Mountain films hit the road once again in Aegean town

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The festival is Turkey’s one and only film event about nature, mountains, adventure and discovery.

The Mountain Films Festival, organized by the Mountain Culture Association and Mineral Event, hits screens in İzmir for the third time with the theme “Get ready for adventure.” The festival’s first leg was organized in Istanbul between Feb. 28 and March 3, and now it will hit the road in the Aegean province starting today until March 30.

Turkey’s first film festival about nature, adventure and discovery will screen a total of 27 films that have been chosen among over 500 films shown in world festivals. There will be nine Turkish and 18 foreign films in nine categories: “From the world,” “From Turkey,” “Soul of adventure,” “Nature-environment-human,” “Water world,” “Bicycle,” “Ski,” “Autrans special selection” and “Nature films competition finalists.” The special selection includes films on nature sports like rafting, diving, mountaineering, rock climbing, base jump, skiing, mountain bicycling as well as environmental and nature documentaries, travel, discovery and human interest stories.

The most striking theme of this year’s event, “From the world,” features the film “Exposed to Dreams,” starring famous Italian mountaineer Simone Moro and his Mt. Everest climb.

In the category “Soul of adventure,” one highly anticipated production is “Iran - Volkanlarla Yaşamak” (Iran - Living with Volcanoes). The film tells the stories of skiers who explore and discover the volcanic geography of Iran, terrain that is extremely difficult to navigate, much less film in.

Nature, environment and human interest stories

Another festival category, “Nature, environment and human,” will present “40 days at Base Camp” by Canadian filmmaker and photographer Dianne Whela. At 18,000 feet above sea level and over the course of 40 days last spring, Whelan immersed herself in the challenging and captivating world of the base camp at Mt. Everest. With spectacular footage of the mountain landscape as a backdrop, the film is an intriguing and intimate portrayal of three climbing teams and their journey to the peak.

The second impressive film in this category, “The Kyrgys of the Afghan Pamir,” is a documentary film capturing the life of the last Kyrgyz nomads of Afghanistan. The film raises awareness about a people going extinct through a captivating true story. It sheds light on a community unknown to the media and questions the reasons behind their extinction.

The festival also has a program for children this year. In the program for primary school students, four different films will be screened for children today. There are also three films in the “skiing” category of the festival. The most interesting among these films, “Freedom Chair,” is the story of Josh Dueck, an aspiring skier and coach until a ski accident in 2004 irreparably changed his life.

The festival’s gala will be hosted tonight at the Konak Municipality Türkan Saylan Culture Center with the opening film, “Crossing the Ice.” All films will be shown at the same venue free of charge. There will also be book exhibits, talks, and competitions as a part of the festival’s events.