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The film about eleven climbers who perished on K2 in 2008 is a balanced and unbiased story about climbing on the one side and the family life on the other, the judging panel consisting of Bernadette McDonald, Michael Kennedy, Roman Benet, Mire Steinbuch and Matjaž Pograjc explained its decision to give the main festival award to "The Summit".

The award for best climbing film went to American Paul Diffley's "Wide Boyz", the award for best mountains, sport and adventure film to Norwegian film "North of the Sun" by Inge Wegge and Jorn Nyseth Ranum and the award for best mountain nature and culture film to Canadian "Vanishing Point" by Stephen A. Smith and Julia Szucs.

An additional award was presented by public broadcaster TV Slovenija; the panel consisting of Magda Lapajne, Aleša Valič and Mateja Vodeb was won over by Canadian film "The Boy Who Flies" by Benjamin Jordan.

"The film, with its simple 'it is possible' motto, takes the viewers across half of the planet, connects them to the sentiments of Africa with unusual ease and gives them the joy of life that can conquer the most distant summits and goals," the judging panel said.

The 8th Mountain Film Festival Domžale kicked off on Monday, showcasing 44 films from 25 countries throughout the week. The screenings were held in Ljubljana, the nearby town of Domžale, as well as in Ptuj (NE) and Celje (E).

The festival, organised by the Domžale-based Association of Mountain Culture, also featured six old films, showing them as part of a retrospective.

Bernadette McDonald, a special guest at the festival, told the STA in an interview that filming of mountain films had become easier due to "light cameras and less expensive cameras".

"But in order to make really good mountain films, experience, talent and a good understanding for story are still required," she stressed.

McDonald is working on a book about Slovenian mountaineering and has previously written a book about extreme Slovenian mountaineer Tomaž Humar, who died in the Himalayas in 2009 after completing a demanding solo climb of the south face of Langtang Lirung (7,227m).