| |
12th
Adventure Festival wows Calcutta
The 12th edition of Giri-Doot’s unique film fest dedicated
to adventure was a special treat for Calcutta’s nature
and adventure buffs... 
182 FILMS FROM 14 COUNTRIES FEATURED
GIRI-DOOT, the voluntary social and nature-adventure promoting
organisation based in West Bengal, has been organising the
one and only Adventure Film Festival in the country for the
past 11 years. Not less than 22 foreign television stations
have been collaborating with Giri-Doot in making the festival
a success.
Among them are three from France, GreenShires and BMC of UK,
CCDA from Portugal and the rest. This year, like the others,
the festival was held on December 09 and 10 at Ashutosh Birth
Centenary Hall in Calcutta from where it moves to several
other parts of the country since this is a touring festival.
Among these are Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Manali,
Darjeeling, Raiganj, Asansol, Rajkot, Lucknow, Gandhinagar,
etc. The theme of this year’s festival was ‘Dialogue
Among Civilisations’.
The Adventure Film Festival is the only film festival in the
country which does not have any kind of funding or sponsorship
from any private organisation or business agency. It is partly
sponsored by the Central Government’s Ministry of Youth
Affairs & Sports.
It is singularly focussed on promoting the spirit and the
motivation for adventure among Indian youth through films
as they are more effective and impressive than other mass
media. Entry is not ticketed and is strictly by invitation
to adventure lovers from 165 organisations in India.
A total of 132 films from 14 countries were entered for this
year’s festival, of which 28 entries were cleared by
the Pre-Selection Committee for screening and 17 films were
finally screened in Calcutta. The criteria for choosing films
was based on the extra-ordinary force of images that convey
the expression of extreme passion among adventure-loving people
who present a challenge to their own natures, in an environment
they have taught themselves to revere and to respect.
Kalyan Chakraborty, Festival Director, says, “We have
broadened the horizons of the festival by including a symposium
on a theme that embraces Nature in some way or another .
This year’s symposium was Environmental Enforcement which
focussed mainly on the camera as the chief weapon in the fight
to preserve the earth and its bio-diversity.
With the advent of hand-held video cameras that are cheap
and relatively easy to use, individuals and organisations
across the globe are using the camera to document illegal
wildlife trades, deforestation, chemical dumping, industrial
slaughter and to highlight the efforts of those who are working
to defend nature. A photography contest was a part of the
festival.
Among the films screened, Beyond Everest from Australia, directed
by Michael Dillon turned out to be as informative as it was
an aesthetic delight and a historic document on one of the
best adventurers of all time Edmond Hillary.
The film specially documents his return, at age 79, to this
high altitude region, demonstrating the determination that
got him to the summit way back in 1953. The events frozen
within moments of a moving camera hold a special poignancy
for the Sherpas and for all adventure lovers who hold him
in great esteem knowing that this visit may well be his last.
The Bat produced by Chris Lister of UK records on film, The
Epic Climb of Robin Smith and The Legendary Dougal Haston
on Scotland’s infamous Ben Nevis, faithfully recreated
20 years later by the climbing historian Jim Curran and cinematographer
Tony Riley.
It is astounding to discover that a climber takes the effort
to re-create someone else’s climb for the camera without
a thought for personal ambition or triumph. Monkey Pump from
Germany produced by Michael Janata Film answers the question
‘Why does a young man risk his life like this?’
Is this a sport, or is this something entirely different?
The film documents extreme climbing from South Africa, through
Italy and France to Germany. Free Hueco from USA produced
by Rock & Ice is a Briefly Yours.. to the spirit of bouldering
at the Hueco anks which has been severely restricted by New
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department policies.
It is also a protest to shut it down. Chris Sharma climbs
Slashface, the world’s hardest boulder. The film has
some breathless moments of suspense with terrifying topouts,
gut-wrenching falls and a slamming soundtrack.
Hard Grit from UK produced by Slackjaw Film captures the essence
of the British spirit of climbing. It offers a telling insight
into the most beautiful and dangerous genre of British climbing.
For the first time in Hard Grit, we discover the historic
ascents of Gritstone’s ultimate climbs. The film defines
its own compelling, shocking and unique account of the almost
mythical world of British climbing.
The other film from Slackjaw Film, namely, Under the Sky/Above
the Sea, is a classic tale from England’s strangest rock-climbing
scene. Set within the ambience of the sea cliffs of Swanage
and Portland, the film unspools the tale of the cult of ‘
deepwater soloing’ and its origins, going on to trace
the evolution of sport-climbing and describing the status
of loose, hard adventure climbing on crumbly, overhanging
cliffs.
Hard Plastic from UK produced by Jonathan Cook is a roller-coaster
ride through the blood, sweat and tears of the men’s
final in the renowned Foundry International Bouldering Open.
This historic clash of plastic-pulverising crimp-mutants features
world stars like Chris Sharma, Arnaud Petit, Christian Brenca,
Eli Chevieux, Ian Vickers and Ludovic Laurence at their finger-ripping
best.
The soundtrack offers an exciting commentary by Albert Spansworthy
along with Jerry Moffatt.
Above the Smogline produced and directed by Richard Pelusi
of USA unfolds California’s finest sport routes and boulder
problems. The camera takes a trip to ten wildely scenic areas
and trys to get to grips with over 30 climbs through extreme
and impossible close-ups shot from every imaginable angle.
The soundtrack is jammed with local musicians playing original
rock, blues, folk and techno tunes to the world of the steep
and the radical. The electrifying music has been provided
by Bryon Fry, Phremyl, Bob Remstein, Phil Kettner, and 30
Foot Whipper.
Yeti from France produced by Boreals is an adventure drama
set in the Himalayas. This film, that explores the myth of
the Sherpa’s dual account of the ‘Yeti’ formed
just a part of a News(Malayalam)spective on films from Boreals, a French
production house that specialises on human adventure.
Among these were He Dances for His Cormorants, Gaston and
the Truffle Hunters, The Pelican of Ramzan the Red, The Gatherers
from the Sky, The Tsaatan and The Reindeer Riders.
Boreals makes special things happen for children. Adventure
to be specific, remained mostly confined to the challenge
of climbing as a sport, as a dangerous mission, as a threat
to oneself, as a man-made miracle and rarely did the films
wander along other terrains like probing into the mysteries
of the dangerous forests, the high seas, aero-flying, and
so on.
But all said and done, this was truly a film festival with
a difference because it offered an experience where some of
the challenges one saw up there on the screen tended to rub
off onto oneself.
Shoma A. Chatterji
TOP
|
More>>>
 Few
Fida over Husain’s labour of love
Desh
ki dhadkans, and Honda’s heroes!
The
6th Calcutta Film Festival OF SIGHS AND SURPRISES
|
