A love story between mountains and cinema
In October 1896, barely a year after the first Lumière cinematograph was shown in Paris, cinema made its debut in Tyrol. And although the first film made in Tyrol is now considered lost, traces remain of a folk dance filmed in Merano in the early 1900s. In 1905, the English photographer and film-maker Frank (or Frederick) Ormiston-Smith, considered one of the fathers of film mountaineering, arrived in Tyrol to take photographs to bring back to England. He documented numerous ascents, while capturing daily life in the region in La Vie à Innsbruck : Tyrol (1905) and in a series of four short films, Le Tyrol de 1907. In the decades that followed, the region hosted a growing number of film shoots. Alfred Hitchcock, then a young director, made his second film here, The Mountain Eagle, in 1926. Although the story is supposed to be set in Kentucky, it's the village of Obergurgl that serves as the backdrop for this Anglo-German melodrama, now considered lost and one of the most sought-after films in the world. Another notable production of this period was Arnold Fanck's feature-length comedy L'Ivresse blanche (1931), a great success of German silent cinema, starring German actress and future filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. World War II forced a pause in local productions, but the industry took off again in the 1950s, with the highly acclaimed Sissi (1955), starring Romy Schneider. The first part of an Austro-German trilogy, this episode took the actress on a journey in the footsteps of the Empress, from Ambras Castle to the Imperial Palace in Innsbruck. A role that would make Romy Schneider famous the world over, but an exception for local productions, whose reputation struggles to spread beyond the region's borders, despite an increasing number of films and shoots in the region. Tyrol's greatest screen appearances have been on the international scene since the 1960s.
From Sissi to James Bond
While Romy Schneider shone in the halls of the great palaces, it was in the mountains that international filmmakers set up their cameras. Michael Ritchie directed La Descente infernale (1969), starring Robert Redford as a young skier from Colorado, and Gene Hackman as his intractable coach. The descent of the Kitzbühel Streif is one of the film's highlights. Two years later, actor Michael Caine shot - not on skis, but in period costume - The Lost Valley, alongside Omar Sharif. It's the story of a pacifist who discovers a haven of peace in the Gschnitztal, a hidden valley in the heart of the Tyrol. Almost two decades later, Jean-Jacques Annaud turned his attention to the region's mountains to make L'Ours (1988), a fable about the friendship between a grizzly bear and a cub, adapted from Oliver Curwood's book Le Grizzly . The film was a hit in France and the U.S., winning the César for Best Director for the technical prowess required for this atypical shoot. As for the filming locations, it's in the forests between Innsbruck and Lienz that you'll have to try and track down Youk and Kaar, the two heroes of the film. Jean-Jacques Annaud would return to Lienz a few years later to shoot some of the scenes in Seven Years in Tibet (1997), starring Brad Pitt as mountaineer Heinrich Harrer. Notable international productions of the 21st century that made a stop in Tyrol include Bong-Joon Ho's Le Transperceneige (2013), an adaptation of the eponymous comic strip by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, skilfully using the vast snowy expanses of the Hintertux glacier to create a planet ravaged by a new ice age. In 2015, it was Spectre, the penultimate instalment in the James Bond saga, which established Tyrol as an essential alpine film location. The Sölden ski area and the community of Obertilliach welcomed director Sam Mendes, accompanied by Daniel Craig and Léa Seydoux, to shoot some beautiful scenes by the fireside and under the snow-covered peaks, on the balcony of the very modern Ice Q Restaurant, the jewel in the crown of the Gaislachkogl ski area. Probably one of the best places to make you feel like a movie star.
Between hiking and descents, where to see movies in Tyrol?
By the time you've kicked off your skis, you're ready to enjoy a good dose of the seventh art. In Innsbruck, you'll enjoy not one, but at least three film festivals a year, including the IFFI (International Film Festival Innsbruck). Held every year for six days between May and October, depending on the season, the festival brings the city to life with screenings of atypical documentaries and dramas, focusing on films that are not widely distributed on the international circuit. It's also an opportunity to offer retrospectives and rediscover classic films from the mountains and beyond, in an idyllic setting. The event takes place at Leokino, one of the city's most dynamic cinemas. You can also discover the latest releases in original version with subtitles, or enjoy - depending on the season - an open-air screening at the foot of the peaks. If you're more into thrills and wide-open spaces, you'll want to check out the Innsbruck Nature Film Festival, or - if you're lucky - the Freeride Film Festival, an itinerant event dedicated to snow sports films, which travels between different European resorts.
And if you happen to wander over to the Italian Tyrol, stop off at the Caldaro cinema, a place steeped in history as the heir to a cinema that first opened in 1911! Today, the Filmtreff Kaltern welcomes you to the former Caldaro station building, with its 118-seat auditorium equipped with the latest technology, including a 35 mm projector - a rare commodity in this region so rich in cinema stories.
