NZ Mountain Film Festival 2015 – A Focus on Youth

NZ Mountain Film Festival 2015 – A Focus on Youth

The thirteenth NZ Mountain Film Festival is certainly proving to be lucky with the phenomenal line up of speakers presenting over the 9 day event. The keynote speaker is Alex Honnold, world famous solo free climber from the USA. He will be joined by Ben Brown a Kiwi professional kayaker and Steve Gurney, well known New Zealand adventurer and personality. The filmmaking, photography and adventure community will be drawn to the 2015 festival to see Alex Honnold speak.

Honnold has been a subject in many films in the NZ Mountain Film Festival throughout the years and has held audiences captive with both the intensity of his physical feats and the lightness of his demeanor. This Sacramento, California-native’s most celebrated achievements include the first and only free-solos of the Moonlight Buttress (5.12d, 1,200 feet) in Zion National Park, Utah, and the Northwest Face (5.12a) of Half Dome (2,200 feet), Yosemite, California. In 2012 he achieved Yosemite’s first “Triple Solo”: climbing, in succession, the National Park’s three largest faces—Mt. Watkins, Half Dome and El Capitan—alone, and in under 24 hours.

Mark Sedon the Festival Director says, “ we are so pleased to have Alex speaking at the Festival, and we consider it a real coup to have secured him to present. We are looking forward to getting to know Alex over the time he is here, and hopefully show him a few of the special local climbs.” Alex will speak in both Queenstown and Wanaka during the Festival.

Steve Gurney will speak about his expedition and attempt to be the first to cross the Sahara in a kite buggy and to break the 1,000km record for a kite journey. The trip was not all smooth sailing and involved several life threatening encounters all of which Steve approached with a can-do attitude, a toolbox armed for the multitude of repairs and a well-worn sense of humour.

Ben Brown, a well-respected New Zealand athlete will speak about his life and lessons as he has travelled the world as a professional kayaker. Ben’s kayaking has taken him from Zambia to Uganda, Iceland to Northern Norway, Thailand and Canada.

The Festival will once again cater to budding filmmakers with the Adventure Film School. The course teaches production planning, camera and sound work, editing and outputting of the finished film. Tutor Hugh Barnard is an experienced and highly regarded New Zealand filmmaker, documentary maker and adventurer. The Festival Charitable Trust offers youth scholarships for the Adventure Film School and applications can be made to the Festival.

The judges have set to work viewing the high quality films that have been submitted so far. The entry for the competition closes on April 30th and the battle for the winning titles and $3,000 prize money is fierce as a high caliber of films has been submitted, from all over the world, for all categories.

ENDS

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