is to inform audiences and filmmakers about the global film festival opportunities. As well, information is shared on films, programming and technology, promotion and ticketing and funding challenges. An agreement emerges to take every opportunity to cross-promote mountain film festivals around the world and to meet twice a year at member festival events."

IAMF created also the IAMF Grand Prix in order to recognize career leaders in mountain film.

Recipients of the IAMF Grand Prix:
  • 2002 – Gerhard Baaur
  • 2003 – Leo Dickinson
  • 2004 – Fulvio Mariani
  • 2005 – Jean-Pierre Bailly
  • 2006 – Directorate General for Television Switzerland
  • 2007 – Michael Brown
  • 2008 – Sebastián Álvaro
  • 2009 – Lothar Brandler
  • 2010 – Hans-Jürgen Panitz

Examples of mountain films

  • Die Geierwally (1921), remade 1940, 1956, 1988 and 2005
  • Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü (1929)
  • Das Blaue Licht
    Das Blaue Licht
    Das Blaue Licht is a black-and-white 1932 film written and directed by Leni Riefenstahl and Béla Balázs, with uncredited scripting by Carl Mayer. In Riefenstahl's film version, the witch, Junta, played by Riefenstahl, is intended to be a sympathetic character...

     (1932)
  • Der Berg ruft (1938)
  • The White Tower
    The White Tower (film)
    The White Tower is a 1950 mountain film starring Alida Valli as a woman determined to conquer the mountain that killed her father, and Glenn Ford as the mountaineer who loves her...

     (1950)
  • The Mountain
    The Mountain (1956 film)
    The Mountain is a 1956 dramatic film starring Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner. The supporting cast included Claire Trevor, Richard Arlen, William Demarest, and Anna Kashfi...

     (1956)
  • Third Man on the Mountain
    Third Man on the Mountain
    Third Man on the Mountain is a 1959 American Walt Disney Productions movie set during the golden age of alpinism about a young Swiss man who conquers the mountain that killed his father. It is based on Banner in the Sky, a James Ramsey Ullman novel about the first ascent of the Matterhorn, and was...

    /Banner in the Sky (1959)
  • The Eiger Sanction
    The Eiger Sanction (film)
    The Eiger Sanction is a 1975 American action thriller based on the novel The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian, a pseudonym for the American author, Dr. Rodney William Whitaker. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood, who also starred as Dr. Jonathan Hemlock.-Plot:Dr...

     (1975)
  • El Capitan
    El Capitan (film)
    El Capitan is a film by filmmaker Fred Padula that captures one of the earliest ascents of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California, USA...

     1978
  • Five Days One Summer
    Five Days One Summer
    Five Days One Summer is a 1982 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Sean Connery. It was the last film that Zinnemann directed.-Cast:* Sean Connery - Douglas Meredith* Betsy Brantley - Kate* Lambert Wilson - Johann Biari...

     (1982)
  • K2
    K2 (film)
    K2 is a 1991 motion picture loosely based on the story of two friends' ascent of the second-highest mountain on Earth, K2. The story is based on a play written and presented as a senior-thesis at Stanford University. These roles were played by Michael Biehn and Matt Craven...

     (1991)
  • Cliffhanger
    Cliffhanger (film)
    Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow. Stallone plays a mountain climber, who becomes embroiled in a failed heist set in a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains...

     (1993)
  • Seven Years in Tibet
    Seven Years in Tibet (1997 film)
    Seven Years in Tibet is a 1997 film based on the book of the same name written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer on his experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War, the interim period, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army's invasion of Tibet in 1950. The film...

     (1997)
  • Vertical Limit
    Vertical Limit
    Vertical Limit is a 2000 thriller action film directed by New Zealander Martin Campbell starring, among others, Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney and Scott Glenn...

     (2000)
  • Touching the Void
    Touching the Void (film)
    Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary film based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near fatal attempt to climb the 6,344 metre Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.-Outline:...

     (2003)
  • North Face
    North Face (film)
    North Face is a 2008 German historical fiction film based on a famous 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger north face.-Plot:...

    (2010)

External links

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