ShAFF: Climb Films 3 15

The 3rd of 3 Climb film sessions at the festival this year.

1. Still Alive 27 minutes

   Doctors gave him until twentyfive and now 10 years after his expiration date he is still climbing. Klaas Willems is a Rock Climber who, due to his Cystic Fibrosis, has dedicated his life to climbing in clean air. He has bolted hundreds of routes in non-polluted areas like Sardinia, Italy and found great success and peace in the process. After finding his love for rock climbing, Klaas was doing some alpine climbing when he noticed his heart beating harder than usual... he headed straight to the hospital only to find out that he had a cancerous tumor next to his heart. While fighting cancer on top of his existing Cystic Fibrosis, he was both physically and mentally drained. Klaas fell into a long depression and was on the brink of giving up on life when his sister who also suffered from CF showed him the power of positivity. After beating cancer and working endlessly to get stronger, he returned to Sardinia to finish a new route he had begun bolting before his cancer treatments. That route is now known as Still Alive (5.14b) and this film is the story of how it all went down.

2. JAMIE 19 minutes

   As a pioneering climber of the 1970’s, Jamie Logan quietly ticked off first ascents on some of North America’s most treacherous climbs. But looking death in the face on the side of the mountain was nothing compared to the secret Jamie held that threatened to shatter her entire world. It was a secret so terrifying that Jamie stayed silent for over 60 years. Jamie Logan — the tough, dominant, successful climber and architect — wanted to live as a woman. At age 69 Jamie announced to her wife and four grown children that she was going to begin transitioning into the person she had always wanted to be. Now, as a 76 year old woman, Jamie has more love and connection than ever before. Her climbing community has deepened, her relationship with her wife has transformed (for the better!), and her sense of self has never been so strong…nor has her sense of purpose. Jamie wants to let other trans people know that life can be OK. In fact, it can be better than you could ever imagine. This short film is Jamie’s journey to allow herself to be herself.

3. Adra 54 minutes

   Llanberis is the diamond at the heart of the rugged North Wales scenery. A village hunkered down below Yr Wyddfa and Elidir Fawr, it's the epicentre of adventurous climbing in the UK. This small village and its surroundings have shaped the lives of many, and a climbing culture as historic and iconic as to rival Chamonix or Yosemite has grown from the mountains, quarries, and sea cliffs that harbour some of the best traditional rock climbing in the world. Local climbers Zoe Wood and Lewis Perrin Williams take us on a nostalgic journey, exploring how this place has impacted the lives of those who have lived, worked, and played in this beautiful corner of Cymru over the last century. Featuring interviews and archives from some of the most prolific and colourful characters of UK climbing, Adra gently gifts us a sense of home, community, and belonging, and how the mountains of Cymru have conjured up the spirit of ‘hiraeth.’ In the words of John Redhead, "I think North Wales is the home of the spirit of climbing, without a doubt…"