THE 11TH EDITION OF ULSAN ULJU MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL
Scheduled from September 18th to September 22nd, and as the very first mountain film festival in South Korea, Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival (UMFF) aims to collect and introduce today’s most important mountain films from around the world as a platform to investigate the trends and flow of current mountain culture. Another goal is to portray people as they live along with nature, telling stories of trials and conquests, cravings and adventures, challenges and failures. But also successes, conflict and coexistence.
“Having passed the meaningful milestone of its 10th anniversary last year, the festival now embarks on a new challenge as it prepares for the coming decade. – declares UMFF director, the well-known mountaineer Um Hong-gil – Over the years, the Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival has grown into Korea’s leading international mountain film festival, introducing films that capture mountains, nature, and human life. Building on this foundation, as one of Ulsan’s foremost cultural and artistic assets, UMFF aims to become a ‘global hub for mountain culture’, while also evolving into a next-generation cultural platform that maximizes the ‘experiential value’ of offline encounters, grounded in the unique geographical asset of the Yeongnam Alps”.
So, when was the festival born and what was its main goal at the time?
“The Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival was born in 2016. We wanted the Yeongnam Alps to be more than a place people come to climb. A festival where that beauty comes with mountain films, with culture and art. That was our starting point”.
How did the festival grow throughout the years and what is its main goal today?
“For ten years we’ve brought the world’s finest mountain films and climbers to Korea, and shared Korea’s own mountain films and culture with the world. We want to keep widening the ground that mountain culture stands on, and to build a festival where audiences recover, in body and mind, out in nature and leave with the energy for something new”.
How many people work at the festival?
“Most of the year, it’s four of us — the secretary general, the programmer, and two team managers, preparing the festival year-round. As the dates draw closer, staff join us, until there are more than twenty. Programming, planning, operations, publicity, administration. The work is different for each of us, but once the festival opens, we move as a single expedition”.
Is there a particular episode in the festival’s history that you would like to mention?
“The moment I remember most is last year’s tenth anniversary. Reinhold Messner, who was with us at our very first edition, came back to the festival after ten years. Seeing him there at both the first and the tenth, I felt the weight of the years we’d come through — and that we were setting out again, toward another ten”.
Why do you think it’s important for the festival to be part of the IAMF?
“Mountains have no borders. Neither, I think, does loving them. Through the IAMF, mountain film festivals around the world introduce each other to good films and to mountain culture, sharing what each of us has learned. That is how we grow together. We want to go on being one part of that exchange — connecting Korea’s mountain culture with the world’s”.
What’s your dream and vision for the future of your festival and of the mountains generally speaking?
“I hope more people come close to the mountains, and enjoy them. And I hope our festival can be a good place to start — where that pleasure is first discovered. We’ll keep going as a festival that brings joy, connecting the mountains of the world with the people who love them. The keyword for this year’s festival is ‘challenge.’ We hope to share the value and meaning found in the process, rather than the destination itself. The countless choices and challenges faced by the characters in the films will lead us to reflect on our own lives and offer the courage to move forward on new paths”.
Even in a rapidly changing era, the experience of communing with nature and sharing the emotion of films together in the same place remains a precious value that connects people to one another. Based on this belief, this year’s festival has unified its venues around the Yeongnam Alps Welcome Center, preparing a festival where film, exhibitions, performances, and experiential programs come together.