Winners 2019

„This Mountain Life“

Grant Baldwin, Jenny Rustemeyer (Canada)

Statement of the Jury

Father-son-narratives set against a mountain backdrop are not exactly rare. What we found novel about this film is that it tells the great mountain adventure of a mother and her daughter. We encounter two strong, charismatic women, who together master 1,430 miles on skis from Vancouver to Alaska. The film maker not only captures this great journey with impressive, carefully composed images, but he also succeeds at widening the focus to the question what people seek in the mountain world and sometimes to some extent find.

„The Pathan Project“

Guillaume Broust (Belgium)

Statement of the Jury

Why do we travel to dangerous and unexplored mountains in Pakistan, if we could just as well get our fill of adventure at home? This unusual expedition film offers the following answer: We like to have fun. Despite accidents and setbacks, the film succeeds at demonstrating outstanding achievements on the rock, yet never loses its tongue-in-cheek, self-mocking perspective. We were equally convinced by the humorous narrative with its fictional flashback and parodies of famous films.

„Iceberg Nations“

Fernando Martín Borlán (Spain)

Statement of the Jury

This film poetically and artfully debunks the idea of land ownership and nation states. It questions the power of these concepts in the context of global warming. With humour and creativity, the disappearing iceberg is made into a metaphor for human constructs which are inadequate for meeting the climate challenge. All of this is delivered in just four minutes.

„Spirit“

Jane Dyson, Ross Harrison (Australia)

Statement of the Jury

We find ourselves in some remote village in the Indian Garhwal Himalayas. The spirits have retreated ever higher into the mountains, according to one of the local women which the film makers have become very intimate with. The film shows a breakable world threatened by the centrifugal powers of modernity. However, it also displays rituals in connection with spirit worship which bring people back together.

Fortunately, audience members do not become possessed by these spirits. Still, they will find it difficult to resist the magnetism of such unique images and this successful montage.

„Höhenmeter“  (Altitude)

Dominik and Julian Weigand (Germany)

Statement of the Jury

The two protagonists of this story are unusual for the mountain film genre, which loves to deal in extreme physical achievements, experiences at the outer limit and meaningless conquests. Two likeable students from Rosenheim, Bavaria, have discovered something they can give back to their homeland mountains. With joy and nonchalance, they approach the execution of their plans. This is a quiet, special story, which makes do without classic mountain heroes but with its beautiful images tells us that we can make a difference after all.

„Bayandalai – Lord of the Taiga“

Aner Etxebarria Moral, Pablo Vidal Santos (Spain)

Statement of the Jury

An old reindeer shepherd tells us about his life, embedded in the rough natural environment of the Taiga and the fateful ministry of gods. The camera completes his narrative with a variation of detail-rich close-ups and distance shots from high above (from the perspective of the gods, so to speak). Simple objects – the reflective contents of a tea cup, gnarly fingers on fur – become poetic images for the great cycle of becoming and passing away.

„Riafn“  (Calling)

Hannes Lang (Germany)

Statement of the Jury

This film renders an extraordinary portrait of human individuals who live on a remote mountain farm. It is a surprising experience to delve into the world of time-honoured communication between human, nature and animal. Acoustic richness and expressive images result in a cinematic meditation against an alpine backdrop.