Banff Mountain Film + Book Festival

About

The Festival offers you the chance to meet other filmmakers and exchange ideas and collaborate in a relaxed atmosphere. It’s also a great opportunity to connect with leaders in the outdoor adventure world including climbers, mountaineers, gear manufacturers, and journalists. Festival finalists are invited to join us in Banff during Festival week. 

Festival topics are:

• Exploration and Adventure. Films that depict adventure or exploration and portray the ‘spirit of adventure’. Films can feature any outdoor pursuit and could be less ‘mountain’ than other categories such as cycling across North America, kayaking across an ocean, etc.
• Mountain Culture. Any film on mountain culture or ethnology. Films should focus on human culture as in social structure, language, religion, etc. in mountain regions.
• Climbing. Any film on the subject of climbing. Climbing can include mountaineering, alpine climbing, traditional climbing, sport climbing, ice climbing, bouldering and any combination thereof
• Mountain Sports. Films featuring any mountain sport except climbing and snow sports. Sports include mountain biking, kayaking, BASE jumping, paragliding, etc.
• Snow Sports. Films featuring any mountain snow sport such as skiing, snowboarding, ski touring, etc

• Mountain Environment & Natural History. Any film that features or pertains to the mountain environment, specifically related to flora, fauna, or geology. These films must have an overriding theme of environment, although they may also be issue related and could contain cultural aspects.

Awards

Grand Prize $4,000CAD cash prize.

$2,000CAD cash prize for each of the following:

• Best Film on Climbing,
• Best Film on Mountain Sports,
• Best Film on Mountain Culture,
• Best Film on Snow Sports,
• Best Film on Exploration and Adventure,
• Best Film on Mountain Environment and Natural History.

All other Awards; $2,000 CAD:

• Best Short Mountain Film (20 minutes or less),
• Best Feature-length Mountain Film (70 minutes or more),
• The Creative Excellence Award,
• People’s Choice Award

Rules

• Films produced prior to the year 2021 will not be eligible for competition;
• Entriescan be of any duration – in either narrative,story, animated or experimental-art form– and can be submitted by professional or amateur filmmakers.

Documents and required items:

• For initial entry to the Film Competition, filmmakers are required to submit their film via FilmFreeway.

Subtitles language: English

Premiere Requirements

No premiere requirement

Jury and Organizers

Deb Smythe — festival director