20th Mountain Film Festival with a Record Number of Slovenian Films

20th Mountain Film Festival with a Record Number of Slovenian Films


The 20th Mountain Film Festival will open on February 9 at 8 p.m. in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana with the highly anticipated film Triglav: Path of Salvation, and the jubilee festival brings a record number of Slovenian films - as many as nine. Between February 9 and 14, 34 climbing, alpinistic, adventure, and films about mountain nature and culture will be on display in Ljubljana, Domžale, and Radovljica, and the 20th anniversary will also be accompanied by five lectures and an exhibition about the festival. Even before the start of the jubilee edition, there will be screenings of awarded films - highlights of past festivals - in Mestni kino Domžale.

The Mountain Film Festival in numbers
20 years of the Mountain Film Festival
100,000 viewers in 19 years
808 films at 20 festivals
156 lectures, discussions, book presentations, round tables, exhibitions, and other accompanying events
Free Solo – the most watched film in the history of FGF



The Mountain Film Festival is not only the largest Slovenian mountain event, but also the most important mountain festival in southeastern Europe and since 2010 a member of the International Alliance for Mountain Film, which connects 27 festivals from 20 countries and five continents. »The festival has grown into a true mountain holiday, which every year in February attracts more than five thousand visitors to the halls and significantly contributes to the enrichment and dissemination of film and narrative mountain content. If it's true that the festival has stimulated the development and enthusiasm of domestic mountain production, then I can say that I have won. At this year's jubilee festival, we are presenting a record number of domestic films,« emphasizes the founder and director of the Mountain Film Festival Silvo Karo, a top alpinist, in 2022 also the recipient of the Golden Ice Axe for lifetime achievement.

The Mountain Film Festival has been visited by around 100 thousand viewers in the past 19 years, who – together with this year's – have been delighted with more than 800 films. In Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Mestni kino Domžale, and Linhartova dvorana in Radovljica, from February 9 to 14, 34 mountain films will be on display - five alpinistic, seven climbing, ten about mountains, sports, and adventure, and 12 in the category mountain nature and culture. The films will be judged by an international festival jury: Korean doctor of film studies and program director of the festival there Jinna Lee, British publicist and one of the founders of the Planetmountain portal Nicholas Hobley, and Slovenian alpinist and long-time director of tourist organizations in the Soča Valley Janko Humar.

In the competitive program of this year's festival, there are as many as nine Slovenian films, the most so far. The jubilee festival will be opened by the highly anticipated feature-length documentary film Triglav: Path of Salvation by Aleš Žemlja and Rožle Bregar, and the premieres will also include the films Colorful Mountains, 130 Years of Planinski vestnik by Mojca Volkar Trobevšek and Andrej Podbevšek, and Aleš Kunaver and Our First Expeditions to the Highest World Mountains by Jure Škrlep. Also on display will be the already multiple award-winning feature film by Petra Seliškar The Mountain Will Not Move, medium-length films The Drežnica Goat and Her People by Marko Kumer, Mustang - The Forgotten Himalayan Valley by Aleš Bravničar, and POTS - In Battle with Gravity by Črt Potočnik, and short films First Winter Day by Mitja Legat and Pulls, Cakes & Problems on the Krka by Rok Rozman and Rožle Bregar.

A unique Olympic atmosphere will be conjured at the Mountain Film Festival by the inspiring American-Afghan film Champions of the Golden Valley (Ben Sturgulewski), awarded at several mountain festivals around the world. The exceptional animal world through four ice ages is shown by the film 2000 Days in Paradise by the French creators Véronique, Anne, and Erik Lapied, who have been awarded multiple times at the Slovenian festival. The Croatian feature film Alpine Warriors by Stipe Božić and the Bosnian-Herzegovinian YU Everest 79 by Zehrudin Isaković are homages to Slovenian alpinistic successes in the Himalayas.

Wonderful cinematography through the story of a disappearing tradition distinguishes the Turkish film Goat 501 (Evrim Çervatoğlu) and the Serbian-Bosnian film Who Will Knock on My Door by Maja Novaković; a world that is disappearing is also shown in the film Everyone Needs Their Tribe by the Slovak master director Pavol Barabáš. Unique climbing marathons are brought to the film screen by the Swiss film Zahir by Katherine Choong and Vautour: The Ultimate Tour by the French director Morgan Monchaud, great adventures by the Croatian film Freedom by Ivica Kostelić, the French film Far Enough by Julie Carot, and the Dutch-Swiss Samuel Volery - Legend of Slackline by Jonas Konijnenberg.

The Mountain Film Festival has been delighting the Slovenian audience for 20 years with prestigious guests from the world of alpinism and climbing. This year, five lecturers will share their inspiring stories: German alpinist Fabian Buhl will present a unique interweaving of alpinism and paragliding in the Himalayas and Patagonia, Catalan alpinist Sílvia Vidal an exceptional solo ascent in Patagonia, awarded with a special mention of the Golden Ice Axe, the oldest Slovenian BASE jumper and wingsuit flyer Stane Krajnc, pioneer of the development of this sport in our country, his traces in the sky, Styrian alpinist Mira Zorič her path from the first Yugoslav women's Himalayan expedition to more than 2000 ascents in domestic and foreign mountains, and Primorska alpinist Janko Humar more than half a century of alpinism and mountain activity in Primorska walls.

On the occasion of this year's anniversary of the Mountain Film Festival, an exhibition of all 20 festival posters was opened in Domžale on January 28. It will be on display between February 9 and 13 also in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, where nine more posters with highlights of the events through the history of the festival will be added. During the festival, a smaller exhibition of posters will create a special atmosphere also in Mestni kino Domžale, where viewers will also be delighted by screenings of four awarded films from past festivals. On Saturday, February 7, they will be able to watch the 2017 awarded Slovak film The Porter's Freedom by Pavol Barabáš and the Slovenian documentary The Last Ice Hunters by Jure Breceljnik and Rožle Bregar, the winning film of the 12th Mountain Film Festival. On Sunday, February 8, the pearls of the 14th Mountain Film Festival will be on display in Domžale - the British feature film Piano to Zanskar (Jarek Kotomski and Michał Sulima) and the Spanish film Cholitas (Jaime Murciego & Pablo Iraburu).