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It is the Saturday night of the best Edinburgh
Mountain Film Festival yet and anticipation is running high. Topping
the bill is E11 - The Movie, the story of Dave MacLeod's ascent of Rhapsody
from Paul Diffley and Dave Brown at Hot Aches. Will it be as special,
memorable and inspirational as Hard Grit? What will the debut of Aberdonian
Rich Lawrie with Sinergy Freeride be like? And why does Tim Emmet like
to jump off cliffs?
Dave MacLeod on Rhapsody, E11
Image - Steven Gordon
Told in an off-beat, drama-doc style, E11 is a strikingly mature film
that attempts to understand what it takes to climb a route of this standard.
E11 strives to get into the head of the first ascentionist, Dave MacLeod.
"Those falls", gasped the editor of one news-stand magazine.
"And he kept on taking them!"
As well as those ankle-smashing, gear ripping,
monster falls it features an intimate look at the relationship between
Dave and his wife Claire and how the tension of attempting the route
affects their lives.
"He was beginning to lose the plot." says the long suffering
Claire. "You can tell he¹s not really talking to you, he's
going through moves in his head. He just kinda glazes over in every
waking moment and most of his sleeping moments."
There are some interesting insights into the MacLeod
Machine from climber Niall MacNair: "He'd done all the boulder
problems at Dumbarton, so I knew he was pretty strong but I was really
surprised because he was technically crap, his footwork was awful. And,
God, he wore socks with his climbing shoes! What kind of climber is
that?"
Click
here to read about the winning films from EMFF 2006 and previous festivals.
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The film also captures some priceless comedy moments:
Dave downplaying the extent of his injuries to Claire. His loud grunts
as he does pull-ups in his flat making his neighbours wonder exactly
what was going on inside there.
For me, the brief clips of Claire were tremendous. Her comments really
added a whole extra dimension to the film. This is so much more than
just another climbing film more of a portrait of the man and woman behind
the route.
The audience loved it.
The presence of the stars and makers of a film at a premiere always
adds something to the event. Dave and Claire MacLeod's appearance -
looking cool in a Hawaiian shirt - ensured that this was the real deal.
E11, swept the board at the Edinburgh Festival taking Best Film, Best
Climbing Film and The People's Choice Award.
E11 Creative Director Paul Diffley (left) is presented with the Tiso
Best Film Award for E11 by Chris Tiso.
One of the most laudable elements of the Edinburgh Film Festival is
the manner in which the organizers are happy - eager, even - to take
risks with overseas film-makers that are relatively unknown here.
One of these treats was Weekend Warrior. Made in just 72 hours by Ace
MacKay Smith, this semi-animated and darkly brilliant short follows
a hapless male as he tries to impress a local lady by demonstrating
his prowess in extreme sports.
Also making his debut was Aberdonian Rich Lawrie with Sinergy Freeride,
documenting the lifestyle of a group of friends as they push the limits
of their extreme skiing in the French Alps. It captures the anarchistic
mayhem of the Chamonix scene and although it would have benefited from
some tighter editing, it was an impressive debut.
Thought-provoking, entertaining and inspirational. Edinburgh 2006 was
a mountain film festival at its very best.
www.super7.co.uk
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