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2007 Judges

Will Gadd is 40 years old, lives in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, became a dad a few months ago, but still knows how to get to the airport/mountains in most North American and European cities. He has directed and produced his own films, including finals at Kendal, Banff and other Festivals worldwide. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Outside, Men’s Fitness, Climbing and many other publications around the world. Gadd writes about adventure sports, organises adventure TV shows and avoids his desk when possible, so getting him to sit still and watch films for four days straight is a major achievement for the organisers of Kendal.

Saskia Anley is an award-winning director who specializes in shooting and directing factual films. Having grown up in 3 continents, with a Masters in Social Anthropology and a background as an Outward Bound instructor she is well placed to making social films in foreign and challenging environments. She has made films in Brazil, Guatemala, Siberia, Lebanon, to name a few locations. During filming, Saskia has faced gun threats, extreme weather, and many endurance tests. She is known to deal with her subject matter with sensitivity and care. For the past two years she says she has been “on sabbatical as Mountain Mummy - moved to the Alps, bought an old farm and is running an eco-renovation between skiing, hiking, biking and climbing.” She also has an impressive blue chip client list and frequently directs and produces for Europe’s top corporate production company; The Edge Picture Company.

Micky Pause. Born in 1952 in Munich, he was introduced to mountain climbing as a young child by his father. In 1978, after completing the German School of Journalism and studies of political science as well as history, he began working for the Bavarian Broadcasting Company producing films for the mountaineering show “Bergauf- Bergab”. Since that time he has edited and directed well over 150 films for the show. The background knowledge for the work in alpine-journalism he acquired in the process of rewriting and updating the books originally written by his father Walter, including an eight volume of climbing in the Alps. Since 1984 he has also worked for the magazine “Berge” and has progressed to Senior Editor. Since May 1998, he is in charge of the TV show “Bergauf-Bergab” for the Bavarian Broadcasting Company. As a mountaineer, he prefers to seek out high peaks, rock climbing, and ski mountaineering.

Mark Batey is a video journalist working for BBC television in Newcastle. An experienced news and documentary director, he made the move into camera work seven years ago to film a trans-Saharan expedition attempting to drive a double-decker bus to Ghana. Since then he has filmed, edited and produced numerous news films for BBC Look North and national BBC news. He is a regular trainer in the BBC’s video journalism training school based in Newcastle, in the Durham University’s Media Academy and the Kendal Mountain Film Festival Adventure Film Academy. More recently he has been working as director/camera/editor on BBC Scotland’s Adventure Show and Great Climb.