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First Karakoram International Mountain Film Festival 2018 promotes awareness on mountaineering, outdoor education
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The first Karakoram International Mountain Film Festival 2018 festival brought together mountaineers and the local audience who were fascinated by the best short documentaries and featured films screened during the festival.
Tales of the expedition of brave mountaineers from Gilgit Baltistan and stories of their adventure inspired the youth of the region.
Gilgit Baltistan’s (GB) first film festival was organised by Pakistan Youth Outreach Foundation (PYOF) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme Pakistan (UNDP).
During the two day fest, several films on outdoor activities, mountaineering and skiing were screened. These included: K2 and The invisible footman, Beyond the heights, Challenge the Unchallengeable, Ski Freedom, Heimschne, Trekking the Treks of ski to the mountains of Altai and Shupun Xik (the last of the Wakhi Shepherdess).
GB cheif secretary KazimNaiz was the cheif guest. Addressing the ceremony, Chief Secretary Dr. Kazim Niaz said tourism sector is flourishing in Gilgit Baltistan with the passage of time. He said 1.6 million including domestic and foreign tourists visted the region in last year. He also lauded famous mountaineers Samina Baig, Mirza Ali and others stakeholders for arranging first-ever festival and assured his full support for the promotion of tourism and sports activities
He awarded Life Achievement awards to the renowned mountaineers of GB Amir Mehdi, Ashraf Aman, Razab Shah and Hasan Sadpara which were received by their heirs.
Samina Baig, first Pakistani woman to summit Mount Everest and Mirza Ali, mountaineer – the founders of Pakistan Youth Outreach Foundation were also among the guests.
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PYOF has been formed to promote outdoor education, mountaineering and adventure sports among youth and women in the region. The foundation has been engaged in promoting tourism, winter sports, Olympics and individual sports in Pakistan particularly in Gilgit-Baltistan.
“We have taken this initiative to encourage and promote best practices of sustainable tourism to minimise ecological footprint, to work with government bodies by providing valuable inputs to develop policies and strategies for promotion of sustainable tourism in GB” said Mirza Ali, the PYOF chairman.
Speakers at the concluding ceremony of the first Gilgit Baltistan Film Festival stressed on the need of creating awareness about prompting outdoor Education, Mountaineering, and Adventure sports, particularly among women in Gilgit Baltistan.
