This year's International Alpine Film Festival in Les Diablerets (September 22 to 30) is focusing on man in the mountain environment, from the daring exploits of alpinists to the struggle to survive.

The nearly 40 films being screened at the alpine resort in canton Vaud take audiences to the world's great ranges such as the Alps and the Andes and to lesser-known mountain regions in Africa and Asia.

The Russian film, "Surmounting" is a harrowing account of an ascent by Russian and Georgian climbers of the main Lhotse peak in the Himalayas. The film shows how the team escapes avalanches and other perils on their way to conquest.

"Les Femmes Bergers" portrays the women in a valley in the Pyrénées who have taken charge of the traditional agriculture since most local men gave up farming.

An Italian-Swiss co-production, "Pilgrims-Croagh Patrick, Montagna Sacra D'Irlanda", follows the annual pilgrimage to the summit of Ireland's Croagh Patrick, Europe's only sacred mountain.

An evening of screenings costs SFr15 ($9). A festival pass is SFr90.

Les Diablerets is the jumping off point for a spectacular cable car ride up to icy slopes at 3,000 metres above sea level. The resort offers summer and autumn skiing and hiking on the glacier, making it one of the few places in Switzerland where winter is celebrated year round.

swissinfo