Film Competition Awards in the following categories:
BEST FILM OVERALL (Festival Grand Prix)
SLOVAK Audio Literal Found Award (for a Slovak filmmaker)
Special mentions in the categories: ROCK, EARTH, WATER, AIR and JURY AWARD
People have always yearned for the unattainable. They set off to discover new continents, climb the world's highest peaks, and break Olympic records. Slovak climbers have left a profound, yet silent legacy in the Himalayas and other regions. In the Tatras, Jozef Krištoffy braves the most formidable technical routes, pushing the boundaries of both nature and self.
Slovak mountain guides commemorate 150 years of organized guiding in the High Tatras. But what do their counterparts from other countries think about local traditions and their approach to this craft? Do they share the same opinions, face similar problems, and harbor equal aspirations?
We are the last generation to witness natural tribes hiding in the remote corners of the world. Once they disappear from our planet, we will also lose their ancient secrets of sustaining the delicate balance of nature on Earth.
This film features 5 female climbers from the U.S. and Canada converging on historic Hueco Tanks, Texas, to celebrate the fiery girl gang energy that naturally happens when you get a group of strong ladies together.
Coming from different backgrounds, the climbers each have a unique personality, perspective, and approach to climbing. The film will highlight those differences and show that there’s no one way to “be a climber.”
With full-time jobs as a software engineer, nurse, marketing manager, dog trainer, and healthcare policy analyst, these women are not pro climbers, but they’ve dedicated their lives to getting after it and climbing hard boulder problems whenever they can.
The film will also call attention to the Indigenous history of Hueco, and how climbers can responsibly and respectfully interact with such sacred ground.
Girls Gone Hueco isn’t just about showcasing rad climbs, but also to show the world that women are stronger together than we are divided. But of course, there will be plenty of impressive sending going on too!
Short movie about a married couple, Jana Švecová and Martin Švec, both climbing incredibly difficult boulders on rocks. In this mini-documentary, the beauty of Moravian Karst is captured, where both Martin and Jana have their projects. Jana is attempting to climb Terranova, an unrepeated boulder of grade 8C+ established by Adam Ondra in 2011. Martin is attempting to climb the boulder Drift, graded 8C, and in the video, along with Will Bosi, they climb the boulder Giuliano graded 8B. The video concludes with a short interview with both protagonists and Will Bosi's thoughts on the boulder Nova-8C, which Jana climbed last year.
Discussion about bouldering. What motivates our guests to climb? How do they know when it's the right time to leave one project and pursue another? Everything you ever wanted to know about bouldering and you won't be afraid to ask.
Discussion about bouldering. What motivates our guests to climb? How do they know when it's the right time to leave one project and pursue another? Everything you ever wanted to know about bouldering and you won't be afraid to ask.
Discussion about bouldering. What motivates our guests to climb? How do they know when it's the right time to leave one project and pursue another? Everything you ever wanted to know about bouldering and you won't be afraid to ask.
This is a film about an extraordinary woman - Wanda Rutkiewicz. Important for Polish and world Himalayan mountaineering. Some like her, others do not want to talk about her. We decided to tell the story of her path through life - from the beginning to today. Because even though she was lost in the Himalayas many years ago - she still evokes emotions.
Marek Molek and Bruno Grassi are on the verge of reaching the summit of The Great Troll, the last and most difficult unclimbed mountain. A heavy storm, exhaustion and adverse snow conditions prevent them from actually reaching the summit, which is very near. Bruno and Marek argue about whether or not they should tell the truth. During the hazardous descent, one of them will attempt to persuade the other one by any means. In the meantime, Mike Bacon, the special correspondent covering the news, is unable to get in touch with them and is waiting anxiously at base camp.
Australian climber Angie Scarth-Johnson, who first made her mark setting records at a young age, teams up with veteran adventure climber Hazel Findlay to explore the best of Mallorca’s deep-water soloing.
Renowned alpinists Josh Wharton and Vince Anderson attempt a free ascent of the Jirishanca, an epic 20,000-foot peak in the Peruvian Andes. The duo will have to tackle 5.13 face climbing, horizontal ice roofs, technical mixed terrain and treacherous snow mushrooms as they reconcile the inherent risk of climbing with their love of alpine adventure.
Follow the philosophical journey of Japanese climbing phenom Sachi Amma, as he evolves from three-time world champion to traditional climbing purist, culminating in a visionary first ascent on the mythical Mt. Mizugaki.
Climbing journalist Matt Groom journeys deep into war-torn Ukraine to discover a community held together by climbing and patriotism, but indelibly changed by war.
Currently, post pandemic, one in two young people show symptoms of anxiety and depression. The World is ours is a film that gives the opportunity to six Montreal teenage girls to leave their urban environment for the first time to take part in a nature canoe-camping expedition. By presenting their struggles and small victories, the film poetically and luminously embraces their vulnerability, emphasizing in broad strokes the power of female sisterhood and therapeutic intervention by nature.
In an intervention cinema approach and seeking to democratize access to the outdoors for marginalized communities, the production of the film took on the responsibility of defraying the costs of the expedition for these six young women.
When Caro North and Marta Guemes worked together on a social project as mountain guide and skipper, they soon realized that they shared the same passion for great adventures and expeditions into the unknown.
Soon they began to dream of a joint expedition that would be different from anything they had experienced before.
They wanted to sail with an all-female team from France through the rough Arctic sea to Greenland, where the climbers would try to attempt the first ascent of a Big Wall.
It took another two years until all the preparations were made, the funding and logistics were in place and a team of three strong climbing friends, four tough sailors and a filmmaker was assembled. Finally they were able to set sail from La Rochelle, but it soon became clear that Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the seas, would put the team to the test. A pure story of patience, determination, trust, a strong female bond, extraordinary performances with a touch of humor.
First ultra endurance cycling race in Slovakia. Riders must pass 5 checkpoints and endure 1000 km in less than a week. 42 men and 3 women at the start. The race, where riders will test both their physical as well as mental strength.
"The Present" is a 2023 adventure short documentary featuring the story of Dimitri Poffé, a 34-year-old French traveler who left his native France to undertake a cycling trip from Mexico City to Ushuaia after he tested positive for Huntington's disease.
Huntington's disease is a rare neurodegenerative, hereditary and incurable disease. Dimitri's father passed away because of Huntington's 20 years ago and his sister has been developing the symptoms for the past 13 years. According to studies, Dimitri should develop the symptons between 35 and 40 years old. On his adventure accross South America, Dimitri visits researchers, associations and people affected by the disease to raise awareness and share a message of hope.
"The Present" is an inspiring story of solidarity showcasing the importance of living life to the fullest.
Three friends come to the unknown Pyrenees with mountain bikes. They decide to explore the vast mountain range in three different locations, each of them offers different landscape and mountains and also a completely different style of riding. Sometimes it's just about fun and adrenaline on the trails, but when conquering high summits - the so-called cycloalpinismo or bike mountaineering - they also reach their limits. The Pyrenees are really colourful, and so is mountain biking...
A bicycle, in its essence, is a way from one place to another. But sometimes it’s also a way through something. For Tessa Treadway and her nine-year-old son, Kasper, mountain biking has soothed the grief from losing husband and father, professional skier Dave Treadway, to a 2019 backcountry-skiing accident. For Kasper, it’s a hyper focused outlet for his errant energy. For Tessa it’s an escape from the chaos of single motherhood, as she discovers the surprise gift of joy that flows from chasing him.
The world of mountain unicycling is not so different from those of skiing, climbing, or other adventure sports, yet you’ve probably never heard of it. The Rhythm of One is a portrait of Canadian rider Ryan Kremsater and the evolution of his riding as he strives to push the envelope of mountain unicycling, asking, “What lines would a unicycle ride if it was not influenced so heavily by biking and hiking trails?”
In search of an answer, Ryan heads down to Virgin, Utah, a site that revolutionized the sport of mountain biking. After finding his rhythm riding some unnamed ridgelines, he attempts some classic bike descents, exploring the similarities and differences between unicycling and other adventure sports. Despite several big falls, he demonstrates that unicycles have a valuable perspective to bring to the table.
Before heading home, Ryan decides to try to build his own unicycle line. Although he is unable to ride his creation, he confirms what spacing and rhythm work well for a unicycle. After enjoying a few final lines, Ryan returns to the moody British Columbia forests of his youth, where he builds his own stunts, taking the first step toward creating a uniquely unicycle trail.
In his new edit "Cross Countries” Kilian goes on another tour, this time on some of the most beautiful North American trails. From the roots of mountain biking in the USA, to the dense Canadian forests and rock slabs of British Columbia, the best spots are all on show.
The steep chutes of Sedona, Squamish Jurassic Five, bike-life in NYC, the Pemberton train gap, slick rock in Moab or a Honolulu ridge line… Kilian boarder hops (Cross Countries) in the most beautiful way, as he moves towards a new chapter in his riding life with redesigned video format ideas, so that you are evermore immersed in his extraordinary adventures in the future..
"For years now, I have based my vision of mountain biking around unusual and visually impressive places, mainly far from bike parks and trail centres. All these places fascinate me, the encounters along the way too, without forgetting the production work that runs alongside a film like this." - Kilian Bron
In a remarkable year, two gritty teams of hobbyist cavers are poised to break records for the longest and deepest caves in Canada. With few places on Earth left to discover, caving may be the last remaining activity of true exploration. After discovering a flooded underground chamber, Katie, a daytime accountant, becomes obsessed with returning to the Bisaro Anima cave in the Rockies to push the caving depth record. At the same time, a passionate Vancouver Island team is attempting to link two tunnel systems to create the longest known cave in the country. From abyssal, muddy crawls to heart-pounding, vertical pits and underwater squeezes, these are places where no person has been before. Against a stunning backdrop of natural rock formations, “Subterranean” digs into the oddly fascinating world of cavers to uncover a gripping story of adventure and (if they’re lucky) record-setting discovery.
On the trail of nomadic peoples and the ancient Silk Roads, Thomas Delfino, accompanied by Léa Klaue and Aurélien Lardy, embark on an expedition to reach one of the most remote places on the continent. The Kokshaal-Too range is located in the Tian Shan mountain range, on the border of Kyrgyzstan and China, and harbors unexplored mountains and faces. This skilled team, accompanied by renowned guides Hélias Millerioux and Jean-Yves Fredriksen, finds themselves propelled into a Space where Time seems to have suddenly come to a halt.
Director Statement
“Like a modern fable, composed by local musicians who wrote this story in three acts, we immerse ourselves into Kyrgyz culture, a nomadic, shamanic people with ancestral rituals that offer a glimpse into their unique way of life.
Like an ode to Adventure, one that early explorers told through watercolors in their travel journals, encountering the wider World and its many people.
CYCLES IS AN ALL FEMALE FREERIDE, EXPERIMENTAL MOVIE PRODUCTION ABOUT THE POWER THAT LIES WITHIN LIVING WITH THE FEMALE CYCLE.
Cycles is a free film project produced by an all-female crew. The film showcases a group of freeriders exploring the stunning mountains of Tyrol. However, it goes beyond just action and athletic performance. The project delves into the female menstrual cycle and the transformative power of living in tune with it.
Through an experimental and action-packed short film, Cycles portrays the four phases of the menstrual or lunar cycle. Its aim is to raise awareness among viewers about their own inner phases and provide a platform for the still-tabooed topic of the female cycle.
Additionally, the project seeks to highlight the connection between the cycle and sports. It aims to make women more visible in the freeride sport and inspire them to pursue their dreams and goals in outdoor activities. The film also strives to enhance awareness about the significance of the female cycle in sports.
At 5959m, Mount Logan is the second highest peak in North America, and certainly one of the wildest mountains in the world. To reach it, Hélias Millerioux, Alex Marchesseau, Thomas Delfino and Gregory Douillard did not choose the easiest option. The approach is done on foot and on skis, in total autonomy, with 80kg per person to carry over hundreds of kilometers of moraines and tormented glaciers! We head for the East ridge, where the 4000 meters of vertical drop have never been skied before, then return to the ocean by raft... A total adventure, with friends, in a hostile but grandiose nature… Just magical!
When professional skier Jamie MoCrazy suffered a serious traumatic brain injury following an accident at World Tour Finals 2015, her life was flipped upside down. Following years of rehab, Jamie’s miraculous recovery helped revolutionize TBI treatment at Vancouver General Hospital and charted Jamie on a course to help others with TBI challenges.
#MoCrazyStrong tells the important story of family involvement, losing and regaining your identity and working through the challenges that traumatic brain injuries present on the path to recovery.
"Mountain Turks" tells the story of Erik Bradshaw, an avid mountaineer who turned his crazy idea of building backcountry huts out of water tanks into New Zealand's first ski traverse, and in the process built a thriving alpine community. The film is a powerful testament to the transformative power of community, the limitless potential of the human spirit, and the enduring spirit of New Zealand's mountaineering community.
Right next to the Aiguille du Midi peak, situated in a sea of mountains at an altitude of 3842m, stands proudly the legendary 50m high granite monolith Gendarme des Cosmiques. For the past 30 years it hosted only 2 climbing routes, Digital Crack (8a) and Arête des Cosmiques (8a), but this changed on the 10th of August 2022!
Seb Berthe dreams of climbing the Dawn Wall, the most difficult route in the world. To get to the foot of El Capitan, in the United States, Seb has no intention of taking a plane! Quickly, a team of 6 climbers, 2 sailors and a dog forms to take up a challenge and realize a dream: to reach the Americas on a sailboat to climb the legendary walls of Yosemite! It is by experiencing the long pace of sailing that they cross the Atlantic, then on board a dubious Mexican jalopy van that they learn to know each other. When they arrived at the foot of El Capitan, the team supports Seb in his extraordinary challenge. His push on the Dawn Wall becomes a collective climb. At the same time, everyone prepares to take up his own challenge and the feat takes place where no one is looking. The commitment and authenticity of a team that barely knows each other is reminiscent of the atmosphere of the first epic stories of vertical exploration.
Soundscape shares the sightless experience of climbing a mountain via echo location, touch and imagination.
Soundscape features Erik Weihenmayer, a global adventure athlete and author who is fully blind, as he ascends a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada. Using expert camera work and emotive, novel animation to bring to life a concept by adaptive climbing pioneer Timmy ONeill, the film is a surprising and soulful adventure.
The starting point of the documentary film are the critical entries of the climbers in the summit books of Saxon Switzerland from the 1980s.
Summit Dreams meets the authors and accompanies them as they climb the Saxon sandstone cliffs, where they reflect on various aspects of freedom before and after the fall of the Wall. The film thus becomes a small piece of the puzzle of East German history.
A short film about Honza "Tatuš" Žwak, who made a new route in Adršpach in honor of the local pub U Tošováka and is currently preparing a new printed climbing guide of the area.
"Why is it so hot?" the young girl asks a web application. "It is caused by the climate crisis." We don't have to go burning Australia or melting Antarctic to see the consequences of climate change. They are in Slovakia too. Demänovská Ice Cave melts, severe droughts destroy crops and extreme heatwaves are threat to our health. But that's not all. If we want to avoid the worst scenarios, each of us has to answer the simple question: "How do you want to continue?"
In the eastern part of Slovakia, hidden in the shadows of the High Tatra mountains, we may discover a mysterious and inconspicuous territory, surrounded only by a crystalline water arteries cutting deeply into the sublime mountains, impervious rocks and passing time, which has patiently been reshaping its stubbornness into a unparalleled beauty. He gave rise to a persevering wold with dense forests, knitted with a fragrant carpet of meadows. Stubborn untiring streams scattered the plateau into numerous mountain ridges and valleys. Day and night they have been creating yawning canyons and gorges with mighty waterfalls.
The Slovak Paradise. There is probably no more rightful name to this tiny spot on Earth. Carthusian monks, who built a monastery in the very heart of this mountain range in 1299/ Kláštorisko, were the very first to use the name - Paradise.
In his new edit "Cross Countries” Kilian goes on another tour, this time on some of the most beautiful North American trails. From the roots of mountain biking in the USA, to the dense Canadian forests and rock slabs of British Columbia, the best spots are all on show.
The steep chutes of Sedona, Squamish Jurassic Five, bike-life in NYC, the Pemberton train gap, slick rock in Moab or a Honolulu ridge line… Kilian boarder hops (Cross Countries) in the most beautiful way, as he moves towards a new chapter in his riding life with redesigned video format ideas, so that you are evermore immersed in his extraordinary adventures in the future..
"For years now, I have based my vision of mountain biking around unusual and visually impressive places, mainly far from bike parks and trail centres. All these places fascinate me, the encounters along the way too, without forgetting the production work that runs alongside a film like this." - Kilian Bron
"Why is it so hot?" the young girl asks a web application. "It is caused by the climate crisis." We don't have to go burning Australia or melting Antarctic to see the consequences of climate change. They are in Slovakia too. Demänovská Ice Cave melts, severe droughts destroy crops and extreme heatwaves are threat to our health. But that's not all. If we want to avoid the worst scenarios, each of us has to answer the simple question: "How do you want to continue?"
In the eastern part of Slovakia, hidden in the shadows of the High Tatra mountains, we may discover a mysterious and inconspicuous territory, surrounded only by a crystalline water arteries cutting deeply into the sublime mountains, impervious rocks and passing time, which has patiently been reshaping its stubbornness into a unparalleled beauty. He gave rise to a persevering wold with dense forests, knitted with a fragrant carpet of meadows. Stubborn untiring streams scattered the plateau into numerous mountain ridges and valleys. Day and night they have been creating yawning canyons and gorges with mighty waterfalls.
The Slovak Paradise. There is probably no more rightful name to this tiny spot on Earth. Carthusian monks, who built a monastery in the very heart of this mountain range in 1299/ Kláštorisko, were the very first to use the name - Paradise.
In his new edit "Cross Countries” Kilian goes on another tour, this time on some of the most beautiful North American trails. From the roots of mountain biking in the USA, to the dense Canadian forests and rock slabs of British Columbia, the best spots are all on show.
The steep chutes of Sedona, Squamish Jurassic Five, bike-life in NYC, the Pemberton train gap, slick rock in Moab or a Honolulu ridge line… Kilian boarder hops (Cross Countries) in the most beautiful way, as he moves towards a new chapter in his riding life with redesigned video format ideas, so that you are evermore immersed in his extraordinary adventures in the future..
"For years now, I have based my vision of mountain biking around unusual and visually impressive places, mainly far from bike parks and trail centres. All these places fascinate me, the encounters along the way too, without forgetting the production work that runs alongside a film like this." - Kilian Bron
On the trail of nomadic peoples and the ancient Silk Roads, Thomas Delfino, accompanied by Léa Klaue and Aurélien Lardy, embark on an expedition to reach one of the most remote places on the continent. The Kokshaal-Too range is located in the Tian Shan mountain range, on the border of Kyrgyzstan and China, and harbors unexplored mountains and faces. This skilled team, accompanied by renowned guides Hélias Millerioux and Jean-Yves Fredriksen, finds themselves propelled into a Space where Time seems to have suddenly come to a halt.
Director Statement
“Like a modern fable, composed by local musicians who wrote this story in three acts, we immerse ourselves into Kyrgyz culture, a nomadic, shamanic people with ancestral rituals that offer a glimpse into their unique way of life.
Like an ode to Adventure, one that early explorers told through watercolors in their travel journals, encountering the wider World and its many people.
CYCLES IS AN ALL FEMALE FREERIDE, EXPERIMENTAL MOVIE PRODUCTION ABOUT THE POWER THAT LIES WITHIN LIVING WITH THE FEMALE CYCLE.
Cycles is a free film project produced by an all-female crew. The film showcases a group of freeriders exploring the stunning mountains of Tyrol. However, it goes beyond just action and athletic performance. The project delves into the female menstrual cycle and the transformative power of living in tune with it.
Through an experimental and action-packed short film, Cycles portrays the four phases of the menstrual or lunar cycle. Its aim is to raise awareness among viewers about their own inner phases and provide a platform for the still-tabooed topic of the female cycle.
Additionally, the project seeks to highlight the connection between the cycle and sports. It aims to make women more visible in the freeride sport and inspire them to pursue their dreams and goals in outdoor activities. The film also strives to enhance awareness about the significance of the female cycle in sports.
At 5959m, Mount Logan is the second highest peak in North America, and certainly one of the wildest mountains in the world. To reach it, Hélias Millerioux, Alex Marchesseau, Thomas Delfino and Gregory Douillard did not choose the easiest option. The approach is done on foot and on skis, in total autonomy, with 80kg per person to carry over hundreds of kilometers of moraines and tormented glaciers! We head for the East ridge, where the 4000 meters of vertical drop have never been skied before, then return to the ocean by raft... A total adventure, with friends, in a hostile but grandiose nature… Just magical!
When professional skier Jamie MoCrazy suffered a serious traumatic brain injury following an accident at World Tour Finals 2015, her life was flipped upside down. Following years of rehab, Jamie’s miraculous recovery helped revolutionize TBI treatment at Vancouver General Hospital and charted Jamie on a course to help others with TBI challenges.
#MoCrazyStrong tells the important story of family involvement, losing and regaining your identity and working through the challenges that traumatic brain injuries present on the path to recovery.