From July 29 to August 3, Svaneti is hosting the fifth edition of the Mestia Short and Mountain Film Festival. The event, held with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Georgia, brings together filmmakers as well as mountain enthusiasts from around the world.
The festival features a diverse lineup of short and feature-length films about mountain life, culture and adventure. Among this year’s highlights are two Italian films that explore the common points of tradition, endurance and alpine history.
At the festival’s opening ceremony, Deputy Ambassador of Italy Fabiola Albanese emphasized the importance of cultural and cinematic exchange between Italy
On July 30, director Džazara presented ‘Body and Soul’, a 2023 film shot in Abruzzo, Italy. The documentary explores the still-practiced ancient ritual of the barefoot run, spiritual tradition from Italian rural culture.
On July 31, Italian guests Aldo Audisio and Leonardo Bizzaro introduced a restored version of ‘Italia K2’, originally filmed in 1955. Directed by Marcello Baldi and shot by Mario Fantin, it was the first-ever recorded film at such extreme altitudes and tells a story of how Italian climbers became the first to reach the summit of K2, the world’s second-highest peak.
The delegation also included representatives of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI), founded in 1863 by Quintino Sella, uncle of renowned mountaineer and photographer Vittorio Sella whose 19th-century expeditions to the Caucasus still have cultural significance in Georgia.
