Press release - August 2008

6th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival from 22 – 26 October 2008 August 2008

Sensational Feature Films and Splendid Documentaries

An exciting programme featuring 72 mountain films, among them costly cinematic oeuvres such as ‘The Beckoning Silence’ await guests of the 6th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival in October. Details are now available online or from the printed festival programme. To secure a ticket for your favourite film, please reserve in advance!

The festival in Tegernsee is due to open with quite a spectacular feature film (one day ahead of its official release date): ‘Nordwand’ (North Face) by Philipp Stölzl recounts the tragic story of Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser who attempted a first ascent of the Eiger North Face in 1936. For his version, Stölzl sent renowned actors such as Benno Fürmann onto the mountain.

Documentary film makers find the material equally appealing: in ‘The Beckoning Silence’ extreme mountaineer Joe Simpson – famous for ‘Touching the Void’ and recipient of the Great Prize of Tegernsee – narrates the dramatic events of 1936 in an impressive historical reconstruction.

A further film on the same topic will be shown outside the festival competition and completes this year’s Eiger trilogy. Award-winning German mountain film maker Gerhard Baur shot his film ‘Der Weg ist das Ziel’ (All About the Journey) as early as 1981 under extreme conditions at the original site of events, and extremely close to the actual circumstances. It will be particularly rewarding to be able to compare the various different approaches these three directors took to the tragedy in their respective screen versions.

This year, the festival’s second emphasis is on Mount Everest: 30 years after the first ascent without artificial oxygen, gloriously achieved by mountaineer Hans Engl from the Tegernsee Valley, a total of four films will engage with the world’s highest mountain. A special screening will remind us of recently deceased Sir Edmund Hillary, the first to reach Everest’s summit and one to be remembered for his honourable deeds outside the world of mountaineering. Everest will also overshadow a retrospective presenting legendary Kurt Diemberger as live guest to the festival.

With the great tragedies at Mounts Eiger and Everest, 2008 takes a close look at the flip side of mountain sports, however there are a great many documentaries on show that engage with the truly magical side of the mountains. Often, what touches the heart of our audiences are not momentous productions but unusual films produced on a minimal budget, but with great creativity and love. Together, they represent the manifold facets of mountain sports, mountain nature and of life on the mountain. Productions such as ‘Il Neige à Marrakech’ or ‘The Secret Life of Robby Brackenhofer’ make sure that despite the heroic magnitude of mountaineering, simple mountain fun will not be lost to the silver screen.

Information, programmes and ticket sales: Tourist-Information Tegernsee, Hauptstrasse 2,
83684 Tegernsee, Germany, tel. +49(0)8022-180161, Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spam-Bots geschützt, Sie müssen Javascript aktivieren, damit Sie es sehen können or online at www.bergfilm-festival-tegernsee.de.