Keswick Film Festival comes to Rheged

For the first time, as part of the 13th Keswick Film Festival, three outdoor adventure films will be hosted by Rheged in Penrith on Saturday February 25. The films are open to all and to make it easier for the weekend Film Festival attendees it has been organised so they can jump on the x50 bus from Keswick to arrive outside Rheged in time for the films.

Ann Martin Director of Keswick Film Festival said “We think the IMAX screen at Rheged is a superb facility as it has the capabilities of showing both digital and large format films – neither of which we can show in Keswick. We always like to try out new things at our Festival – so we have chosen three films which are in digital format and will look superb on the giant screen to show at Rheged. What’s more they all follow an outdoor adventure theme which fit with the Rheged centre.”

At 11.15am, there will be a showing of The Great White Silence - a film which has been restored by the BFI National Archive and illustrates the British Antarctic Expedition and its ill-fated race to the South Pole a hundred years ago. Led by Captain Scott, almost every aspect of the expedition including life in camp and training for the assault was captured by famous photographer and cinematographer Herbert Ponting, giving viewers a real sense of the challenges faced by the expedition.

The afternoon double bill starts at 1.30pm with The Call of the White - a documentary surrounding the challenge that British Adventurer, Felicity Aston put to ‘ordinary women’ as she set out to create the most international all-female expedition ever to the South Pole. The expedition involved a team of 8 women from Brunei, Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK, skiing 900km across Antarctica to the South Pole despite the fact that some members of the team had never seen snow before, experienced subzero temperatures or slept in a tent!

This is followed by Sherpas: the True Heroes of Everest - a UK premiere and is a documentary about the unsung heroes from Nepal, which focuses on the hired Sherpas of a Swiss Everest Expedition Team. Among the Sherpas is Dawa, who has accented the Everest summit thirteen times. The film heroically showcases the role of Sherpas who make it possible for the big-pocketed Western climbers to reach the summit.
If you are a Keswick Festival pass holder you get in free or tickets are £5.00 for The Great White Silence, or £5 for an afternoon double bill of The Call of The White and Sherpas: the True Heroes of Everest which are available from the Rheged box office. For more information simply visit www.rheged.com or call 01768 868000.