A mountain film is a

film genre A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film. Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre cri ...

that focuses on

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

and especially the battle of human against nature. In addition to mere adventure, the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s who return from the mountain come back changed, usually gaining

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledg ...

and enlightenment.

''Bergfilme''

Although the first mountain film, depicting the ascent of the

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...

by the American climber Frank Ormiston-Smith, was released in 1903, the mountain film genre is most associated with the German ''Bergfilme'' (singular: ''Bergfilm'') released in the 1920s. Some critics describe the German mountain film as an indigenous national / cultural genre, comparable to the American western. The most important director of mountain films was Dr.

Arnold Fanck Arnold Fanck (6 March 1889 – 28 September 1974) was a German film director and pioneer of the mountain film genre. He is best known for the extraordinary alpine footage he captured in such films as '' The Holy Mountain'' (1926), '' The White He ...

. According to an essay by Doug Cummings in the DVD release of the landmark '' The Holy Mountain'' (1926), Fanck shot his first motion picture in 1913, and after serving in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, purchased a rare Ernemann slow-motion camera, taught himself to shoot on location during an expedition to climb the

Jungfrau The Jungfrau ( "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Ju ...

, taught himself to edit on his mother's kitchen table, and distributed the finished product himself. The film was eventually called ' (''The Wonders of Skiing'', 1920) and was an instant success. The young interpretative dancer

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

was mesmerized by Fanck's fifth feature, '' Mountain of Destiny'' (1924), and successfully pursued Fanck and his star

Luis Trenker Luis Trenker (born Alois Franz Trenker, 4 October 1892 – 13 April 1990) was a South Tyrolean film producer, director, writer, actor, architect, alpinist, and bobsledder. Biography Early life Alois Franz Trenker was born on 4 October 1892 in ...

, convincing them to make her the star of ''The Holy Mountain''. It took three days to write and over a year to film on location in the Alps. This started Riefenstahl's own career as a filmmaker. Fanck went on to produce the ski-chase '' The White Ecstasy'' (1931) with Riefenstahl and legendary Austrian skier Hannes Schneider, then in turn served as Riefenstahl's editor on her 1932 film ''The Blue Light'', which brought her to the attention of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

. The popularity of the German mountain films waned, then disappeared, in the run-up to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Modern mountain films

Mountain films pose unusual difficulties for the filmmaking process; although parts can and have been shot in studios, filming on location is a longstanding tradition. Concerns include low temperatures, variable weather, and the objective dangers of the mountain environment. Directors may "cheat" by filming the actors in a less dangerous area, such as on the slopes of a ski resort, and intersperse with shots of the real location taken with a telephoto lens. Although experienced climbers are often used, in roles ranging from consulting to standing in for the

actors An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

, the resulting film may not seem particularly logical to an audience knowledgeable about climbing. For instance, a rescuer in the film may take a hard, but dramatic-looking route, even though in real life, time is of the essence and rescuers will always go by the easiest available route.

International Alliance for Mountain Film

The ''International Alliance for Mountain Film'' (IAMF) is an organization committed to the future of mountain film. IAMF was set up in February 2000 and founding members of the alliance included film festivals in

Autrans Autrans () is a former commune in the Isère department in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Autrans-Méaudre-en-Vercors. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, it hoste ...

, France; Banff, Canada;

Cervinia Breuil-Cervinia (french: Breuil; it, Cervinia; Valdôtain: ) is a ''frazione'' of the '' comune'' of Valtournenche, and is considered one of the most renowned winter and summer tourist resorts in the Alps. Etymology The name of ''Breuil-Cervin ...

, Italy;

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

, Austria;

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a populat ...

, Switzerland;

Les Diablerets Les Diablerets is a village and ski resort located in the municipality of Ormont-Dessus in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The village lies at an altitude of on the north side of the massif of the Diablerets, , in the Swiss Alps. It can be ...

, Switzerland; Torello, Spain; and

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

, Italy and one museum, Museo Nazionale della Montagna in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Italy. Soon other film festivals joined IAMF over time, which is now composed by twenty members from some of the most important mountain film festivals in the world and one museum, Museo Nazionale della Montagna in

, Italy, representing 17 countries of Europe, Asia, and North and South America. IAMF has now become one of the main point of reference concerning mountain filming. The following festivals are today members of IAMF, in addition to Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Turin. There are many other mountain film festivals too which are not part of the alliance, such as the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival and Mountainfilm in Telluride. According to the website for the Alliance, "the Alliance determines that one of its first priorities is to inform audiences and filmmakers about the global film festival opportunities. As well, information is shared on films, programming and technology, promotion and ticketing and funding challenges. An agreement emerges to take every opportunity to cross-promote mountain film festivals around the world and to meet twice a year at member festival events." IAMF created also the ''IAMF Grand Prix'' in order to recognize career leaders in mountain film. Recipients of the IAMF Grand Prix: * 2002 – Gerhard Baaur * 2003 –

Leo Dickinson Leo Dickinson is a British cameraman, director and adventurer. He has made 68 films, winning every major mountain and adventure film award. Dickinson specialises in mountain, ballooning, skydiving and underwater films. During his mountaineering ...

* 2004 – Fulvio Mariani * 2005 – Jean-Pierre Bailly * 2006 – Directorate General for Television Switzerland * 2007 – Michael Brown * 2008 – Sebastián Álvaro * 2009 – Lothar Brandler * 2010 – Hans-Jürgen Panitz

List of mountain films

* '' The Vulture Wally'' (1921), remade

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

, 1988 and 2005 * '' The Holy Mountain'' (1926) * '' The White Hell of Pitz Palu'' (1929) * '' The White Ecstasy'' (1931) * '' Das Blaue Licht'' (1932) * ''

Kleine Scheidegg The Kleine Scheidegg ( en, Little Scheidegg) is a mountain pass at an elevation of , situated below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The name means "minor watershed", as it only divides the ...

'' (1937) * '' Schlitz on Mt. Washington'' (1937) * '' Der Berg ruft'' (1938) * '' The White Tower'' (1950) * '' The Mountain'' (1956) * ''Third Man on the Mountain'' (''Banner in the Sky'') (1959) * ''

Vertical Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down * Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting s ...

'' (1967) * ''

The Eiger Sanction ''The Eiger Sanction'' is a 1972 thriller novel by Trevanian, the pen name of Rodney William Whitaker. The story is about a classical art professor and collector who doubles as a professional assassin, and who is coerced out of retirement to ave ...

'' (1975) * ''

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about from base to summit along its tal ...

'' (1978) * '' Five Days One Summer'' (1982) * '' The Climb'' (1986) * '' Shoot to Kill'' (1988) * '' K2'' (1991) * ''

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

'' (1993) * '' Seven Years in Tibet'' (1997) * '' Into Thin Air: Death on Everest'' (1997) * ''

Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

'' (1998) * ''

Vertical Limit ''Vertical Limit'' is a 2000 American survival thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by Robert King, and starring Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney, and Scott Glenn. The film was released on December 8, 2000, in the United ...

'' (2000) * '' Touching the Void'' (2003) * ''

North Face North face or Northface or The North Face may refer to: * North face (Eiger), in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland * North Face (Everest), in Himalaya, usually traversed ascending Everest from the north * North face (Fairview Dome), a climbing route ...

''(2008) * '' The Summit'' (2012) * ''

''(2015) * ''

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

'' (2017) * ''

Free Solo Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or rock climbing where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual ...

'' (2018) * ''

The Last Mountain ''The Last Mountain'' is a feature-length documentary film directed by Bill Haney and produced by Haney, Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and went into general release on June 3, 2011. The f ...

'' (2019) * ''

'' (2021)

References

* Aspetsberger, Friedbert (ed.) (2002) ''Der BergFilm 1920-1940'' StudienVerlag, * Halle, Randall and McCarthy, Margaret (2003) ''Light Motives: German Popular Cinema in Perspective'' Chapter 4 * Giesen, Roman (2008
''Der Bergfilm der 20er und 30er Jahre''
Frankfurt am Main: Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität * ''Faszination Bergfilm: himmelhoch und abgrundtief'' (2008) documentary film by Hans-Jürgen Panitz & Matthias Fanck * Peabody, Seth (2021
“Image, Environment, Infrastructure: The Social Ecologies of the ''Bergfilm''”
''Humanities'' 10#1:38 doi.org/10.3390/h10010038

External links