THE JUDGES' DECISIONS ON THE WINNING FILMS 2006

FILM SHORT

The short film is undoubtedly the category in any film competition that can spring the biggest surprise. Films can cover any topic, and come from any genre, just so long as they're short.

We want to make special mention of two films in this category.  Parking is a terrific animation where nature fights back in the battleground of an urban car-park, while I do not think anyone here who's seen it would have been surprised if Balancing Point turned out the eventual winner.

But, the winning film just had something else - it's a fantastically simple but original idea enhanced by a witty script that's won over audiences here at Kendal.   Our winning short film is the one with the very long and difficult name - Solilochairliftquist.

 

This proved to be one of the toughest categories.   We debated long and hard before we reached a short list of three films -  Pururambo, On the road with the Red God Machenddenranath, and The Magic Mountain.  

The films of  Pavol Barabás are well known to the Kendal audience, with two category winners and one grand prize in past years - and Pururambo continues in the tradition of  raw and harrowing adventure that leaves us wondering at times if the team members will survive the journey to complete the film. 

In contrast to seeking out unfamiliar lands and cultures, On the road with the Red God Machenddenranath is told with an authenticity that can only be achieved by film makers who are truly part of the culture and the story being filmed. 

In The Magic Mountain, we enjoyed the story and the character of Cynthia and the way the film captured her passion and the engagement of the Ladakhi communities in which she worked and won the hearts of all she met - from the children in local communities to the distant bureaucrats in Leh.   But in the end, with its moments of almost Davinci like recognition of humanity across the huge cultural divides of westerns and native peoples meeting for the first time, the winner is by Pavol Barabás. 

PEOPLE'S CHOICE

We had more votes than ever in the People's choice this year.   All the films in competition received votes but in reverse order the winners are:  3. Pururambo, 2. Asiemut, 1. Set in Stone.

This was a hard call for the jury because, to be honest, there wasn't that much innovation on show in this years' films.  And having seen a lot of films back to back this week, we'd like to issue something of a challenge to some film-makers. Please, lay dudism to rest.  I'll explain.  Dudism is the genre of films that feature little else than dudes having a cool time set to a sub-nirvana grunge sound-track. It has become a cliché, and perhaps it's time again for thinking and a little reflection to become cool in the films we make.

One action film - 2nd Base - did stand out in this category for its terrific photography of the Oslo base team in action. 

But our winner is a film that brought something new to the sea-cliffs of west Scotland - a film featuring choreography and photography of a very high level. Created as part of a pan-european arts project, our winner is - Duet.

ENVIRONMENT

Surprisingly perhaps, this was not a strong category this year.  But our winner is an extremely powerful film, beautifully shot, and with terrific access to its subjects. It's a film that grabs your attention from the start, portraying a world where devastating damage to the environment goes hand in hand with poverty and oppression. Set in the mountains and mines of Bolivia , our winner is - The Devil's Miners.

MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE

Two films - two very different films - stood out in this category. One, Asiemut, may not have taken place in the world's wildest places but this young couples' 6 month 8000km cycling odyssey from Mongolia to the Bay of Bengal proved also to be an exploration of their own physical limits and a true test of their love for each other.

But if mountain adventure is defined by doing something new in a place where no one else goes, involving extremes of hardship, courage and skill, then our winning film ticks every box. Crossing the Patagonian ice cap with kayaks - either in the water or on their backs - was turned into a spectacular, thoughtful and inspiring film.  The winner is Patagonia Ice Cap Expedition.

MOUNTAINEERING

Thanks to the worldwide success of touching the void, mountaineering films have now achieved a reach and popularity undreamt of a decade ago.

And Darlow Smithson, the company responsible for touching the void, have taken that formula and made a stunning series of television adventure films. We particularly liked one film from this series, Mckinley - nightmare at 20,000 feet, which once again succeeded in taking a true story and bringing it to life with heart stopping effect.

Of the other films in this category, we have to say that there were some weaker entries that seemed trapped in a time-warp from the 1970s, so little did they stray from an old and tired expedition film format.

An exception to this were two short films about Kurt Diemberger by Naz Sadoughi and Edward Salkeld.

But our winner is a film which makes a clear statement about one especially notorious moment in mountaineering history - and that winner is Cerro Torre - Arco de los Ventos.

CLIMBING

There were some very good films in this category, and we had a hard time making our decision. The Story of Indian Face is a terrific retrospective film, featuring Johnny Dawes looking back at his ground-breaking climb from 1986. 

E11 is a gripping film that charts Dave Macleod's determination to push rock climbing to a new level. And what we also loved about E11, was how the film explored the demands a climbing obsession can make on a relationship. It is a very honest and engaging film. 

But our winner is a film that portrays a climber at the top of his game, and a member of a climbing dynasty who have led the way on routes in the high mountain crags of the Lake District.   The winner is Set In Stone. 

JUDGES SPECIAL PRIZE

We decided this year that the judge's special prize should go to a film made by a pair of film-makers who have demonstrated exceptional promise in their work.

The film we've chosen was made on a micro budget and, at times, perhaps this shows, but in the things that matter -ambition, action, story-telling, and above all emotional honesty - it punches way above its weight.

The winner of the judge's special prize is E11.

It has been a fantastic and enjoyable experience to see all these films - and of those films already mentioned amongst our category winners there are two or three that bid strongly for this, the biggest prize at this year's festival.

After much consideration, one film did rise above the rest.  Our winner is not a climbing film, though it does feature some rather perilous ascents. It has a great story, some heart stopping moments, and truly engaging characters. It took a year to make, and gained remarkable access to communities keen to preserve their traditional customs.

It is a film both set and made in Nepal , and so the winner of the grand prize at the 2006 Kendal Mountain Film Festival is - On The Road With The Red God Macheddendranath.