As the third annual Sheffield Adventure Film Festival came to a close, everyone I spoke to seemed to have had a good time. An adventure film festival like this will always draw the climbers and adventure sports enthusiasts, and Sheffield, thanks to its proximity to the Peak District, certainly has many of them.
ShAFF, with its well planned programme of film compilations in different categories, also has a wider appeal. I spoke to non-climbers like myself who had enjoyed the weekend and would come again. I think I have learned more about climbing over the last few days than I ever knew before!
This time the films were judged, the panel being Niall Grimes, Ian Parnell and Gordon Stainforth, and cash prizes were presented to the winners on Sunday evening, followed by another showing of the winning films. This was nothing like the Oscars, and all the better for it. There were no gold statuettes, no tears and no long acceptance speeches. The first winner to be called up complained of being interrupted half way through his pint.
King Lines, directed and produced by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, was chosen as Best Film. The judges commented on its outstanding cinematography.
Best Climbing Film was Hard XS – Choss - the engaging Dave Thomas and Martin Perry climbing “a tottering pile of shale”.
Best Non- climbing Film went to Phil Brown’s Cuban Skateboarding Crisis, with special mentions for Coast To Coast and Oil And Water.
Best Adrenaline Film was Aerialist, directed and produced by Brad Lynch, in which Dean Potter pays tribute to his lost climbing partner while practising free soloing, high-lining and BASE-jumping. Absolutely stunning, and one of several films during which I forgot to breathe.
Brendan Kiernan and Frank Pickell’s Zoltan divided opinion, but won Best Short Film. I loved it, especially Zoltan’s last line “If they let me in, I will die!” The judges thought this the weakest category, with some good photography but poor structure and “some very annoying music”. But another special mention went to The Expert, part of Nine Winters Old, featuring ski-mad Ryan and his friends.
A further Spirit Of Adventure award went to Underdeveloped, a film about four lads in Northern Ireland directed by Jamie Egner and produced by Rickie Bell. The judges praised this ”unpretentious” film which “got right down to what climbing is about”.
A great weekend. Here’s to the next one!
