glassgowkiss

a friend of my just called me up asking if i am going to the BMFF in B-ham. at this moment- i don't think so. i am not going to give my money to someone who is behaving like that. so before everyone rushes to see the films in b-ham or seattle ask yourself a question. do you want to support this organization with your $$$ in the view of these facts?

why the fuck would they fucking care? and if they did, joke'm if they can't take the fuck. i wonder if they would fucking edit my motherfucking helmet??

ok I did more reading. so here it goes. According to Elzbieta Lipowska from Calgary (she picked up Bertulis from the airport in Calgary and drove him to Banff) Bertulis knew before the festival that Surdel was alive. Bertulis obtained his copy of this film in Poland before December 13 1981. Initially he thought Surdel was dead, instead of Kalinkiewicz- cameramen. Anyhow, fact of the matter is that while receiving the award he was perfectly aware of the fact, that director of the movie is alive and well. It is still beyond my understanding why organizers of the festival did not confirm the fact of Surdel's death nor they invited him for the ceremony. Also the fact that Bertulis accepted the award is completly bogus and ill intentioned. I just finished conversation with someone from Calgary, who is dealing with this whole matter. In January there is going to be "Best of BMFF 2004" showing in Clagary. Guess what? Odwrot will not be shown. I wonder why "grand Prize" film is not shown? So far Alex Bertulis did not respond in any form. Nor did really BMFF.

Banff Film Festival was made aware of the problem within days after the end of the festival. So far they did not issue a public apology. Even more I had a chance to talk to people involved and their last couple of contacts were rather on a chilly side. Yes Surdel owns rights to the movie. I don't know why even the restoration is an issue people discuss here. First of all there was no need for restoration since a 35 mm copy is aviable form the archives and such copy is made from a master copy. It's obvious to me that BFF was not aware of the whole issue. But on the other hand the deadline for submitting films is early september (I think). So there was over 2 months period to screen the movies and do the legwork. IMO BFF dropped the ball and now they are even not willing to admit about the whole issue. Being anaware of the situation doesn't release a person or an organization from the liability. It is a big deal, since BFF infriges on someone's copy rights and are not even trying to sweap the whole matter under a rug

i don't think they use a counterfit copies to show during film festival screenings.

oh yeah, now we should start making black market copies of american movies and show them in poland too - would be cheaper for us too oh yeah btw i have the last copy of "masters of stone"- i bet i can "restore" it and show it in krakow during the film festival and receive the prize,!!! you are missing the point.

"So what is the "grand prize"? Is it a monetary award or a plaque or trophy or something?" as far as i know the prize was somewhere in 4 000 CAN neighbourhood "How does the amount claimed to have been put toward "saving" it have any bearing on anything unless he was compensated for that expense? Perhaps the film was put through a serious restoration where an original copy was cleaned/restored frame by frame to yield a higher quality than the cheap ones currently available?" The copies aviable from Polish archives are made of the master copy and are aviable in 35 mm (it's the size of films hown in theaters). As far as director of the film is concerned there was no need to restore anything at this point. This film was made on b/w negative and was also shown in black and white in Banff. "Where is the copyright infringement?" the fim was shown without Mr Surdel's conscent or knowledge. Mr Bertulis claimed Mr Surdel is dead. "Is the BMFF selling copies of the film now? Other than holding a screening(s) of the film, how specifically is there a copyright issue?" do not know this either. but BMFF is charging admissions during thier screenings both in Bellingham and in Seattle. "Any particular reason why the producer Surdel never submitted the film himself? I mean he's had what, over thirty-five years/chances to submit it?" maybe he did not feel the need to do so. this film is 37 years old. it did receive several prizes, Trento included. Mr Surdel is retired at this point. the question is why should he submitt? i don't see how relevant this question is at all. "There are alot of questions." no the matter is simple- BFF did not do thier homework. they made a huge mistake and they are not issuing an apology.

share the prize???? now what in the hell did he do to deserve this? he had NOTHING to do with this movie at all. if he took upon himself on "restoring" this film too bad. and just because his copy needed restoration didn't mean the film needed restoration. as i wrote anyone can buy this film in a 35 mm version for about 800 USD and such copy is made directly from the master.

i don't think it's the intend of Mr. Surdel to sue anyone at this point. personally i think people from BFF are behaving like a bunch of angry teens, who's panties are all bunched up.

During the last Banff Film Festival the "grand prize" went to polish film by Jerzy Surdel "Odwrot" (Retreat). This film was done in 1967 in the Tatra Mountains. The copy of the film was submitted by Alex Bertulis of Seattle, who claims to spend roughly $10 000 for saving the last copy of the film. He also supposedly submitted this “unknown” film, as the director (Jerzy Surdel) was dead. This film won the main prize of the renowned festival and Alex Bertulis received the prize. This immediately raised stink in Polish climbing community for several reasons. For one Jerzy Surdel is not dead- he is alive and well and divides his time between Poland and Switzerland. Second “Odrwot” (Retreat) wasn’t so unknown, since it received one of the main prizes in Trento Film Festival in 1969. Since that time this film was shown during several more screenings throughout Europe. Even more surprising is the fact that Mr. Bertulis claims to spend large sum of money for saving one of the last copies of the film. This film can be purchased from Polish film archives in Warszawa for 2700 PLN (about 800 USD) for a copy in 35 mm version and for much less in 16 mm version and for about 60 USD for a DVD disc. Since this whole issue started representatives of Banff Film Festival were contacted by Jerzy Surdel and other members of the Polish climbing community. The response to put it mildly was rather meager. So far nobody issued any formal apology to Mr. Surdel for infringement of the copyrights, nor nobody compensated him for that matter. Also Mr. Bertulis did not comment on this whole issue either. Some of the people I talked to in the past few weeks and myself would like to find out what motivated him to take such course of action and why Banff Film Festival did not do their “due diligence” before this year’s show. I will try to update this story as it develops. P.S. Mr. Surdel was quite surprised when his email box was swamped with mail from people congratulating him the sucess of this film.

how about squamish?

if we stop by it would be most likely around 5-6, so we can make it to calgary for dinner. it's dark at 5, so most likely you'll be finishing up by 4 anyway, unless you want to walk in the dark

tell him to: 1. take a long walk on a short plank 2. start training 3.suck it up biatch many, many routes have a very long section between the bolts even in places like france. a space of 3-4 m between the bolts is a norm in most of the places i climbed in europe. typical example of over-bolting is new halem, where you clip the next bolt while the last one is at your waste. i also have mixed feelings about retro-bolting old lines, like some stuff at index, even though it was done by FA person (greg). in any case, that's just my opinion.

why so late? by then i'll be resting comfortably on a couch at rafal slawinski (calgary), watching "army of darkness" or episodes of lexx (space soft-porn). btw a lot of kannanaskis routeas are in. "Sans Bob"- it's a route in "first Blood" drainage, most to the left- marked as unclimbed. anyway- just a reminder- there is more to rockies then trophy wall and weeping wall. tatonka is in, so is buffalo's head- both high quality routes. trail is broken too. superbock is in, but thinner and so far very wet. guiness is thin, wet. this is a betta i had from locals. also don't forget about Protection Mountain- to the N. of castle mtn. high qulity mixed and long ice lines- 5 hrs approach though. and PLEASE- write which route you are going on on your rig (don't be an asshole).

rose and crown is the usual climber hang out.

Paul Hopkins 206.779.2997, that's who was working on me when i was in seattle area.

and besides, the leashless tools swing like crap compared to "real" tools. fact is, they're designed to optimize the hanging grip angle, not the swinging motion. that might be beneficial on a picked-out competition surface, and it's no problem when you're carefully placing tips into holds on dry-tool surfaces (in which situation it's a great advantage to NOT be attached to your tools - way more freedom of movement is possible), but it sucks on waterfall ice. horses for courses... cheers, don, i think ergos don't swing like shit. i did switch last year. they swing different, that's all. while "old style" tools like quark or cobra swing around your pinky, ergos you have to swing around your index finger, that's all. i found you have to be more careful with getting the tool handles dry and keeping your fingers warm. but after all i like my leashless much more now.

what's the tel no. i might want to chech the mix climbing boot.

i think i a phair price with leashes and extra hammer.

i think i a phair price with leashes and extra hammer.

you are just one dumb motherfucker.

not really. can't expect much from this ghanorea club. they are so fucking cool- NOT!

you guys are a bunch of stuck up assholes. and clueless too. as if interia.pl was not enough to see. so let me ask you something. how many fucking sets of cams are sitting unused in your closet? and how many belay devices, locking binners do you have. so let me tell you a few facts you stuck up bunch of fuckwads. the average salary in poland is something like 600pln- 1000 pln. 1 USD = about 3.3 pln. so you do the math. unempolyment at this moment is somewhere between 20 and 90%, dependent where you live. and the prices don't differ much to the one here. so Kubek is most likely some highschool kid or a student, who's parents struggle to put him through school, doesn't have much money. he also most likely tried climbing, found it rewarding and is trying his best to persue it. so what's wrong with that? my last visit a month ago i left my rope for a friend of my, a pair of shoes for another as well as my harness for some highschool kid. i am also donating some $$ for development of this new area, so people have a place to dry- tool. for most of you clueless fucks let me tell you this- you can't even fathom how lucky you are compared to a lot of places on this planet. a true compasionate bunch we have here. and most of you are calling me an asshole. well, just look in the mirror.. and to some climbing is as important as eating or sleeping- something you computer clownpunchers wouldn't know either. pretty lame if you ask me

yeah, rice was cosidered an soviet union expert in the 80's. yet really what it boils down, she doesn't have a clue about soviet union or eastern europe or russia. that shows i the current policy of this administration, who treat russia as liable partner. i mean wtf? i predict russia will be chasing terrorists from bajkal to spain.

hey robrob, rudy is right. you don't have a clue about me. so where do you think i spent 22 years of my life? club med?i lived in poland, i was jailed, bitten and my only choices were either to leave or rot in jail. so fuck you very much and excuse me if i get pissed of by a wanker like yourself, who never had to face a situation like that but voices his opinion on this subject matter. half of my family ended up in kazachstan in 1939 in a gulag, how about yours. so you showed up behind iron curtain, gave your money to support the government i hated and prosecuted me and somehow you imagine you have a moral authority to tell me why i should feel grateful? and btw i am licenced to practice in this state, so fuck off. and don't ask me for advice when you get injured