Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: Chamonix, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon, Peter Morgan
After a near-death experience during a tsunami, French TV journalist reassesses her life. After a car kills his twin-brother, a London boy is desperate to keep the close connection they had. And in San Francisco, lonely George (Matt Damon) is trying to find a way to live with his ‘gift,’ which is the ability to talk with those who have died. Their lives will intersect and each will be forever changed by what they believe does, or doesn’t, exist in the hereafter.
It’s interesting, and a bit frightening for those of us who are devotees of Director Clint Eastwood’s work, that at 81 years old, he should tackle the question of what happens to us after we die. Scriptwriter Peter Morgan is a master dramatist of major true-life political events and figures as seen in his films “The Queen”, “The Last King of Scotland” and “Frost/Nixon,” but this is a more subdued script that culminates in a gentle film full of warmth.
Eastwood is a man who offers a poetic grace to all that he does and ultimately, it’s the fact that he directed, and did the musical score, that are the reasons one should see this film.
Filed under: Press releases | Tags: Chamonix, film events, Make Your Own Legends, The Adventure Film Festival
The Adventure Film Festival got started in Chamonix when American mountaineer Jonny Copp came here, as many of us do, to enjoy the great outdoors and some of the best mountains in the world. Once here, he proposed to his friends in Boulder – another outdoorsy, naturalistic area – that they extend their film festival to Chamonix. He argued that there are a lot of similar people out here – adventurers, artists, activists – who believe in the power of story, especially the narrative of awakening to change, portraying the world we want to live in, abiding by a respect for nature and practicing conservation, always. The festival’s slogan of ‘Making Your Own Legends’ is not only about epic challenges, it’s also about the daily challenges all of us face as we try to build a healthy, positive world to live in: we create our own stories of risking, losing and winning–or simply surviving and prevailing!
It didn’t take long to convince the group in Boulder to extend the festival idea to Chamonix, as the vision had always been about developing a ‘world community.’ When Jonny died in a climbing accident, friend and fellow climber Zoe Hart took over as Director of the festival in Chamonix. “His vision was to grow it (the festival), like a seedling in the garden, and pass it on to the local community to grow into whatever it would become with Chamonix sun, water, love and care,” says Zoe. Today, Zoe and festival volunteers – with nationalities ranging from French and British, Canadian, American, German, Swiss, Finnish, Swedish, Australian, Norwegian, Flemish – are working together to make the festival a permanent international event based in Chamonix.
Alliances such as the one involving the Adventure Film Festival organisers, volunteers, town officials and local merchants, are established because of a shared cause. Let’s hope this alliance, now in its second year, grows over the years to come, not only because there’s no reason why it shouldn’t, but also because we need to encourage and nurture all the culture we can get in Chamonix.
The 2nd annual Adventure Film Festival will be taking place again this year on August 20, 21st & 22nd at the Bicentennaire, Chamonix-Mont Blanc. For tickets, schedules and further details of films and events, please visit www.adventurefilm.org or contact Zoe Hart at zoe@adventurefilm.org
Filed under: Press releases | Tags: Chamonix, Cinemavox Chamonix, French Alps, Kendal Mountain Festival, La Montagne Fait Son Cinema
The second of the La Montagne Fait Son Cinéma movies is showing on Wednesday night at the Cinema Vox.
The mountain film series La Montagne Fait Son Cinéma has been put together by Association des Amis du Cinéma, and is inspired by a book about films shot in and around Chamonix. The series showcases films by local directors, climbing and mountaineering documentaries, and a few recent productions, including a film from the Kendal Mountain Festival.
“The Blizzard of Aahhhs”, is a “Rock-u-mentary” style “cult classic” from 1988 that profiles little-known and famed heroes of the ski world, from Chamonix Valley to Squaw Valley in California, in a humorous and personal manner. The first of its kind, “The Blizzard of Aahhhs” is cited as the inspiration to reside in Chamonix from many current expats living in the valley.
Guest Glen Plake, one of the skiers in “The Blizzards of Aahhhs” and also one of the judges in this week’s Nissan Outdoor Games, made a name for himself with his huge Mohawk and punk style of skiing, and is still a passionate enthusiast who spends half his year in Chamonix.
Filed under: Press releases | Tags: Adventure Film Festival, Boulder film, Chamonix, French Alps
With the success of its first year in Chamonix, the 2nd annual Adventure Film Festival will be taking place again this year on August 20 & 21st at Le Majestic, Centre de Congres, Chamonix Mont Blanc. Dedicated to independent short films featuring adventure and an environmental conscientiousness, the theme is Make Your Own Legends.
Embracing the unknown, taking risks, making sacrifices, appreciating nature and the power of the human spirit, the Adventure Film Festival has found an ideal home in Chamonix – the birthplace of Alpinism, a winter sports Mecca, and the international playground for extreme sport.
Created in 2004 by adventurers and filmmakers in Boulder, Colorado, the Adventure Film Festival now shares the spirit of passion and activism inherent in outdoor adventure, by holding an annual festival in Santiago, Chile as well as Chamonix and Boulder. The festival reviews more than 200 films submissions each year, and this year brings you another amazing program of short films.
From a gorgeous film about a Bangladesh Surf Club that will bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your lips as they create a community through surfing, to a beautifully shot film about an arborist in Oregon who climbs massive trees and lives his philosophy on the role of trees in culture, to recovered footage of the fatal climb of Mt Edgar’s eastern face by climbers Jonny Copp, Micah Dash and Wade Johnson, this year’s festival promises you thrills.
Come join us at the Adventure Film Festival over the two days it visits Chamonix, and share with others the power, poignancy, challenges and humour of some of the best and most inspiring adventure films from around the world.
Adventure Film Festival is made possible by sponsorship from Patagonia, and in partnership with Mairie de Chamonix Mont Blanc and the Office of Tourism, Chamonix Mont Blanc.
Because Adventure Film Festival’s missions and direction coincide with the organisation Leave No Trace, an international non-profit dedicated to conscious recreation and environmental education, we are promoting “Activism through Adventure.”
For tickets, schedule and details of events and films, please visit www.adventurefilm.org or contact Zoe Hart at zoe@adventurefilm.org
Filed under: Travel pieces | Tags: Chamonix, French Alps, Haute Savoie, Rhone Alpes, travel review
Clear, crisp air that feels like it’s cleaning your pores. The squeak of your shoes in the snow. Mountains on all sides rising so high against blue skies that they look false. Glacial run-off creating rivers that you can feel the coolness emanating from when you walk near them and can hear in the quiet of the night. Little crosses and chapels dotting the hills. Chalets with snow logs on their roofs to keep the snow from falling on their inhabitants. Red shutters. Copper roofs. Darkened and aged wood on the older homes. Sunshine that tans the face even as you wear several downy layers. Pussy willow trees. Skiing and waffles and chocolat chaud. Beaufort and Tomme cheese made by special cows in the Alps and local farmers, sold at the market each Saturday. Men in thick wool sweaters smoking while driving their snow plows and tractors. Mountain lakes so clear that the colors range from dark blue to aqua. Population explosion in the winter and summer bringing big, fancy 4wd BMW’s, huge tourist buses and queues for the gondolas. Paragliders, climbers, skiers, hikers, bikers, snowboarders. Helicopters overhead. The sound of avalanches and the explosion of dynamite to set off controlled avalanches. The smell of pine and wood burning stoves. Nights so brightened by the moon that you don’t need artificial light and your body casts a shadow. The single light on the mountains indicating the snow machine levelling the pistes. Tartiflette, fondue, and cremeaux in the evening as Haute Savoie fare. Quiet nights. Starry skies. Snow and ice.
Victoria Jelinek 