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The Film Judges Report - 2004

Fulvio Mariani	Maria Coffey
Justine Wright	Dermot Somers

This year over two hundred films were submitted to the Festival and 48 were chosen to be judged in the nine categories. The judges, square eyed but still alive were professional film editor, Justine Wright; climber and adventure film maker, Simon Wells; Director and Producer from Switzerland, Fulvio Mariani; author, adventurer and veteran of film and book festivals, Maria Coffey and climber, writer and broadcaster, Dermot Somers.

They were ably supported by their lynchpin, John Innerdale. He has catered for the Judges physical and spiritual needs, organising sandwiches and coffee, directing their discussions where required and writing lists of films seen and unseen.

The level of debate throughout the judging process was at all times high. There were long, hard discussions, but their personalities were such that there was no acrimony. They often worked on into the night in their discussions, such was the enthusiasm not only for their task but also for the entries. It has been a great privilege to have such a high-powered panel at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival.

There was a very wide spectrum of films, from the sublime to the core blimey. The one serious message which came out strong and clear was the need for film makers to think about narrative. Too many films catered for the all action and no thought mode of film making. There was, the judges felt, a paucity in storytelling and often no subtext. The sense of the creative purpose was, on occasion, missing.

Despite these reservations, the Judges were clear that the winning films had many excellent qualities and in some cases are truly exceptional. The Judges decisions are as follows.

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

There were two films that the judges particularly wished to mention: For outstanding photography, Leo Dickinson's The Falcon that Flew with Man . Here is Leo and his team acquiring unique footage of the world's fastest creature, exquisite and captivating.

For humour we chose a short film that we watched at the beginning and the end of the day to release us from the constipation of twenty six films a day. Beautifully crafted and significantly in black and white, this is Le Cheval 2.1 .

JUDGES SPECIAL PRIZE: Au Sud Des Nuages

This film is beautifully shot with stunning photography and a great script. It is perfectly cast. Two different worlds, that seem so far apart, are so close. We were charmed by this film and by the film maker's ambition to tell this story. This film represented a culture and a way of life. This film is not just for the mountaineering community, it touched on deeper issues, ones that affect us all.

VIDEO SHORT: Highliner

This was the strongest category by miles and also the most diverse. From animation to documentary to serious drama via music videos. It covered the whole spectrum. It's all too easy to make a short using a load of digital effects and a driving sound track but our three short listed films don't fall into this trap. We have chosen three films, two runners up and a winner:

Dolomite Trance - through its great camera work, editing and choice of music it really allowed everyone to experience the thrill of a base jump.

The Fly Up. A very moving story, with no ray of sunshine, a man trapped in a cruel world. It is a very bleak world and the film captures the story of entrapment in a vivid way. It has a powerful sense of narrative and leaves you with the question: Is it possible to escape such a life?

Highliner - a very strong visual film. It was beautifully structured and the shooting was fantastic. For me the shadow on the wall was almost the most memorable shot of the Festival.

MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT: Das Rad

Increasingly, over the last two or three decades, environmental issues have come more and more to the fore in the mountains as in all aspects of life. What we have this year is an outstanding piece of work which makes the point in a most original way. It is a fantastic short animation that uses humour and geological time to make a simple yet profound point about the relationship between human beings and the environment that they inhabit and exploit. .

MOUNTAIN CULTURE: Charles Edouard Ou Let Temps Suspendu

Here we see two old bachelors close to their animals, close to the landscape. The film itself is an immersion in the life and the place but it is not an intrusion. There is no sense of intrusion, it is as if the camera lives in the house with them. The other thing about it that it is a celebration of intimate detail, of tools, colour, animal feed, weather and it makes fundamental political point that the women are gone. Traditional life is based on repetition, it generates a rhythm., it keeps depression at bay, and the film captures that in the clock, in the seasons, in the rituals but it does not do it as a concept, it is not telling you this an abstract idea. The film has the same rhythm as the lifestyle it presents.

MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE: Alone Across Australia

There was a close contest between two films which go right to the essence of the spirit of adventure, placing individuals in a position of uncertainty and opening up to that experience. In both adventures there is an inherent simplicity.

Caught Between A Rock And A Hard Place is the story of three young friends who set out without the benefit of any huge support network to undertake a formidable challenge: the exploration of cave systems under mountains in Wales - and tell us the story of their adventure and challenge with a passion and clarity of purpose that transcends the limitations of their filming equipment. Indeed the rough and ready nature of the pictures heightens the sense of authenticity. And they are rewarded for their efforts in front of the camera in a way that is spontaneous and utterly charming.

Alone Across Australia is the story of one man who set out to walk alone across a continent and undertook to tell the whole story for us without any help at all. What is remarkable about this film is John Muir's complete unswerving commitment to documenting this story. At every point on his journey he is aware of the story he is telling and he's never failed to undertake what's necessary to tell it. The result is a very satisfying document of a remarkable physical journey paralleled by his own inner journey that charts his remarkable emotional experience in undertaking this adventure.

CLIMBING: Psicobloc

Climbing films become obsessed with the technique of the activity and the technique of the filming and often they forget about the audience and the story. We have seen quite a lot of climbing films and some are self-obsessed, self indulgent, corrupted by the virus of advertising. The one film that is succinct, clear and honest in its narrative is Psicobloc . You feel you are physically making the climb with this man. The technical quality of the shoot is clean. The camera places are kept simple, everything is simple.

MOUNTAINEERING; Sur Le Fil De 4000m

There is a big crisis in the film and documentary making about mountaineering, a crisis being in both in the nature of Alpinism and in film making. Quite often now the journey is a product of the film and not the other way round. So much of this genre has entered into reality TV - you cannot export reality TV onto the mountains without putting people at risk and destroying some of the essence of adventure. However, we did find two films that stood out in the Mountaineering category. The film Sur Le Fil De 4000 has great photography, and tells a good story. The friendship between the two climbers is well explained. In 52 minutes, there is a quantity of beautiful filming of the Alps that normally is seen in 10 documentaries. And the music is well suited. Obviously but unfortunately, it is also a moving homage to the greatest Alpinist of the last twenty five years, Patrick Berhault.

PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Twice Upon A Time in Bolivia

Form the hundreds of votes handed in, here are the choices in reverse order: in third place: Eiger North Face ; second place: Alone Across Australia and the winner is: Twice Upon A Time In Bolivia .

THE GRAND PRIZE: Your Himalayas

The winner of this category is a film that literally left the judges speechless. We needed no discussion; we knew straight away that it was the winner of the Grand Prize. Creatively it is a tour de force. It is utterly original in the way it is crafted, and poetic in all its components. It is an emotionally intelligence film that tackles the hardest and most profound questions in mountaineering. A landmark film, it is a deeply moving elegy, and a work of art that will surely endure.