V International Mountain Film Festival
Sliven
28-30 October 2005

Invitation, Regualtions rtf file, Entry form rtf file


Why Sliven?

This town has an exceptional tradition in mountaineering. The local mountaineering club “The Blue Rocks” (“Sinite Kamani”) is 103 years old. Sliven is the place of origin for expedition alpinism in Bulgaria and its founders are the first Bulgarians who visited the exotic mountains of the world.

In 1969, Sliven’s alpinist citizens set out from Bulgaria with two microbuses loaded o­n a ship. They crossed the Mediterranean Sea, disembarking in Egypt. The Emperor of Ethiopia at that time, Haile Selasie, met them personally. They crossed the Sahara desert and made the first Bulgarian ascent of Africa’s highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro. In 1971, members of the same group made an attack o­n Noshak (Noshaq, 7492m), the highest point of Afghanistan’s Hindukush mountain range.

In 2002, under the leadership of Dinko Tomov, alpinists of Sliven’s mountaineering club “Mountains and Adventures” realized the biggest Bulgarian journey in Asia. Again the group traveled with a truck. Along the way the members of this expedition climbed the highest peaks of Turkey (Ararat) and Iran (Mt. Demavent). Then they crossed Pakistan and reached the Kun-Lun mountain range in China. There they made the first Bulgarian ascent of Mustag-Ata (7547m). Crossing the desert of Takla-Makan and the ancient lands of Kashgaria and Jungaria, they reached the ancient proto-Bulgarian country – a land named Imeon – situated at the foot of Tian-Shan Mountain or “The Sky Mountains”. There they scaled Mt. Khan-Tengri (6995m), honoured by the proto-Bulgarians as a representative of their Prime God, Tangra. The voyagers o­n this incredible journey visited some of the biggest cultural and historical places of Asia during this trip. They came back with a couple of thousand pictures and much videotape. They shared their experiences with a lot of people in splendid presentations by Dinko Tomov in Sliven, Plovdiv, Sofia, and Varna.

We could also mention the location of Sliven, its traditions, and the celebrities who came from this town – leaders, writers, poets, musicians, and sportsmen. Alpinism and mountaineering are part of this city’s atmosphere, something that deeply excites the entire community.

Traditions

Bulgarian mountain films have long achieved amazing success. In 1947, “People among Clouds,” a movie made by Zahari Zhandov, won first prize for a documentary film in the International film festival in Venice. In 1968, “Living Fossils,” a film made by Konstantin Kostov, won o­ne of the special prizes in a festival in Trento, Italy – the “mountaineering Cannes”. Seven years later (1975) another movie received a special prize. This was the masterpiece “Sunrises” (filmed during the ascent o­n the north face of Vihren, highest peak of Pirin Mountain).

Bulgarian films for mountaineering and caving have won many more prizes and diplomas in different movie festivals around the world.

Organizers

This festival is a project of the municipality of Sliven and the Association “International Mountain Film Festival”. Other contributors are the community of Sliven, Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin (Italy), the Italian, Slovak and the Polish Cultural Institutes, “Goethe Institute” – Sofia, the culture department of the Austrian embassy, and others.

The Program

The program consists of about 50 films or almost 20 hours. There will be two parts: competitive and retrospective. Concerns to be addressed are the preservation of the nature of mountains, the culture and way of life of mountain dwelling peoples, and the flora and fauna of mountainous regions, the extreme mountain sports.

The retrospective part is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Makalu (8643 m) and Kangchenjunga (8586m), and will consist of half of score unique films presenting the creative work of Luis Trenker and Leni Riefenstahl.

The Ambitions

Those who organize the festival want to put it among the most popular movie forums. They consider this manifest as a possibility to present to the world the Bulgarian mountains, mountain resorts and ski-centers, and tourist business in our country.

Municipality of Sliven
Association “International Mountain Film Festival”

Invitation

Regualtions rtf file

Entry form rtf file