Photo: Pascal Moors – nose for photography
The 12th Dutch Mountain Film Festival: another great show!
From the top of the highest peaks to down below the icebergs: stunning images, heart-rending tales and exceptional performances – the programme so far echoes the character of our festival, with its fantastic diversity of mountain films and inspiring side events. Take a look at what’s been happening these past few days!
Sunday gave us a chance to let our hair down, watch some more fantastic films and catch up with some great personalities.
For example, climber Line van de Berg. Together with Fay Manners, she scaled the audacious Phantom Direct ice route in the Grandes Jorasses, the first ever female team.
After the film My Phantom, Line was on the podium to recall the story of her amazing performance.
Summit 2 Summit Ride
The day started in true sporting fashion. On Sunday morning a large group of riders assembled at Drielanderpunt to take on the Summit 2 Summit bike ride, now a cycling classic, from the highest peak in the Netherlands to the highest peak in Belgium.
Films galore!
The Royal Theater was the venue for a marathon of mountain films on what has become the traditional Summit Saturday. This year’s theme: Echo. And not just in the large auditorium, …
… but also deep under the ground in the bowels of the cinema. There it was possible to see the film Caves with the aid of VR goggles!
In addition, it was also possible to catch up with old acquaintances such as Lisette Wansink, creator of a fantastic series of miniatures. Here for example, the Cholitas, the eponymous protagonists of our Crossborder DMFF Award 2020 winning film.
Awards Show in Heerlen
Heerlen’s mayor Roel Wever ushers in the Festival at the Royal Theater with the traditional ringing of the cowbell.
On Friday the DMFF prizewinning films were announced! The winner of the Grand Prize, the Crossborder DMFF Award 2022, was the fantastic documentary ‘Into the Ice’ directed by Lars Henrik Ostenfeld, who received the award in person. The film follows a group of glaciologists on the Greenland ice sheet and excels not only with its scientific facts, but with its adventure and fantastic shots too.
Industry Days: Film pitch and Masterclass
New up-and-coming filmmakers made a pitch for their film projects before a jury, including Nepalese film director Kesang Tseten
After lunch the film makers attended a masterclass in Storytelling led by film director and producer Julia Popławska.
Literary walk and opening FurkArt exhibition
On Thursday evening, a group of enthusiasts were taken on a literary stroll though the darkening shadows of the Aambos woods and walked the along the Caumerbeek valley under the guidance of authors Merlijn Huntjens and Max Hermens. The two of them recited compelling tales from Na de Water (‘After the Water’), about the floods of July 2021. Steff Geelen read a Hövelsprök full of sensitive reflections about her ascent of the Hakkenberg
Wednesday 3 November
Film and discussion about altitude sickness
After the screening of the film Höhenrausch about studies into altitude sickness – in a mountain hut high up on Monte Rosa – Professor Thomas Küpper, an expert in the field of altitude sickness at the University Hospital of Aachen took part in a Q&A session with Ali Koch about current developments and research into the disorder. The audience took an active part in this the entertaining and informative discussion.
The opening journey ...
The festival was opened with the ringing of the traditional cow bell by the mayors of Aachen and Heerlen. After this we were taken on a journey through our own European uplands as author Merlijn Huntjens read from stories which he had written about the floods of July 2021. The journey continued further to the Arctic Ocean, where the packed auditorium was immersed in a soundscape of the underwater world. In his almost hallucinative live performance entitled Onder Water musician Tristan Visser combined images of his sailing voyage to the seas around Greenland with his music, where he attempted to converse with the whales. On again this Saturday in Heerlen! The last leg of the opening journey to us to the world of snow-capped peaks and precipitous walls of rock and ice. The Alpinist told the story of the exceptionally talented climber Marc-André Leclerc.
A day before the curtain-raiser for the Dutch Mountain Film Festival, we performed a dress rehearsal with a special showing of Between Summits in the Adelante rehabilitation centre in Hoensbroek. Patients were invited to attend the screening and afterwards take part in a Q&A session with the film’s talented director, Roeland Wendel.
The film will be screened again in Heerlen on Saturday 5 November!
