The Audience Awards go to “Fire of Love” and “The Last Mountain”

Published 07/05/2022

Audience Award Best mountaineering film Rotari goes to The Last Mountain, the story of the climbers Alison Hargreaves and Tom Ballard, mother and son, who both perished in the Himalayas. The Trento Film Festival Italian Première Fire of Love by Sara Dosa, wins the Audience Award Best full-length film DAO – CONAD.

During the 70. Trento Film Festival both movies have had a great audience success: the People’s Choice Awards haven’t missed the expectations.

The Audience Award Best mountaineering film Rotari goes to The Last Mountain by Chris Terrill (United Kingdom / 2021 / 100′), the story of climbers Alison Hargreaves and Tom Ballard, mother and son climbers, who both perished in the Himalayas. The film follows Alison’s daughter, Kate Ballard on a trip to say goodbye to her brother on Nanga Parbat. Using archive footage from 1995 and Tom’s own extraordinary footage taken up until the days before his death, the film explores what made Tom continue his ascent with Italian climber, Daniele Nardi after the other two members of the expedition turned back. Through 25 years of intimate, unseen family archive, the documentary tells the unforgettable story of a family who lived and was prepared to die for the love of scaling the icy heights of the world’s highest peaks and explores what it is that drives people to pit themselves against nature at its most ferocious and unforgiving.

The Audience Award Best full-length film DAO – CONAD goes to Fire of Love by Sara Dosa (Canada, United States / 2022 / 93′ ) a unique, poetic and visually stunning adventure film about a French scientist couple, cut entirely with their own footage from Earth travels in search of erupting volcanoes in the 1970s and 80s. Intrepid French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft travelled the world, seeking out volcanic eruptions and ash clouds. Fortunately, they filmed all their travels, and their incredible personal archive of analog 16mm film reels is a compelling testimony to a life dedicated to exploration. Made entirely from their own footage, letters and notes, Sara Dosa’s film is about as far from a traditional portrait as you can get. Fire of Love is poetic, extrovert film art with the exuberance of a French new wave film, and with some of the most beautiful – and tragic – moments you could imagine seeing on film.