This past Sunday, Golmud became swarmed with hundreds of documentary submissions as part of the 2014 Qinghai World Mountain Documentary Festival.

Now in its fourth year, the Qinghai World Mountain Documentary Festival was designed to help both filmmakers and audiences become aware of the isolated and often threatened communities that are currently scattered throughout the high-altitude mountains.

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Running every other year since 2008, the World Mountain Documentary Festival has been regarded as a major international documentary film festival for hopeful storytellers.

Centered atop the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the festival received an astounding total of 551 documentaries, all of which have been divided up into several categories based on each film's genre. As of now, the films have been grouped into the sections of anthropology, society, and nature.

However, the documentary filmmakers themselves are not all native residents of China. In fact, there are several filmmakers who participated who are not even from Asia. Many of them are visiting from countries like Israel, Brazil, and the Czech Republic for the sole purpose of the film festival.

Frank Van is one such participant. Traveling all the way from the Netherlands, Van was a keynote speaker at the festival and enlightened audiences about the very center of his own film's plot-the remote Golmud mountain region.

Van addressed the audience by speaking of his own experience filming in the region and his hope for the festival to make viewers appreciate and discuss the culture surrounding the mountainous terrain.

Yet Van was not alone during his inspiring filmmaking experience among the isolated Qinghai scenery; each participating filmmaker had created their masterpieces in the mountains.

While each of the film categories produced many memorable storylines, there was--as always--one particularly emotional project in the society category that received much attention from both the audience and from the official judging committee.

The film, "Village Diary", addresses the hardships that many Qinghai farmers have to face throughout their daily lives. Though the documentary only takes place over the course of a year, many audience members were drawn to the profound emotions and the positive, undying faith that the farmers experience.

In fact, "Village Diary"--written by a native of China--is up for Best Long Documentary.  

However, there are several other opportunities for filmmakers to gain recognition at the festival. This coming Tuesday, 21 awards will be presented to 19 other filmmakers. Several of these award-winners-to-be will be in for a treat, as many of them have traveled thousands of miles to share their own stories, raise awareness, and emotionally touch audiences.

TagsQinghai World Mountain Documentary Festival, Qinghai, Golmud, Israel, Czech Republic, Frank Van, The Netherlands, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Documentary, Filmmaker, Best Long Documentary