EMFF 2012 - Sunday Evening

THE FILMS

EYE OF THE STORM

A reflective ski film with some amazing footage of heli-drops in the mountains. Very nice shot and put together.

DAVE

A lovely short film by Lukasz Warzecha that looks at Dave MacLeod and his attitude to climbing and hard projects. The film features Dave climbing in Averstal (AKA: Magic Wood), Switzerland and repeating New Base Line F8b+**. One of the best short films so far.

COLD
A brilliant film by Cory Richards that documents his suffering in the bitterly cold winter with fellow mountaineers Simone Moro and Denis Urubko as they successfully climb Gasherbrum II. Some stunning footage and a lucky escape from a devastating avalanche on their descent.

MY OWN HANDS
A short artistic-style film about climbing trees. Not really my thing but very nicely put together.

THE LECTURE

ALAN HINKES - SURVIVING THE DEATH ZONE

Alan was a very interesting and funny chap. He had great videos and pictures from his ascents of all the 8000m peaks (although he didn't touch on the dispute about his summit of Cho Oyu). It's fair to say that Alan is certainly a true Yorkshireman - a very interesting guy.

A great end to EMFF 2012 and what a weekend it's been. Herbie certainly enjoyed it and said it was well worth the trip over from the Isle of Man. Many thanks to Stevie Christie and the rest of the volunteers for organising and running a great weekend - roll on next year!

EMFF 2012 - Saturday Afternoon

THE FILMS

PUSH IT

A film by Jen Randall about female climbers pushing their limits. This film had a couple of interviews with elite female climbers, including Natalie Berry, talking about their climbing projects and achievements. However, the film's main focus seemed to tell the story of Jen's attempt, and success, to climb El Capitan with her friend. There were some amusing moments in their practice attempts, particularly involving hauling. I was hoping for more of an insight into the top female climbers, but this seemed to be the secondary point of the film. Nevertheless, very well done to Jen for putting together a great short film... and for climbing El Cap!

BONGO BAR

This short film documented a unique and privileged opportunity to a couple of competition winners run by Gore. Two lucky women travelled to Norway to climb a new route on a (mini) big-wall with Dave MacLeod. A very well put together short film by Paul Diffley and what an amazing prize!

ICE REVOLUTION
I've been lucky enough to see this excellent short film about Tim Emmett and Will Gadd's quest to climb the overhanging ice of Helmcken Falls once before. Even if you're not that into ice climbing, you can't help but be touched by the enthusiasm and entertainment value provided by Tim Emmett - what a guy!

THE LECTURE

ZOE HART - THE ALPINE PRINCESS

I must be honest here and admit that I hadn't heard of Zoe before, but I had Googled her before the show and was quite looking forward to hearing what she had to say. She didn't disappoint and told her story about how she became a guide in the Alps. She had some good video clips of some of the situations and epics that she and her husband had been involved in. It certainly looked like she is living the dream, guiding from Chamonix and getting to grips with motherhood.

EMFF 2012 - Saturday Morning

THE FILMS

THE LONG HOPE

I have seen this epic film once before in Sheffield, and I couldn't pass up the chance to see it again. Another great film made by Paul Diffley that tells the story of Dave MacLeod's quest to free the Longhope Route. The film portrays the great history of the huge adventure in Hoy that was first climbed in 1970 by Ed Drummond and Oliver Hill. There are also interviews with Dave Turnbull & John Arran who talk about the route, the history and their first free-ascent in 1997. Dave's goal was to free the headwall crack that Turnbull and Arran avoided - he thought a more direct line was possible. The film and the story is fantastic and features some amazing climbing by Dave and Andy Turner to complete the climb in only 10 hours! There is also a very emotional journey that sees Ed Drummond return to St. John's Head to the route. Well worth the DVD purchase, I would say.

BEN

I have had the pleasure of seeing this short film online prior to this screening. A lovely piece by Kate Owen that looks at a few individuals who make use of Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis everyday. It features a local farmer, fell-runner, photographer and climbers Dave MacLeod and Kevin Shields.

WHITE SILK ROAD
This film followed a group of Australian snowboarders to the slightly unusual ski destination of Afghanistan. I found the film, journey and story very enjoyable and quite different to many of the other snowboarding/skiing films I have seen over the years. There was a huge contrast between the war-torn city and the poor villagers who live in the snowy mountains. Some great footage of first descents and of the group teaching the locals to snowboard and build jumps.