The 2025 Banff Mountain Film Competition is now open!
The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival is a programming-driven, competitive event bringing the best films and books on mountains and the spirit of adventure from around the world to the mountain town of Banff, Alberta. The Festival provides an opportunity for filmmakers and writers to meet and exchange ideas.
Submissions are open until 11:59pm (PDT) on August 6th, 2025.
Questions?
For full information on the film competition visit our FilmFreeway page.
To talk to us, contact the Banff Mountain Film Competition at 403.762.6441 or banffmountainfilms@banffcentre.ca.
How to Enter Your Film
The 2025 Banff Mountain Film Competition is now open for submissions until 11:59pm (PDT) on August 6th, 2025.
For full information on the film competition visit our FilmFreeway page.
Why Enter Banff?
A World-Class Reputation
After 49 years, the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival has a proven track record as one of the most prestigious and largest mountain culture festivals in the world. Located in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Festival is a programming-driven, competitive event bringing together the best films and books on mountains and the spirit of adventure from around the world. In 2025, we celebrate 50 years of festival magic.
An Opportunity to Network
The festival in Banff offers you the chance to meet other filmmakers and industry professionals to exchange ideas and collaborate in a highly creative and inspiring atmosphere. It’s also a great opportunity to connect with leaders in the outdoor adventure field, including climbers, mountaineers, gear manufacturers, potential sponsors, and journalists.
Film finalists are invited to join us at the Festival and as special guests, you will receive:
- An opportunity to introduce your film on stage and represent your film
- Access to our guest-only screening theatre
- Invitations to networking and social events
- One hotel room for three nights during the festival
World Tour
Films entered into competition will also be considered for inclusion in our World Tour programs that reach a global audience of over half a million people through screenings in over 45 countries. Short films are particularly popular for the programming flexibility they provide so if you are submitting a longer film, you may wish to also enter a shorter version in competition for both Festival and World Tour consideration (World Tour programs are typically 2 hours long and contain 5-9 mixed films). If your film is selected for the World Tour, our team will contact you to arrange a separate licensing agreement.
Awards & Prizes
Grand Prize: $5,000
Best Film, Adventure: $3,000
Best Film, Climbing: $3,000
Best Film, Environment: $3,000
Best Film, Mountain Culture: $3,000
Best Film, Mountain Sports: $3,000
Best Film, Snow Sports: $3,000
Best Short Film: $3,000 - Under 20 minutes in length (including credits)
Best Feature Film: $3,000 - Over 70 minutes in length (including credits)
Creative Excellence: $3,000 - Awarded for showcasing creativity and the arts in exploring the spirit of adventure
Audience Choice Award: $3,000 - Chosen by the Festival audience in Banff
- Entries are not limited to one award.
- Awards may be presented to the director or the producer of the film.
- In the spirit of being a true Audience Choice award, votes are cast by virtual and in person festival ticket holders only. If person(s) in connection to your film are found to be sharing information on how to vote (via social media or otherwise), your film will be disqualified from receiving this award.
- Prize amounts listed are in Canadian dollars.
Winners will be announced during the film awards ceremony on Sunday, November 9th, 2025. The jury reserves the right to not present an award, and its decisions will be final.
Technical Requirements
Finalist Masters:
If your film is selected as a finalist, you will be required to provide a high resolution master via Signiant Media Shuttle. We accept finalist masters as either Avid DNxHD or Apple ProRes 422 codecs at 1920x1080p in a .mov or .mxf wrapper and our preference is to use the 10bit codecs (example: ProRes 422 (HQ) or Avid DNxHD HQX). We do not accept 4K files or DCP content. We request finalists to submit their master film with the frame rate that it was edited in, to a maximum of 30 frames per second. Audio should be uncompressed PCM, .wav or .aif at 24bit, 48kHz. If you’re also including 5.1 surround tracks, in addition to the stereo full mix, please include a track listing. If your film is not in English, the master MUST have burned-in English subtitles or be dubbed in English. Finalists will be contacted by the festival with instructions on how to upload.
Note: The Festival Producer will have the option to conform the content to broadcast-quality standardization or, alternatively, to charge a fee (in consultation with entrant) for Banff Centre in-house corrections in the event of substandard submission.
Accessibility:
If applicable, thoroughly check subtitles for quality (translation and typos) and readability. We recommend a sans-serif font using white text on a black background, and make sure the font size is accessible.
If selected as a finalist, we will ask for a SDH caption file (SRT), which are subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing. While not required, we strongly encourage you to include accessibility pieces as standard for your post-production and have them ready to provide festivals.
Promotional Materials:
If your film is selected as a finalist, you will be asked to provide a variety of formats and sizes of images from the film to be reproduced, published and/or exhibited for promotional purposes as they pertain to the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, World Tour, and the associated Mountain Film Competition at the Banff. Details of requirements will be sent to film finalists.
2025 Film Competition Jury
Ava Karvonen
A thirty-five-year industry veteran, Ava’s work has seen more than 160 worldwide screenings and received more than 70 awards. She is a second-generation filmmaker who began her career working on wildlife films with her father. Her work as a director includes Lessons From the Sunflower, the cross Canada CBC special Keeping Canada Alive; Homefront for Global; The Lie Detective; Seeds of Change: The Eco Story; seasons one and two of the APTN series Chaos and Courage; and Albert Karvonen: Philosophies on Life, Nature and Wildlife Filmmaking. Her works, Finding Bobbi, Wochiigii lo: End of the Peace have received critical acclaim.
Ben Sturgulewski
Ben ‘Sturge’ Sturgulewski grew up on a rugged and remote island in Alaska’s Aleutian Chain, inspiring a life dedicated to the exploration of the world’s wild side and the people who call it home. Ben has created a portfolio of award-winning short films that have appeared in festivals around the globe, taking home dozens of awards for cinematography, editing, creativity, and storytelling — as well as overall Grand Prizes and Audience Awards. He has directed, filmed and edited acclaimed content for clients such as Patagonia, Arc’teryx, YETI, Rivian, NFL Films, and Red Bull. Ben has produced a library of Vimeo Staff Picks, and his ski film Valhalla was recently named "The Greatest Ski Film of All Time" by Outside magazine. His collaborations with brands, agencies, production houses, and passion projects continue to take him on new and unexpected adventures around the world. Champions of the Golden Valley, his first feature documentary, follows a ski team in Afghanistan both before and after the collapse of the country. The film had its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in 2024, and screened at dozens of renowned film festivals worldwide, amassing over 20 jury and audience awards. When not on the move, Ben splits his time between the mountains of Anchorage, Alaska, and Boulder, Colorado.
Dina Mufti
Dina Mufti is an award-winning Director, Producer, and Film Curator working at the intersection of traditional and XR storytelling. Specialising in cross-cultural narratives, she brings together diverse worldviews to create powerful, globally resonant films and experiences.
From the wilds of Mongolia to the High Himalayas, Dina has produced acclaimed documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic / Disney, Netflix, Red Bull, and SKY. She’s also an award-nominated audio producer and recipient of the BBC Director General’s Award for Creativity.
Dina has served on the jury of the Grierson Documentary Awards, The Royal Television Society, and the Kathmandu and Kendal International Mountain Film Festivals. Ten years since her last visit to Banff, she’s delighted to return as a jury member and connect with the new wave of bold outdoor innovators and storytellers.
Sébastien Montaz-Rosset
Sébastien Montaz-Rosset is an award-winning filmmaker and certified high mountain guide with over 20 years of experience across the most demanding alpine environments. With unique dual expertise in extreme sports and cinematic storytelling, he has directed and produced more than twenty expedition films and documentaries featured on global platforms such as Netflix and Disney+. A pioneer in immersive mountain cinematography, Sébastien explores the raw, emotional, and technical extremes of outdoor pursuits, often working alongside elite athletes in unforgiving terrain. His instinctive approach to filmmaking brings viewers directly into the action, combining visceral imagery with modern narrative techniques. Over the last five years, Sébastien has increasingly focused on biodiversity and the protection of fragile ecosystems, creating films with his creative and life partner Davina Montaz-Rosset through their production company, Montaz-Rosset Studio
Shrestha, Subina
Subina Shrestha is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker with over 20 years of experience reporting from some of South Asia’s most challenging landscapes. Her immersive storytelling—centered on resilience, justice, and community—has catalyzed policy reform and amplified the voices of marginalized groups. Subina’s work bridges investigative journalism and cinematic documentary, sparking global conversations on human rights, conflict, and inclusion. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, a Global Media Makers Fellow at Film Independent, and an Ochberg Fellow at Columbia University’s Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.
Film Competition Sponsors:
