Mountain scenery in the spotlight
In the world of cinema, the Dolomites are a perfect setting for international filming, especially in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The Prisoner of the Mountain (1955, Luis Trenker), The Pink Panther (1963, Blake Edwards), The Great Silence (1968, Sergio Corbucci) and For Your Eyes Only (1981, by John Glen, with Roger Moore as the famous James Bond) all had the particularity of having set part of their filming in the famous ski resort. In 1992, the shooting of the American blockbuster Cliffhanger: Hunting at the Top (by Renny Harlin, with Sylvester Stallone) took place almost entirely in the region. Although the plot takes place in the Rocky Mountains in America, it is the landscapes of the Sentiero Ferrato Ivano Dibona and the Tofane peak that can be admired when watching this breathtaking action film. The rest of the Dolomites are also present in The Vampire Ball (1968, Roman Polanski) where the municipality of Ortisei in Val Gardena is seen, The Bear (1988, Jean-Jacques Annaud) with among others shots of the Misurina lake or more recently the blockbuster Solo: a Star Wars Story (2018, by Ron Howard). Other works set their plot in the Dolomite landscape. In 1994, for example, Italian Mario Brenta directed Barnabo delle Montagne, following the journey of a forest ranger forced to flee the Dolomites following the murder of his superior by smugglers. This adaptation of Dino Buzzati's novel of the same name was screened at the Cannes Film Festival the same year. Also set in the region are Dolomites 1915 (2014, Ernst Gossner), set during World War I, and the Italian series Un passo dal cielo (2011, Enrico Oldoini) about the life of a forest ranger in the town of San Candido.
Dolomitale and Cortinametraggio
In terms of events, the Dolomites organise the annual Dolomitale Film Festival in the South Tyrol Val Gardena. This film festival takes place in September at the Luis Trenker House of Culture in the town of Ortisei. The festival consists of three competitions: the Best Alpine Documentary, the Best South Tyrolean Short Film and the Young Gun, which shows and awards student and independent short films. The Young Gun is a new feature of the festival, as this competition will be held for the first time in September 2021. The municipality of Cortina d'Ampezzo, on the other hand, organizes in March the Cortinametraggio, a festival celebrating short films. In recent years, events such as Booktrailers, which promotes reading through the screening of short films based on novels, have joined forces with the Cortina Film Festival to bring the region's film industry to life.
