49 films will be screened this year at the BBK Mendi Film Bilbao Bizkaia film festival. These are mountain, adventure, extreme sports and nature films, all current productions, at most 2 years old.
In total, 226 films have been registered as direct candidates to compete in Bilbao. This is the highest figure in the history of the festival, the edition with the most direct entries.
The Mendi Film is an international reference festival, which is corroborated by the origin of the selected films: Spain (15), France (11), United States (7), Italy (5), Austria (1), United Kingdom (1), Slovenia (1), Canada (1), Switzerland (1) and Norway (1). There are also co-productions from the United States-Belgium (1), United States-Canada (1), Switzerland-Italy (1), Switzerland-Poland (1), and Chile-Argentina (1).
There are 11 films produced or directed in the Basque Country. Mountain film production continues increase in our territory, both in quantity and quality.
Official Selection
The Official Selection will consist of 40 films that will compete for the prizes of the festival. This new edition of Mendi Film will distribute 24,800 euros in 12 prizes. The Jury will be composed of the following 5 members:
• Michael Dillon, Australian filmmaker
• Joni Cooper, former Canadian director of festivals such as Banff or Doxa-Vancouver
• Oscar Gogorza, Basque journalist and mountain guide
• Toon Hezemans, director of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival
• Haizea Huegun, Basque composer
Zabalandi
This year, the Zabalandi section presents 9 films out of competition. These include the Mendi Film grant film ‘Peligro. No asomarse’, the film ‘The Ghosts Above’ by director Renan Ozturk, who won the IAMF Grand Prize this year, ‘Moving Himalayas’ about the SOS Himalaya Foundation, and the film chosen for the festival’s Opening Ceremony ‘Nuptse. L’Inaccessible absolu’.
November 11: Ticket sales begin and the programme is published
The BBK Mendi Film Bilbao Bizkaia festival will take place from December 6 to 15. The programme will be published next Monday, November 11 at mendifilmfestival.com, and tickets will go on sale that day at 10:00 a.m.
The festival sessions will take place at the Euskalduna Palace and the Sala BBK in Bilbao, and discounts will be offered on ticket sales at each venue: buying tickets for 5 to 7 sessions, a 20% discount, and buying tickets for 8 sessions or more, a 30% discount.
OFFICIAL SELECTION
ALWAYS ALIVE | France | Davina Montaz-Rosset
ANDREA: AN UNPAVED ROUTE | France | Maxime Moulin
ASHIMA | EUSA | Kenji Tsukamoto
BETWEEN WAVES | USA | Luke Kaneb
BIG WATER THEORY | France | Emile Dominé
CLIMBING FOR GOLD | Belgium/USA | Vincent Groos
CONNECTING TRE CIME | Italy | Marcial Sommer
DOLORE | Austria | Carlos Blanchard
EXCALIBUR | Italy | Andrea Bandinelli, Diego Borello eta Niccolò Conterno
FLYING HANDS | Spain | Marta Gómez eta Paula Iglesias
GRANDE BRETAGNE, VOYAGE AUX SOURCES DE L’ALPINISME | France | Bertrand Delapierre eta Vincent Perazio
HAIZE LERROAK | Spain | Janire Etxabe
HIRU HAUNDIAK. TAUPADAK ETA GAILURRAK. | Spain | Ander Salsamendi Arbizu
INTO THE (UN)KNOWN | Spain | Nick Danielsen
JAMIE | USA/Canada | Darcy Hennessey
L’ETÀ SPERIMENTALE | Italy | Marco Zingaretti
LA ROCHE | Switzerland | Basil Schneeberger eta Nolan Büchi
LATOK THUMB | Spain | Adrián Martínez Serrano
LA VERTE, UNE HISTOIRE DE PENTE RAIDE | France | Bertrand Delapierre eta Severine Gauci
LE CAVALIER SANS TÉTE | France | Andy Collet
LES JOURS SAUVAGES | France | Yohan Guignard
MARMOLADA. MADRE ROCCIA. | Italy | Matteo Maggi eta Cristiana Pecci
MODO AVIÓN | Spain | Iciar Casatmitjana eta Garazi Sanchez
NOSE JOB | United Kingdom | Alastair Lee
OF A LIFETIME | France | Jérome Tanon
PAINTING THE MOUNTAINS | Chile/Argentina | Pierre Cadot
PLANETWALKER | USA | Dominic Gill eta Nadia Gill
RED ROCK REVOLUTION | USA | Jim Aikman
RODS, ROLLS & REALITY ON THE SOCA | Slovenia | Rožle Bregar eta Rok Rozman
SHAPED BY WATER | USA | Dean Leslie
SONGS OF EARTH | Norway | Margreth Olin
SUNNY BOY | France | Morgan Le Faucheur
THE ICE BUILDERS | Italy | Francesco Clerici eta Tommaso Barbaro
THE LAST EXPEDITION | Polonia/Switzerland | Eliza Kubarska
THE LAST OBSERVERS | USA | Maja Karlsson Mikkelsen
THE LITTLE CANOE | Spain | Iñigo Grasset
THE RED FACE ZONE | Italy/Switzerland | Marco Tribelhorn
UNA MIRADA ATRÁS. EL ARTE DE EQUIPAR. | Spain | Alfonso García
UN PASTEUR | France | Louis Hanquet
ZAZPI | Spain | Mikel Lizarralde Asurmendi
ZABALANDI
ERRO | Spain | Amaia Lejarreta
FALLIN’ | Spain | Carlos Navarro
GLAZIARRAK AGURTZEN: ANETO-AIREA | Spain | Iker Larrañaga
MOVING HIMALAYAS | Spain | Julio A. Valero
NOIE | Spain | Dani Castillo
NUPTSE L’INACCESSIBLE ABSOLU | France | Hugo Clouzeau
PELIGRO. NO ASOMARSE | Spain | Dani Cascales Granados
SOUNDSCAPE | Canada | Timmy O'Neill
THE GHOSTS ABOVE | USA | Taylor Rees, Renan Ozturk, Jay Macmillan
