“Adventure at the top.
For years, the Val d’Isère Adventure and Discovery film festival has been putting adventurers in the spotlight. During the four days of this sixteenth edition, travelers from all countries present their films, recount their exploits, share their emotions and invite the public to cast off towards distant horizons.
What is adventure? A way to give more intensity to existence. A way of aligning one’s destiny with audacity, non-conformism and a thirst for learning – virtues that are under attack these days. Adventure is when everyday life is not enough. This evening, in the auditorium of the convention center, a young boy or girl, inspired by one of the films in the program, will perhaps decide to dedicate their life to adventure. Later, when they grow up, they will hoist the mainsail, ride across the steppes, explore the abyss, and grab an ice axe.
And the best part is that they will come – who knows? – tell us all this in a few years, in this same room where the dream took shape…”
Sylvain Tesson
Sylvain Tesson
Sylvain Tesson studied geography and geopolitics with Yves Lacoste before devoting his life to writing and long-distance travel.
After presenting the program Montagnes (France 3), he cycled around the world, crossed the Himalayas on foot, Central Asia on horseback, walked from Siberia to India in the footsteps of gulag escapees. , traveled the Caucasus and Anatolia to investigate oil, participated in humanitarian and archaeological missions in Afghanistan.
From his adventures in the Russian Far East, Mongolia, the Himalayas and Tibet, he brought back around fifteen stories, essays and collections of short stories, most of which are available in pocket editions. His latest work recounts the life of Alpine hunters in Afghanistan: Haute tension, Gallimard. His collection A Life to Sleep Outside published by Gallimard won the Goncourt for short stories in 2009 and the short story prize from the Académie Française.
He collaborates with Figaro Magazine, writes documentaries for France 5. He loves climbing, books and horse riding. Last year he stayed in a cabin in the middle of the Russian forest for six months and is preparing a “Cabin Journal” to be published in the Nouvelle Revue Française in spring 2011.
Diego Buñuel
Diego Buñuel studied journalism and political science in Chicago before joining the editorial staff of the Chicago Tribune and then the Miami Sun-Sentinel. In the year 2000, he returned to France to carry out his military service. He is sent to Sarajevo to take care of the NATO forces diary.
In 2001, he returned to France and joined the editorial staff of Agence Capa as a journalist where he worked mainly for the France 3 show “Des Racines et des Ailes”. In 2003, Diego Buñuel moved to the camera and became JRI (journalist image reporter). He worked for “Envoyé Spécial”, France 2, “90 Minutes” on Canal +, “Arte Reportage” and France 3. The same year, he received the special prize from the jury of the Festival International du Scoop for “Les Rois du Désert” and in 2004 for “In the Iraqi Furnace”.
With “Ne dire pas à ma Mère”, a series of which he is the author, Diego Buñuel stepped in front of the camera to offer another look at zones of war or tension. This series is co-produced by Canal Plus and National Geographic Channel and broadcast in 160 countries and translated into 28 languages and for which he received numerous awards.
In 2009, he became the presenter of the weekly show “Les Nouveaux Explorateurs” and created Explorer Productions. He also directs the documentary series “Boomerang” on Canal +.
Katia Lafaille
Katia Lafaille
Katia, 42, is an adventure specialist in the four corners of the planet. His meeting with Jean-Christophe Lafaille, a famous mountaineer who tragically died in January 2006 during his ascent of Makalu in Nepal, turned his life upside down. Katia will write “Sans Lui” published by Grasset in January 2007.
At the same time mother, woman, adventurer, curious and passionate, she sets out to meet the people of the world, amazing landscapes and confronts the most extreme conditions. Katia has already participated in three films in the “In the footsteps of Katia” collection broadcast on Planète and TV5 Monde.
She explores the adventure lands of Utah, Patagonia and Nepal in an eco-responsible way. Her film “Katia, as close as possible to the sky” recounts her solitary ascent of Aconcagua, the colossus of America, which peaks at nearly 7,000 meters.
Franck Bruno
Franck Bruno
At the age of 18 he joined the army and found himself on a mission on the aircraft carrier Foch in Lebanon. Bridge error and he joins the world of disability, his right leg is amputated. This event will change the course of his life and give it new meaning. Despite everything and against general advice, he joined the school of scuba diving instructors and became a professional diver and rescue diver. After four years of maritime idleness, he returned to his island in Corsica and created the association “Bout de vie”*.
Since then, he has carried out several crusades, some would say challenges. Summit of Kilimanjaro, 3rd in the “Atlantic Rowing Race” with Dominique Benassi followed by the last degree of the North Pole.
In recent years he has crossed Greenland from East to West, left at the head of a rope party in Argentina to reach the highest volcano in the world and descended the Yukon River alone. A true force of nature who invests in his association.
Natacha Calestrémé
Natacha Calestrémé
Member of the Society of French Explorers and member of the JNE (Journalists Writers for Nature and Ecology). After a career in advertising, then in the press, she became an author for France 2 and France 3 then for TF1 within the entertainment unit where she led a team of authors.
In 1999, she joined M6 international in the documentary unit where she was entrusted with reformatting the documentaries from the “Les chemins de l’impossible” collection for abroad, with a team of three editors.
She then produced her own collection of documentaries, entitled “Héros de la nature” for France 3 and France 5, produced by Mona Lisa Production. A series of portraits of men and women who act to protect biodiversity around the world. This 52-minute collection, which has existed in France since June 2000, is also broadcast on ZDF, Rai 3, RTBF, TSR, Canal + Scandinavia, TV5 Monde, Ushuaïa TV, RTE one (Ireland), Cable Sweden, TV Québec, etc.
She is also the author of the thriller “The Testament of the Bees” (November 2011) published by Albin Michel.
Monday
16
April
5.15pm
Six mois de cabane au Baikal
| Direction | Sylvain Tesso, Florence Tran |
| Duration | 52 min. |
To satisfy his need for freedom, Sylvain Tesson found a radical solution: lock himself in a cabin in the middle of the Siberian taiga, on the banks of Lake Baikal, for six months. From February to July, he chose to experience silence, solitude, and cold.
“The challenge of six months in a hermitage is to know if we will be able to support ourselves. In case of self-loathing, there is no shoulder to lean on, no face to glaze one’s eyes with. Living in a cabin is the experience of emptiness! »
By filming almost daily his impressions, his joys and his sorrows facing the splendor of the lake, his doubts, but also his moments of ecstasy, inner peace and osmosis with nature, Sylvain Tesson shares with us a deep-rooted dream in childhood, the experience of an inner transformation.
“Life in a cabin teaches you to live in the moment, to expect nothing from the future and to accept what happens as a celebration. The genius of the place helps to tame time. »
Tuesday
17
April
L'Aventure à cloche pied
| Direction | ISABELLE BRES, OLIVIER PHILIPPE, FREDERIC JOUVE |
| Duration | 17 min. |
Despite his “one-leggedness” Frank, an accomplished sportsman and adventurer at heart, nothing in his life is ordinary. Founder of the “Bout de vie” association, he shares his impulses of generosity with those who, like himself one day, believed to be broken by the cruelty of destiny: damaged by life, certainly, but never defeated.
This film is a simple but powerful testimony that misfortunes are the greatest challenges to overcome. In a few minutes we will follow him on a crossing of the Atlantic by resounding oar, the last degree of the North Pole, the crossing from West to East of Greenland, then the ascent of the highest volcano in the world (Argentina) and a solo odyssey on the Yukon River, thousands of kilometers by kayak from Whitehorse to Grayling… a pretext to find oneself, to look one another in the face and to reconnect with the fundamental harmony that binds man to nature.
A sensitive film, for the general public, made for those who must ward off bad luck every day… the wounded of life, certainly, but also, certainly, ordinary mortals…
From April 17th to 19th - Congress Center
Jacques Olivier Travers will present to us the “Sherkan” eagle and the “Léman” bearded vulture. They will be present with us at the Congress Center during the opening hours of the festival. A surprising encounter awaits you!
Wednesday April 18th - Olympic Avenue
The tightrope walkers from the film “I Believe I can fly” will take to the skies on the main avenue of Val d’Isère! A demonstration not to be missed, a discovery of this new slackline practice: highlining.
Photographer - Evrard Wendenbaum
Made up of hundreds of inextricable canyons, the Makay massif is one of the most monumental works of nature there is. totally unexplored, this extraordinary and almost unknown mountain range of Madagascar is one of the most inaccessible points on the globe, its valleys of several hundred meters have isolated ecosystems and animal and plant species unique in the world for millions of years.
The 20 photographs in the exhibition “Makay, the last Eden” come from five expeditions (including three biodiversity inventory missions) in this tormented relief which notably enabled major discoveries including many new species and the very first decorated caves of Madagascar.
Photographer
The Bishnois have made the protection of the environment and wildlife their leitmotif. Considering animals and trees as members of their family, the Bishnois of Rajasthan in India have provided them with care and affection for several centuries. In a world where environmental problems are ever more relevant, the Bishnois and their ancestral traditions certainly have something to teach us.
Sylvain Tesson
Dans les forêts de sibérie
Medicis Essay Prize 2011
Quite early on, I understood that I wasn’t going to be able to do much to change the world. I then promised myself that I would settle down for a while, alone, in a cabin. In the forests of Siberia. I bought a wooden hut, far from everything, on the banks of Lake Baikal. There, for six months, five days’ walk from the first village, lost in excessive nature, I tried to be happy. I think I succeeded. Two dogs, a wood stove, a window open to a lake are enough for life. What if freedom consisted of owning time? What if happiness came down to having solitude, space and silence – all things that future generations will lack? as long as there are cabins deep in the woods, nothing will be completely lost.
Natacha Calestrémé
Le testament des abeilles
As if suffering from dementia, a man with no history massacres his family before committing suicide. A few days later, thirteen residents of a small building in the 15th district died without any murder weapon being found. A real massacre fell on Paris… 29 adults and 15 children were killed! No apparent link between these tragedies, except perhaps the drawing of a lotus flower found each time near the scene… sect, terrorism, psychopath, no clue emerges until Major Yoann Clivel discovers a testament written four years earlier by a certain “Bee Monk” and announcing a murderous madness. Would this prophetic text serve as a guide for the assassin?
Evrard Wendenbaum
Makay, à la découverte du dernier eden
The text and unpublished photos, signed Evrard Wendenbaum, take us to discover the massif to the rhythm of a modern epic. Zooms provide more in-depth sociocultural and scientific insights into this passionate and engaged story. The spectacular landscapes of Makay are also illustrated by 28 3D images. The book comes with glasses to fully experience the adventure in 3D. The work is prefaced by Jean-Marie Pelt, professor emeritus of plant biology and pharmacology at the University of Metz. President and founder of the European Institute of Ecology in Metz, he is a reference in the field of ecology.
Franck Bruno
Bout de vie
At the age of 18, Frank Bruno found himself, in the middle of the conflict in Lebanon, on the aircraft carrier Foch. A fighter plane crushes his right leg. He then falls into the world of disability. How to transform the drama into reconstruction? This book traces the incredible journey of this force of nature through these sporting challenges, these expeditions… A great life lesson.
KatiA Lafaille
Sans lui
On January 27, 2006, Jean-Christophe Lafaille died in the Himalayas, at Makalu, one of the fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters on the planet. without him, at 36, mother of two children, Katia faces the void of reconstruction. What future for a woman in the world of mountaineering? Do we have the right to experience our love differently with a man who was familiar with death at altitude? Katia confesses here for the first time, mixing memories of Alaska, the Himalayas, the American West with her intimate hopes. Loving nature, often solitary and by: choice, she is now taming her destiny. With Jean-Christophe, they invented another way of walking, of climbing, of dreaming about the mountains.
Gérard Janichon
Libertalia Le message du piment rouge
Gérard Janichon, writer and navigator, joined Jolokia as a “ghost teammate”. He analyzes with finesse and sincerity the hazards of human navigation less obvious than it seems when it comes to building a crew of “broken arms”. A moving story that leads to reflection while overturning many preconceived ideas.
Benoît de Vilmorin, Simon Allix
Carnets du Kailash, voyage au cœur du bouddhisme
Located in the heart of secret Tibet, Mount Kailash, which rises to an altitude of 6,714 meters, is the sacred mountain par excellence. Around this mountain, the entire spirituality of a people is embodied: that of the Tibetans, of the Dalai Lama, twenty-five centuries of Buddhism and veneration. Simon Allix completed the Kailash pilgrimage with his brother Thomas, the culmination of a never-completed spiritual quest. Drawings, photographs, sketches and infographics collide in a rich and sensitive visual universe, resolutely contemporary, which radically renews the genre of the travel diary. These Kailash Notebooks give us, through the pen of Benoit de Vilmorin, the view of Simon, an adventurer in love with ideals, on the magic of travel, on the history and mysteries of Buddhism, on this particular spirituality which blows there – low, so high, between the magical peaks and sacred lakes.
