This year, the second edition of the festival was held, and already as many as 1300 films from around the world were submitted to the selection. In total, the representatives of 80 countries participated in the festival. Because of this, the fact that the main award, the Best Film, went to the Polish production – "Jurek" by Paweł Wysoczański – brings joy all the more.
The eponymous "Jurek" is Jerzy Kukuczka, who died on 24 October 1989 during the Lhotse expedition. It was the first time when he went to the Himalayas with money, equipment, and as a really famous person. The documentary by Paweł Wysoczański does not, however, concentrate on the mystery of the Himalayan mountaineer's death. It shows a person who climbs up, higher and higher – literally, but also metaphorically and symbolically. From a bootblack to a millionaire, from a socialist worker to an international media star, from the man who climbs without any money and equipment to the real competitor of Reinhold Messner in the competition to climb the Crown of the Himalayas and the Karakoram. Interviews with family and friends, archive materials, photographs, recordings, excerpts from television programmes and interviews make up the portrait of the Himalayan mountaineers in 1980s. It is also the image of the times in which they lived – hard and colourful at the same time, when idealism was more valued than fame.
You can find more information about the festival on the website, and the list of award-winners can be found here.