Kendal Film Fest Hits London

There's a chance for all your poor benighted, congestion-trapped Londoners to catch some of the best films from the Kendal Mountain Film Festival later this month as the Best of Kendal bandwagon rolls into The Castle climbing wall.

The dates are the weekend of 22-23 March - it says 2002 here, but we're hoping they mean 2003 - and tickets are priced at £12.50 each evening or £20.00 both nights wtih concessions for Castle members.

Tickets from The Castle, telephone Tel 0208 2111065 10am-6pm or see the web site for more information. Looks good.

Saturday Evening

7:30 pm Intro film and opening

7:35 Pushing Winter 7 mins
(Scotland - Runner-up People's Choice 2002)

Directed and Produced by Paul Raistrick

Hidden in the corries of Scotland are many ski-able gullies - as this film proves. Climbing these used to be a challenge! Shot on DVCam, this is a great effort for a first time film maker.

7:45: Desert Friction 26 mins
(South Africa - Winner Best Climbing Film 2002)

Director: Nic Good, Producer: Brian Valentine

In the Namibian Desert rises a magnificent 1000 ft spire - the Spitzkop. Up its centre, a barely perceptible line runs up the steep slab to the summit. Two of South Africa's finest rock climbers get to grips with the second ascent of this ill-protected route.

8:10 Carrying the Burden 30 mins -
(GB special mention Environment and Culture 2002)

Directed and Produced by: Sangita Manadhar

This film depicts the open, and at times brutal, exploitation of porters in Nepal by both the trekking companies and the trekkers/climbers who at times will put the health and even the lives of porters at risk toensure that they have a good holiday. It dispels the myth of the indestructible porter, and focuses on the miseries they experience, and the neglect and deprivation shared by families for the sake of a few hundred dollars a year.

8:40 - 9:00 break

9:00 So Far West - It's Quicker To Go East 9mins -
(GB Runner Up - Video Short 2002)

Directed and Produced by Leo Houlding

It's New Year 2001- the old year is slip, sliding away as Leo and friends take on various boulder challenges to get things 'jumping' in Fontainebleau.

9:10 Flying Fish 28 mins
(GB - Runner up Mountain Adventure 2002)

Directed and produced by Dave Kwant and Alex Nicks

A journey with several angles - using the power of both the air and water a team of kayakers paddle for days down the remote Himalayan river, but to access the river, the team decide to fly to the get-in cross country in paragliders. Follow the adventure all the way from dreary Scotland (their words - ed) to the rich colours of Nepal.

9:40 Cannibals and Crampons 54 mins
(GB - People's Choice and Grand Prize 2002)

Directed by Bruce Parry & Mark Anstice, Producer: Ed Stobart

Two ex-army officers set out to climb the south face of Mandela, a remote 15,400ft peak in the tropical jungles of New Guinea. To get there, they travel for three months through some of the world's most unexplored terrain, known to be inhabited by cannibals. Their encounters with the natives are memorable- if in doubt, dress like the locals, penis sheathes included. This extraordinary story of self-sufficiency and survival makes Himalayan travel look like bank holiday outings.

10:35 Christmas Syndrome 30 mins (Kyrgyzstan)

Directed and Produced by Evgeny Kotlov

At first sight, another lesson from the Slavic book of masochism, as climbers leave their homes each year to avoid Christmas by spending weeks on the frozen walls of Free Korea Peak. But the juxtaposition and contrast of city life with extreme life, done with irony and humour,

shine through in this rough diamond of a film.

11:05 close

Sunday Evening

7:30 Promo and Intro

7:35 A Great Effort 20mins

(GB - Retro Programme 2002)

Directed and produced by Jim Curran

A classic film hidden in Jim Curran's attic until last year. A

beautiful recreation of a day in the life of Menlove Edwards as he attempts to

solo a new route Lliwedd in North Wales.

7:55 Ogre - Summit of Dream 50 mins (Germany)

Director: Rudolf Neuwardt, Produced by: Mediabox TV

Thomas Huber leads a team of friends on the second ascent of The Ogre, which has waited more than two decades for a repeat. The team not only climb The Ogre, but do a spectacular new route on Ogre 3. This film is shot very much in the tradition of keeping the focus on the climb, but also captures the essence of a superb and stunningly fast ascent of a very difficult route.

8:45 - 9:05 Break

9:05 The Second Step 27mins

(Australia - Winner Best Mountaineering Film 2002)

Director: Gary Caganoff Producer: Suzanne Davies

In the heart of Tasmania's World Heritage Wilderness stands Federation Peak, one of Australia's most challenging mountains. Against all the odds, Warren Macdonald spent 28 days hiking to and climbing the peak. The remarkable fact is that Warren is a double above-the-knee amputee.

In doing so, Warren leaves behind the social constraints so readily applied to the disabled, and finds the freedom he knew before his horrific accident two years earlier.

9:35 The Rough and Lonely Guide to 8000m 45 mins

(GB - Special Mention Mountaineering and Runner up People's Choice 2002)

Directed and Produced by Toby Molins

Six climbers attempt to climb Cho Oyu without Sherpas or bottled oxygen. The film deals with the tension that builds as the seriousness of the undertaking cuts into the light-hearted attitude of the climbers. After 4 weeks above 20,000 ft, the machismo of the climbers is replaced by an acceptance of the hard work of doing it.

10:25 Mustang 28 mins (Slovakia - Runner up People's Choice 2002)

Directed and Produced by Pavol Barab·s

Pavol Babar·s' sequence of memorable films continues film shot in controversial circumstances. Mustang, although part of Nepal, is a kingdom long kept secret from most of the world. It is hidden behind the high wall of the Himalaya, like a wedge driven into Tibet. It is a land of endless wind, tirelessly obliterating all trace of every caravan. Time seems to have stopped in this medieval fortress. Electricity, roads and cars are unknown to these people and yet in some ways they are ahead of us through knowledge of nature and acceptance of their way of life. The fortress of Lo Manthang continues to guard its secrets.

10: 55 close