Press Releases 2024

2024 – Tegernsee Internat. Mountain Film Festival 16-20 October –

21st Tegernsee Internat. Mountain Film-Festival
                Winner 2024

Great Prize by the City of Tegernsee (€ 3000,-)
Mongolia – Valley of the Bears
Hamid Sardar  |  Latu Sensu Productions  |  France

Best Film in the Category Mountain Experience – Prize by the German Alpine Club (DAV) (€ 1.000,-)
Nuptse: l’inaccessible absolu (Nuptse: Absolutely Inaccessible)
Hugo Clouzeau  |  L‘Endroit  |  France

Best Film in the Category „Mountain Life“ (€ 1.000,-)
Un Pasteur (A Shepherd)
Louis Hanquet  |  Valérie Montmartin, Little Big Story  |  France

Best Film in the Category „Mountain Nature“ (€ 1.000,-)
Sauvage le chamois, l’aigle et le loup (Wild – Chamois, Eagle ad Wolf)
Véronique, Anne und Erik Lapied  |  Lapiedfilm.  |  France

Otto-Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Film Maker (€ 1.000,-)
Shouhare Iran Khanoum (Mrs Iran’s Husband)
Marjan Khosravi  |  Seven Springs Pictures  |  Iran

Prize fort he Most Outstanding Camera Work (1.000,-)
Painting the Mountains
Pierre Cadot  |  Picture Orgaic Clothing, Yucca Films  |  France

Prize for the „Special Film“ (€ 1.000,-)
Via Sedna
Ramona Waldner, Alexander Brugger  |  LM Media  |  Austria

Honourable Mentions by the Jury
Resistance Climbing
Nick Rosen & Zachary Barr  |  Reel Rock  |  USA   

Dartaş / The Carpenter
Xelil Sehragerd   |  Kurdistan       

Am Steilhang (On the Steep Slope)
Thomas Schäfer  |  Farmfluencers of South Tyrol  |  Italy

Bayern 2 – Audience Award (€ 1.000,-)
Shouhare Iran Khanoum (Mrs Iran‘s Husband)
Marjan Khosravi  |  Seven-Springs Pictures  |  Iran

2024 – Tegernsee Internat. Mountain Film Festival

Winning Films 2024 -Tegernsee Internat Mountain Film Festival

Statements of the Jury 

Great Prize by the City of Tegernsee
Mongolia – Valley of the Bears
Hamid Sardar, France
“In ‘Mongolia – Valley of the Bears’ Hamid Sadar unites all the hallmarks of a truly excellent film: high-quality imagery, a strong and poignant story, rhythm and emotion. This beautiful, authentic documentary raises a universal environmental question: How can we envision coexistence between humans and wildlife in an era marked by climate change? Its underlying message – that change is still possible and that the actions of individuals can make a huge difference – provides a ray of hope for the future.”

Best Film in the Category Mountain Experience – Prize by the German Alpine Club (DAV)
Nuptse: l’inaccessible absolu (Nuptse: Absolutely Inaccessible)
Hugo Clouzeau, France
“Completing a multi-year project as ambitious as this expedition to the South Face of Nuptse – one of the highest and most difficult faces on the planet – requires extraordinary determination. This film directed by Hugo Clouzeau contains rare footage of high-end climbing, masterfully interwoven with humour and artistic touches. It grants authentic insights into the world of today’s extreme high-altitude-alpinism with all its highs and lows.”

Best Film in the Category Mountain Nature
Sauvage – le chamois, l’aigle et le loup (Wild – Chamois, Eagle and Wolf)
Véronique, Anne and Erik Lapied, France
“Throughout the seasons, the camera explores with finesse the lives of chamois, eagle and wolf. Incredibly precise framing and the unfathomable dedication of Véronique, Anne and Erik Lapied at tracking these animals’ movements in even the harshest of environments offer a convincing, vibrant spectacle of the circle of life.”

Best Film in the Category Mountain Life – Prize by Tegernseer Energiegesellschaft – TEG
Un pasteur (A Shepherd)
Louis Hanquet, France
“With simple images, Louis Hanquet reveals the careful and empathetic work of the lonely mountain shepherd. He cannot protect his herd from all threats, but accepts the losses he suffers as part of this life. His tasks change with the rhythm of the seasons. The film is an impressive homage to transhumance as an ancient way of life, one that is well adapted to the harshness of the mountains.”

Otto Guggenbichler Prize for a Junior Film Maker
Shouhare Iran Khanoum (Mrs Iran’s Husband)
Marjan Khosravi, Iran
“An extraordinary Iranian film marked by stunning image quality, which portrays the complex relationships of a man with his two wives and the prospect of a third wife. No commentary is given, just a raw and poignant testimony in the beautiful cinematic style of Marjan Khosravi.”

Prize for the Most Outstanding Camera Work
Painting the Mountains
Pierre Cadot, France
“In Painting the Mountains, Pierre Cadot, Thomas Guerrin and Matthew Tufts show off their playful command over the art of image composition. This applies close up to the protagonists as well as in the magnificent Patagonian landscape. A mixture of still images, drone and action camera allows viewers an intimate experience of at times almost unbearable exposure.”

Prize for the Special Film
Via Sedna
Ramona Waldner, Alexander Brugger, Austria
“A 100% female team successfully completes a massive challenge: They sail from France to Greenland, climb a big wall and bring back stunning images. This is a reportage filled with joy, good humour and team spirit, illustrated by Ramona Waldner’s beautiful shots. ‘Via Sedna’ presents a refreshing mix of well-planned and spontaneously improvised action in the impressive wilderness of rough oceans and big lonely mountains. An inspiration for all women to follow their dreams.”

Honourable Mentions by the Jury
Resistance Climbing
Nick Rosen & Zachary Barr, USA
“This is a courageous film by Nick Rosen and Zachary Barr. Its authentic storytelling includes scenes that are sensitive to film and displays a warm community in a vulnerable position. Despite all the difficulties which the local climbers face, the positive impact climbing has on their lives is enormous and gives a greater meaning to this sport.”

Dartaş / The Carpenter
Xelil Sehragerd; Kurdistan
“Few words and extremely powerful details make this a masterpiece of storytelling. Repeated elements, such as the squirrel, create different perspectives on an intense story. The minimalistic approach chosen by Xelîl Sehragerd is convincing, and the audience becomes both an observer and an integral part as the plot slowly evolves.”

Am Steilhang (On the Steep Slope)
Thomas Schäfer, Italy
“Thomas Schäfer presents footage that is unhurried – and impresses because it is. It allows us to share in Farmer Valentin’s understanding of truly natural agriculture – by confidently rejecting industrial food production. The refined narrative style and camera work that is close-up, yet respectful, make the film feel complete.“

2024 – Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival – 16 – 20 October – Opening

Press Release / Opening                                                         17 Oct 2024 

Tegernsee Mountain Film, 21st International Festival from 16–20 October 2024

 Mountaineering as Life Purpose 

The 21st International Mountain Film Festival opens with four very different films: “Gipfel-Liebe”, “Crying Glacier”, “Diciassette” and “Let it Bärn”. The Opening Night at Tegernsee Castle’s festive Barocksaal ballroom shows a broad thematic spectrum and proves that mountain film is not just about spectacular action on the crag or high-altitude records. Some of those involved in the making of the opening films made the journey to Lake Tegernsee to attend: among them Germany’s leading mountaineering couple Robert and Daniela Jasper, documentary filmmaker Claus Hanischdörfer and Swiss filmmaker Thomas Horat. The evening’s surprise guest is the Iranian director Marjan Khosravi, who was able to fly in from Tehran despite the current political situation. 

Two hosts come on stage for the Opening Ceremony of the 21st International Mountain Film Festival. “Today, there are two of us,” says Michael Pause at the beginning and mischievously explains to his guests: “Anyone as old as me is a hazard. Having looked around, without a casting call, Tom Dauer is the ideal successor!” Festival veteran Michael Pause, who celebrated his 20th festival anniversary last year, will finally retire from co-organising the festival at the end of this year’s event. Tom Dauer will be solely responsible for the program from 2025 onwards. And Dauer comments on what that means with a broad grin: “The prep work was incredibly hard.”

The duo brought four of the submitted 256 films to the Opening Night, “to show how broad the mountain film spectrum has become,” says Pause. “Gipfel-Liebe” (Summit Love), the first film screened in the packed baroque ballroom after the welcome speeches, couldn’t be a better fit. After all, the old and the new Festival Director have something in common with the majority of the audience: their enthusiasm for the medium of film – and for mountaineering.

The 45-minute documentary “Gipfel-Liebe” is a family portrait depicting 30 years of love and roped adventures shared by Daniela and Robert Jasper with all their highs and lows. Free from hackneyed tropes, it grants deep insights into the lives of two mountain pros. Especially on the Eiger North Face, the two have mastered spectacularly difficult routes. “A typical mountaineering relationship,” says Daniela, a pioneer in women’s mountaineering who graces the stage together with her partner Robert. “Constantly up and down.” The film accompanies the couple during the first free ascent of their route “Northwest Passage” on the Eiger North Face (Robert: “my living room”) and sheds light on stages of their marriage: serious accidents, crises, disputes and top alpine performances.

After the interval, the audience embarks on a beautiful, almost bizarre journey of discovery. With the short film “Crying Glacier”, sound artist Ludwig Berger shows how important it is to hear the world around us. The film, in which sound plays the leading role, accompanies him on one of his many visits to the Morteratsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps, where he collects fascinating sounds that could disappear forever. Director Lutz Stautner addresses the topic of climate change; melting glaciers symbolize what is in store for our children and grandchildren.

Other film choices also evidence that the Festival Directors Michael Pause and Tom Dauer share a knack for powerful issues. The short film “Diciassette” (Seventeen) is a deeply touching film, because Swiss filmmaker Thomas Horat discovered the last remaining contemporary witness of the partisan era in Northern Italy (Lago di Maggiore). He did so almost by chance, as he recounts on stage, and his film allows her to revisit tragic events. An impressive personality, a moving story, sometimes told in the format of a graphic novel. Is it a mountain film? Yes, the festival curators agree. Because it is to the mountains that the partisans retreated. The fourth, last and shortest film of the evening “Let it Bärn”, reappraises in modern fashion the “conquest of urban space by boulderers” in the Swiss capital Bern.

Once again, numerous guests of honour are present at the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival. Many of them attend the Opening Night: filmmakers, producers and protagonists, notaries from politics and society, sponsors, supporters and mountain enthusiasts. Among them are Germany’s primary mountaineering couple Robert and Daniela Jasper, documentary filmmaker Claus Hanischdörfer, Swiss filmmaker Thomas Horat and Iranian director Marjan Khosravi, who has travelled from Tehran. Tegernsee’s Second Mayor, Michael Bourjaun, stands in for an indisposed Johannes Hagn and opens the Mountain Film Festival for the first time. In his welcome speech, he expresses his delight with the approximately 5,000 spectators who loyally appear every year. According to Bourjaun, there are only winners, seeing that each film finds its audience here.

But which of the competing films will receive one of the coveted awards at the end? The international jury is currently deciding this. There are many films to choose from. More than 80 films are being screened until the Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening (from 7 p.m. at Barocksaal or afterwards at the ARD Mediathek) at five venues (Barocksaal, Schalthaus, Quirinal, Medius, Sporthalle) as well as in the new Movie Tent at Kurgarten. Some tickets remain for most screenings. 

Further Information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Phone +49(0)8022-1801 – 37; bergfilm@tegernsee.de, Internet: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de Details regarding all films and the fringe programme are available online.
Advance ticket sales at: Tegernsee Tourist Information, Phone +49(0)8022-92738 – 62; tegernsee@tegernsee.com; or online: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de or www.muenchenticket.de.

2024 – Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival 16 – 20 October – Programme is here

Press Release – Mountain Film Festival Tegernsee    –    2024-09-05

How to Move Mountains 

The print programme for the 21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival is here! From 16 to 20 October, it presents an exciting and engaging selection of films curated from approximately 250 international submissions. Alpine celebrities and unknown summiteers will roam Tegernsee on screen as well as in person at the five screening venues and around the centrally pitched Movie Tent. Advance ticket sales start on 13th of September.

For years, the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival has been a hot spot for all mountain enthusiasts. Its varied fringe programme away from screens includes hikes in the Tegernsee Valley and special exhibitions. Every day, there are more than 30 films to watch, and productions come from all over the world. The new festival director Tom Dauer promises a top-notch program: “We offer a beautiful selection of films, all of which are worth seeing. One of the highlights is “Resistance Climbing”, a film set in Palestine before the outbreak of the current war. It shows a community constantly under threat and pressure. Climbing helps these people to re-ignite their own courage and face their many adversities.”

One of this year’s favourites in the competition is “Bodhichitta”. While Michi Wohlleben executes a first ascent in the Swiss Alpstein Massif, Agnes Gmünder tends to the alpine pasture at the foot of the mountain. The film tells of the spiritual kinship between an extreme climber and a dairymaid. They have more in common than one might at first expect. In “Mongolia – Valley of Bears”, Iranian filmmaker Hamid Sardar documents the struggle of a gamekeeper who uses unconventional methods to protect the population of bears in his homeland. This film examines the conflict between the exploitation and conservation of natural resources in an exciting and multi-facetted way. Then, there is the awe-inspiring expedition film “The Great White Whale” – a fascinating historical recording of the dramatic attempts by daring adventurers to climb Australia’s highest mountain.

In addition to such cinematic highlights, prominent guests from the German mountaineering scene will be in attendance, including Robert and Daniela Jasper during Wednesday’s Opening Night at Tegernsee Castle’s festive Barocksaal ballroom. The mountaineering couple will show their film “Gipfel-Liebe” (Summit Love), a touching family portrait depicting 30 years of love and roped adventures shared by Daniela and Robert Jasper – with all their ups and downs. Viewers are granted intimate insights into the lives of two mountain professionals in a film free from tired tropes.

This year’s Bayern2 Night on Thursday will revolve around the topic of “Iran: Mountains with a Message”. This screening segment at the Kurgarten Movie Tent presents Iran from the perspective of some very different women. The protagonist of the film “Climbing Iran”, Nasim Eshqi, is an extraordinary climber – and she will try to be present during the event to talk about the impact of her work. A mountain filmmaker retrospective is scheduled for Thursday at Schalthaus, celebrating the 100th birthday of Dr. Otto Guggenbichler, the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival’s initiator. In remembrance of him, the Mountain Film Festival is showing three films from the 1960s, all of which bear his incomparable signature. Truly special films always await viewers on the German Alpine Club (DAV) Night. This year’s edition takes place at the Kurgarten Movie Tent and revolves around “The Next Alpine Generation: How to Promote Young Talent”, raising the question of whether or not to promote elite athleticism. On Saturday, the final stretch of the mountain film marathon begins at 10 a.m. at Schalthaus Tegernsee with high-quality films for all who didn’t make the first three days. Meanwhile, the Medius venue caters to all who appreciate young and action-packed films. By the way: Very young festival visitors will enjoy the Children’s Cinema programme at the Kurgarten Movie Tent from Wednesday to Friday starting at 9.30 a.m.

Anyone thumbing through the print programme or studying the short synopses of all 85 films online will be inspired by their fascinating diversity. To make sure that no one misses out, many films will be shown more than once. The question which films will swipe an award at the festive Closing Ceremony at Barocksaal tends to be every bit as exciting as the film selection itself. As always, the international jury will discuss all films in depth and award prizes to the best. If you want to be there and join in the celebration, you should attend Saturday’s ceremony: Guests will meet the award-winning filmmakers – in person or via video message – and watch excerpts from all award-winning films. While the festive awards ceremony is taking place in the venerable baroque ballroom, visitors at the Movie Tent can look forward to the winning film (Great Prize by the City of Tegernsee) in full length – plus an exciting pre-screening programme. So as not to reveal the winner before the official announcement, tent guests will be put into a winning (film) mood with productions that received a prize last year. Sunday presents the unique opportunity of watching all award-winning films at full length during a matinée at the Kurgarten Movie Tent as well as at the Medius and Schalthaus venues.

Please note that this year, there are NO box offices at the screening halls. Also note that evening events start at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available online at www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de and from all München-Ticket vendors. During festival days, the Tegernsee Tourist Information Office also sells tickets (open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.).
 

Further information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Phone +49(0)8022-1801 – 37; bergfilm@tegernsee.de

Advance ticket sales (starting on 13 September) and programme at Tegernsee Tourist Information, Phone +49(0)8022-92738 – 62; tegernsee@tegernsee.com; online at: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de or www.muenchenticket.de. All films and the fringe programme are listed in the print programme and online.

2024 – 21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival – in the international Spotlight

Newsletter/Press Release  –  2024-05-15
21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 16 to 20 October 2024

Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival
in the International Spotlight

In early May, Festival Director Michael Pause and his designated successor Tom Dauer visited the 72nd Trento Film Festival, the world’s first and oldest mountain film festival. Afterwards, they took part in the International Alliance for Mountain Film’s (IAMF) spring meeting in Turin.

 Tom Dauer got to experience a double premiere: his first time at the Trento Film Festival not as a filmmaker, but as a festival representative; the International Alliance for Mountain Film’s (IAMF) spring meeting in Turin was also new territory for him. Dauer seems thrilled: “All in all, it was fantastic. The range of films in Trento is overwhelming.” Which is why he saw little else than dark screening venues. “We’ll climb a mountain again next time,” says the filmmaker and passionate mountaineer with a laugh. He was particularly enthusiastic about this year’s Trento winning film: “Un pasteur” (“A Shepherd”) by French filmmaker Louis Hanquet. “The film was also shown at DOK.fest Munich and hopefully we will screen it ourselves in autumn.” “Un pasteur” is actually Hanquet’s very first film – and he immediately scored a main prize!

From Trento, Dauer and Pause moved on to the annual IAMF spring meeting, which was held in Turin. Dauer: “This year, the Museo Nazionale della Montagna celebrates its 150th anniversary, hence the invitation to Turin. Moreover, the venue where we had our meeting is a historic location: this is where the IAMF was founded in 2000, 24 years ago. Participants from Kathmandu, Krakow, Bilbao and other places joined at the same table. It was fascinating to observe how we all look at alpine culture and the mountain film genre from entirely different vantage points.” The IAMF brings together 27 major mountain film festivals, including those in Trento, Kathmandu, Ulju, Kendal, Telluride, Autrans – and of course Tegernsee.

Further information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1,
83684 Tegernsee, Germany, Phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53,
bergfilm@tegernsee.de, www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de

2024 – Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 16 to 20 October, Press Release – Partnership with LOWA

21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 16 to 20 October 2024

LOWA to be main sponsor of the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival until at least 2026

In 2023, the renowned manufacturer of hiking and mountaineering boots LOWA first became main sponsor of the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival. The cooperation has just been extended to last another three years.

The Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival’s new Director is Tom Dauer; and he is delighted by this extension of the mountain boot manufacturer’s commitment to the festival until 2026: “As a traditional alpine shoemaker based in Upper Bavaria, LOWA is a perfect fit for our festival. There has always been a creative connection between filmmakers and extreme mountaineers. Take for example Robert Jasper, who is part of the LOWA PRO team and who will be represented at the Tegernsee festival with his current film “Summit Love”. The most recent contribution to the mountain film festival by Stefan Glowacz and Philipp Hans was their film “Wallride”. As it happens, they also maintain close ties to LOWA. Tom Dauer explains: “The LOWA company, mountain athletes and film festival hosts relate to the same environment. We appeal to the same people, have the same goals and share the same passion. Our overlap is experiencing the mountains and watching films together. The way I see it, it’s the ideal partnership.”

LOWA Managing Director Alex Nicolai shares a similar perspective: “Out of love for nature and because of our passion for the perfect outdoor experience, we develop and produce shoes for all activities. In the same spirit, we look forward to great mountain films, exciting adventures and interesting encounters during the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival. Supporting the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival as its main sponsor is a heart-felt commitment.”

Since 1923, LOWA Sportschuhe Ltd. has been manufacturing mountain and hiking boots. It is one of the best-known outdoor brands across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The company, based in Jetzendorf in Upper Bavaria, produces almost exclusively in Europe. For the development of the shoes, it collaborates with renowned elite mountain sports pros such as Stefan Glowacz, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Hans Kammerlander, Ines Papert, Robert Jasper, Rudi Hauser and Simon Gietl.

Further Information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany, Phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de, www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de

2024 – 21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 16 to 20 October – Call for Submissions

Press Release: Call for Submissions   –  29 February 2024

21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 16 to 20 October 2024

Submit films to the 21st Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival NOW

After last year’s anniversary celebrations, the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival is reconfiguring its leadership for the upcoming 21st edition: Over the course of 2024, the mountain film festival’s long-standing artistic director Michael Pause will hand over his responsibilities to filmmaker and author Tom Dauer. Viewers anticipate the cinematic offerings at Germany’s only open mountain film competition with great excitement. The line-up will be decided over the course of the next three months: From now until 31 May, filmmakers from all over the world can submit their latest productions.  

The 20th International Mountain Film Festival in October 2023 rendered great cause for celebration to its organising team and visitors. The event has evolved splendidly over two decades, weathered the Covid pandemic well and is an obligatory date for mountain filmmakers around the globe. But: “Festivals age with their creators.” This is why Michael Pause seized the 20th anniversary as an opportunity to hand over the role of festival director to a competent and much esteemed colleague, the filmmaker and author Tom Dauer. Tom has been familiar with the festival from its inception and received his first award as early as during the second Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival in 2004. “He can and will develop the festival brilliantly and introduce new highlights.”

Meanwhile, preparations proceed unchanged for the 21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival from 16 to 20 October 2024. As always, the festival hosts invite national and international filmmakers to submit their latest mountain film productions from Germany and abroad. The festival team is looking forward to the whole range of films – to exciting action, touching stories, impressive footage and memorable characters. The mountain film genre is wonderfully diverse, ranging from short films to cinematic formats, from documentaries and docudramas to reports, portraits and feature films. Included in the festival’s thematic spectrum are alpine sports and adventure as well as culture and ecology. 

Submit new productions from around the world
Until the end of May, filmmakers can submit their latest productions from the mountain world. Productions can be submitted to three categories, which approach the mountains from different thematic angles. The first category, Mountain Experience, puts alpinism and sportive encounters with the mountains centre stage. The best film in this category is awarded the Prize by the German Alpine Club (DAV). Landscape portraits and investigations of environmental issues are the focus of the second category, Mountain Nature. Films in the third category, Mountain Life, take stock of ethnological and cultural aspects in the encounter between people and mountains. The best film across all categories will be awarded the festival’s main prize, the Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee (worth 3,000 euros). Furthermore, the most outstanding junior film maker (the author or director must be no older than 32 upon the film’s completion) will receive the Otto Guggenbichler Prize, named after the Mountain Film Festival’s founder. Finally, there are special prizes for the Most Outstanding Camera Work, for the Exceptional Film, and the Bayern2 Audience Award.

All further awards, endowments and the call for submissions can be found at: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de. Further information and call for submissions: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de, www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de

2024 – Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival – New Director for the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival

Newsletter/Press Release – 2024-01-24

21st Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 16 to 20 October 2024

New Director for the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival:
Michael Pause hands over to Tom Dauer

Over the course of 2024, the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival’s long-standing Artistic Director, Michael Pause, will hand over his responsibilities to filmmaker and author Tom Dauer, who hails from the nearby town of Valley. This was announced by Mayor Johannes Hagn at the City of Tegernsee’s New Year’s reception.

Michael Pause himself requested this changeover. Together with festival founder Otto Guggenbichler and former Mayor Peter Janßen, Pause helped from the very beginning to set up and direct the festival. Pause: “It’s been both a pleasure and an honour to develop this event, together with an enthusiastic team, over the course of more than twenty years. Thanks to the great commitment of professionals and volunteers, we have succeeded in putting together a festival that is respected in the mountain film scene around the globe. After last autumn’s 20th anniversary, I decided to unclip myself from the roped team and to hand over the ‘sharp end of the rope’ to Tom Dauer. I couldn’t ask for a more formidable successor.”

Pause and Dauer will jointly plan the 21st Mountain Film Festival, but Dauer will open the event on 16 October 2024 as its new official director. At the request of Mayor Johannes Hagn, Pause will remain associated with the festival as a patron.

An enthusiastic and outstanding mountaineer and climber himself, Tom Dauer has been familiar with the Mountain Film Festival from its inception. As early as the second festival in 2004, he received a Prize for the Best Landscape Film. Mountains are always the focus of his activities as a filmmaker – for example for the Bavarian Broadcasting (BR) mountaineering show “Bergauf-Bergab” – and as a book author. As a screenwriter and co-director, Dauer worked on the documentary “Streif – One Hell of a Ride”, which was awarded the Austrian Film Award ROMY. Dauer also works as a curator for the Alpen Film Festival, which, like the Tegernsee Festival, is hosted in the District of Miesbach. Dauer: “I have been working with Micki Pause for 25 years and very much look forward to shouldering this demanding responsibility. Preserving the uniqueness of the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival and further strengthening its profile is a great challenge – and that’s exactly how I like it.”

Tom Dauer was born in 1969 and grew up in Mexico City and Munich. His parents instilled in him a love for the mountains. As an alpinist and climber, he visited the Patagonian Andes, the Himalayas and the Karakoram. A student of literary criticism and a graduate of the German School for Journalism (DJS), he chooses to work in the mountains of the world, where he can fuse his passion and profession. His books engage with the mountains, mountaineering and adventure, including the title “Cerro Torre – Mythos Patagonien (The Myth of Patagonia)” as well as the biographies “Reinhard Karl – “Ein Leben ohne Wenn und Aber (A Life Without Ifs and Buts)” and “Kurt Albert – Frei klettern, frei denken, frei sein (Free Climbing, Free Thinking, Free Being)”. For the past 15 years, he has been writing a column for the magazine ALPIN. As screenwriter and director, Tom Dauer created various documentaries, among them “Sechs große Nordwände der Alpen (Six Great North Faces of the Alps)”, “Skitour ins Ungewisse (Ski Tour into the Unknown)” and “Marmolata – Königin der Dolomiten (Queen of the Dolomites)”. Together with his family, Tom Dauer lives on a remote farmstead between Munich and the Alpine foothills.

Further Information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany
Phone +49(0)8022-1801-37 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de, www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de