Asked why he wanted to climb Everest, one of the most famous mountain climbers George Leigh Mallory replied: "Because it’s there”. Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared during the third British expedition to the Himalayas in 1924 below the top of Mount Everest and remained forever there. Going deeper into the answers to the question "Why?" and how different are those people who have decided to confront nature and their own abilities will be given at the Bansko International Mountain Film Festival. Its 15^th edition runs until  29 November in the Bulgarian winter resort Bansko.

The beginning of this year's forum was launched with the film about the Austrian ski slope Streif - "Streif – One Hell of a Ride" authored by Gerald Salmina and Tom Dauer from Austria. The program offers over 100 films from 25 countries on five continents. The jury has selected films that have reached peaks in the world cinema on the theme of mountains, adventure travel and extreme sports. 30 of them participate in the festival's competition program as the winners will be announced on Saturday night. Over 15 presentations and workshops have been prepared by the international and Bulgarian guests and ten exhibitions will decorate the lobbies of the festival center until the end of the event, which is organized in cooperation with the municipality of Bansko.

This is much more than only a cinema forum, said for Radio Bulgaria the director of Bansko Film Fest Natalie Petrova, adding:

"Some of the films are related to the lifestyle, culture, and religious beliefs of the mountain peoples and in this sense they serve as real-life, contemporary lessons in geography, history and sociology. These are professional films made by the most famous and prominent producers, directors and writers in this cinematic genre. And the protagonists are among the world stars in alpinism, mountaineering and caving. And that is what is valuable in the films that we show - they are on the verge of fiction and documentary films and show the best of both.”

This year the festival will have guests from 10 countries. Among them is mountainbiker Harald Philipp of Austria, who with his bicycle has climbed some of the highest peaks in the world. Guest will be also Yves Ballu from France - mountaineer, climber, writer, and truly an institution in the mountaineering world. He will deliver a special lecture and will present an exhibition of archive photos and mountaineering articles. Another guest is Swiss top mountaineer Jean Troillet who has in his biography 10 eight-thousanders which he climbed without oxygen and holds the record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest from the north. His French colleague Patrick Gabarrou is the only person who has climbed over 300 routes in the Alps. Guest to the festival is also the first person to fly a glider over the Himalayas, Pole Sebastian Kawa, and the best Italian female climber currently Tamara Lunger who became the second Italian female climber to climb in 2014 the most difficult eight-thousander K2.

From the Bulgarian side, participation will be taken by Boyan Petrov - biologist and mountaineer who carried out the first Bulgarian ascent of K2 in the Karakorum last year and the first Bulgarian ascent of Manaslu in the Himalayas in 2015. Also attending are the members of the impressive Bulgarian expedition of speleologists who this year visited Iran. Cavers usually remain in the shadow of the climbers, but it is important to say that the Bulgarian speleologists are among the best in the world, Natalie Petrova said. Another guest will be Kiril Nikolov aka The Diesel who set this year a record in the mountain running at the route Kom - Emine and who qualified second in the rapid ascent of the Eiffel Tower."

As an important part of the accompanying program of the festival Natalie Petrova highlights the special panel for children and youth - "Bansko Film Fest KIDS". For several years, children and young people from Bansko and the area can get close not only to unknown lands and human stories through films, but also meet personally with the lovers of adventure - guests of the event. "For the adventurous spirit is something you can teach and it's part of the mission of our festival," says Natalie Petrova:

"One can travel while reading a book or going round a museum - it's all in your head. The desire to learn something new, the curiosity of the intelligent person is what matters most. The thing that strikes me in recent years is that Bulgarians do not know their homeland. Although the younger generation is interested in returning to nature, in exploring the Bulgarian natural and historical values, which is wonderful. But unfortunately the slow and difficult economic and political transition, which here has been dragging much longer than in other former communist countries also affects the man-nature relationship. But we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I deeply believe that the spirit of adventure can be nurtured inside of us. And through the film festival I think we are doing precisely this – we educate people in the adventure of exploring the world, getting to know yourself and your own capabilities."

English Rossitsa Petcova