Festival gorniškega filma 2025, Slovenia's International Mountain Film Festival to take place from 17-22 February

From 17 to 22 February, 32 mountaineering films will be screened in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, and the nearby towns of Domžale and Radovljica. Seven are in the mountaineering category, nine in climbing, seven in mountains, sports and adventure and nine in the mountain, nature and culture category. The films will be judged by an international festival jury comprised of Bulgarian journalist and climber Tanya Ivanova, Slovenian publicist and filmmaker Mojca Volkar Trobevšek and Swiss director and alpinist Fulvio Mariani.

The rich accompanying program will include several mountaineering and travel lectures, book presentations and discussions. American mountaineer Jackson Marvell will present his ascent of the mighty north face of Jannu, awarded with the 2024 Piolet's d'Or, top Slovak climber Miška Izakovičová will present her extraordinary feats on big walls, and Slovenian mountaineers Ana Baumgartner, Urša Kešar, Anja Petek and Patricija Verdev will present their Himalayan expedition to Lalung I. Matjaž Jeran will relive a family trek through Pakistan, Marija and Andrej Štremfelj will present the Great Himalayan Trail, which they described in the book The Power of the Night in the Light of the Stars, Alenka Klinar will present the book By the Rope to the Light, Iztok Tomazin and Tomo Virk will present the book The Connection, Rožle Bregar and Rok Rozman will present the Soča Rowing Guide from the Source to the Sea, Vladimir Habjan and climbing legends Klavdij Mlekuž, Janko Ažman, Janez Brojan and Janez Dovžan will present the book The Mojstran Squirrels. The film Czech Hut by Ladislav Jirásk about Czech-Slovenian mountaineering cooperation will also be screened.

"If I were to weigh this year's festival, it would show 30 hours of programming, a third of which is content related to mountaineering culture in words, books and images. The rest are film stories that take us into the world of love for the mountains, the magic of nature, the power of human will and the irresistible spirit of exploration. I am pleased with the extraordinary film response to this year's festival, we received as many as 85 films. This is clear proof that mountaineering film production has revived after the Covid drought. If I convert the 19th Mountaineering Film Festival into mountaineering language, I realize that with the 19th stretch we are already high up the wall - and that there is no turning back," emphasizes the director and founder of the Mountaineering Film Festival, Silvo Karo.

To warm up before this year's festival, the film Mongolia: Valley of the Bears, the winner of the 18th Mountaineering Film Festival, can be seen on February 5 at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana. The full program of this year's festival can be found on the website www.gorniski.si