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Ankara to host adrenaline-packed Mountain Films Festival

12 April 2011 [10:58] - TODAY.AZ
The 2011 edition of Turkey’s first and only festival centered on the theme of nature sports, adventure and exploration, will kick off in the capital Wednesday and continue until Sunday.

"The Mountain Films Festival, which fills a big gap in the field in Turkey, aims at increasing people’s awareness of nature," said festival coordinator Murat Yılmaz. "The festival also makes a contribution to the making of nature documentaries in the country. The previous years showed that even the existence of this festival was a source of motivation for amateurs and professionals."

Yılmaz said the festival, hosted by the Çankaya Municipality, would feature 21 films as well as talks, photography shows, book exhibitions and a concert. The films in the festival will be screened under the main themes "From the World", "The Soul of Exploration", "Nature- Environment-Human" and "Bicycle."

The coordinator said the festival, which has been organized in Istanbul since 2006 and was held in Turkey’s largest city from March 1 to 6 this year, included documentaries on nature sports such as paragliding, diving, mountaineering, rock climbing, base jump, skiing, mountain biking as well as nature.

"The Mountain Films Festival presents the world’s best films and documentaries to audiences every year. It also strives to fill a very important gap in the field of Turkish culture for nature," Yılmaz said, noting the contributions the festival had made to mountaineering and nature documentaries since it first began.

Yılmaz said that the festival, which is sponsored by National Geographic magazine, The North Face and Solcano Bicycle, would start traveling throughout Anatolia following Ankara with a rich program.

Festival to head to İzmir later in April

The festival, which will be organized in the Aegean province of İzmir for the first time this year between April 22 and 24, will be hosted by Konak Municipality. The festival will feature 17 films, a talk, a photography show, as well as book exhibitions.

In the second half of the year, the festival will go to diverse Anatolian provinces such as Ağrı, Niğde, Bursa and Antalya. "We are also looking for a partner for other important provinces like Kayseri, Rize, Erzurum and Eskişehir," Yılmaz said.

A number of striking films will be included in the program this year, including Tunç Fındık’s "Makalu: The Black Pyramid," which follows Turk Tunç Fındık’s ascent to the top of the 8,463-meter Makalu, the world’s fifth highest summit; Stephen Grynberg’s "A Life Ascending," a story about seven skiers killed in an avalanche while on a tour with Ruedi Beglinger; Chris Alstrin’s "Guy Lacelle" on the life of legendary Canadian ice climber Guy Lacelle, who died in an avalanche while participating in a competition in Montana in 2009; Jason Burlage’s "My Land," which tells the story of a young indigenous Peruvian man who has lived his entire life, apart for a few brief months, in a small farming village in the mountains above the Sacred Valley; and many others.

All of the film screenings are free, Yılmaz said, adding that their directors would attend the showings in the capital.


/Hurriyet Daily News/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/84243.html

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