The Mountain Film Festival honors “The Taming Horse” with the Grand Prix, Graz

The movie “The Tamer of the Horse” by Hamid Sardar won the Graz Grand Prix at the 2022 Mountain Film Festival on Saturday evening. Above all, the jury praised the “breadth and depth” of the story about recent Mongolian nomadic peoples, which succeeded in “engaging and emotionally affecting every viewer”. Alpin Austria’s camera moved to “24-Hour Flight” by Christian Meyer and Johannes Meyer. In addition, Camera Alpin in Gold has been awarded four times.

The 24 Hours of Odyssey judges said that “climbing rugged rock faces like the north face of the Eiger, one of the most difficult routes, is one thing, but documenting it on film, however brilliant, is another.” Dramaturgy was also appreciated. The main prize of the festival, the Grand Prix Graz, was awarded 5,000 euros, and the prizes in the four categories were 3,000 euros each, in addition to the prize for the best local production. There was a total of 289 entries from 34 countries this year, which has been narrowed down to 118 films as part of the pre-selection.

The African Territory Prize was awarded to Joaquin & Julian Azulay in the Mountaineering & Expeditions category. The jury praised that “the journey of the Argentine brothers Azoulay along the coast of the African continent occupies a special cinematic and fictional place in this year’s series of entries.” In the category “Mountain and Natural Sports” the production “The Ultimate Run” by Christoph Thoresen received an Alpine camera in gold. According to the jury, it was “a story of extraordinary adventure on sleds”, which on the one hand emphasized the “high art of this sport”, and on the other hand the dramaturgy and “erotic camera” had a positive effect.

Mark Fletcher’s entry “Patrick and the Whale” emerged as the winner in the “Nature and Environment” category. According to the jury, the “extraordinary relationship between man and animal, which has evolved over only so many years,” has “great emotional moments” in store. In the People and Cultures category, Werner Herzog won the award for The Inner Ember: Katja and Maurice Kraft’s Requiem. He found the two volcanologists’ legacy a “worthy narrator,” and the jury justified the award: “Often lavish imagery, intertwined with scenes of destruction, draw a dramatic thread through this tragic story of this extraordinary couple.”

Mountainfilm.com