Then Comes the Evening wins Grand Prize in the 2020 Banff Mountain Film Competition

November 6, 2020 (Banff, AB) – The 45^th Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival is thrilled to announce Then Comes the Evening as the winner of the 2020 Grand Prize in the Banff Mountain Film Competition. The internationally renowned film competition recognizes the best in mountain culture and the spirit of adventure from around the world. In addition to the top honour, Then Comes the Evening filmmakers Maja Novaković and Milan Milosavljević also receive a $4,000 award sponsored by MEC.

“Transforming experiences and visuals from her childhood into a meditative experience, Maja Novaković's debut film ‘Then Comes the Evening’ is a thoughtful and artistic tribute to a way of life that is fast disappearing. Filmed in the village in Eastern Bosnia where she grew up, Maja is careful to not romanticise or glamourise or valorise the unceasing toil and mundane events in the daily lives of two ageing women on a farm. In painterly images, we are invited to contemplate seasons and their colours, the time of day, and the eventual decay of human existence. Congratulations to Maja and Milan!”  

- Reena Mohan on behalf of the 2020 Film Jury

Then Comes the Evening depicts the bittersweet life of two grannies living in isolation in the hills of Eastern Bosnia. Nature is the medium through with which grannies speak, listen, and show respect. The slow pace of this film reflects the simplicity and purity of their way of life and documents their painstaking work. 

This year an international film jury selected the film category award winners from a total of 373 films submitted from 36 countries. The 2020 film competition International  jury comprised of Claire Carter (UK), Bryan Cole (USA), Reena Mohan(IND), Bryan Smith (CAN), and Subina Shrestha (NEP).

The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival also celebrates the 2020 film award winners in the following categories:

Best Film: Climbing
$2000 – CLIF Bar & Co
The Wall of Shadows
(Poland, 2020, 94 mins)
Director: Eliza Kubarska
Producer: Monika Braid

Best Film: Mountain Culture
$2000 - Sponsored by Helly Hansen
Cholitas
(Spain, 2019, 80 mins)
Director: Pablo Iraburu, Jaime Murciego
Producer: Itziar García Zubiri

Best Film: Mountain Environment & Natural History
 $2000 – Sponsored by Kupilka
The Cull – Scotland’s Deer Dilemma
(United Kingdom, 2020, 58 mins)
Director: Ted Simpson
Producer: Finbar O’Sullivan

Best Film: Mountain Sports
$2000 – Sponsored by Storyblocks
Confessions of a Runner
(United States, 2020, 28 mins)
Director: Bachar Khattar
Producers: Jerome Gary, Denise Jabbour, Tim Rockwood, Bachar Khattar, Patrick Vaughan

Best Film: Exploration & Adventure
$2000 – Sponsored by Devold
Lost at Sea
(United Kingdom, 2019, 47 mins)
Director: Johnny Burke
Producer: Louis Bird

Best Film: Snow Sports
$2000 – Sponsored by Park Distillery
Metanoia
(Germany, 2020, 23 mins)
Director: Paul Schweller, Flo Gassner
Producers: Flo Gassner, Vali Werner-Tutschku

Best Film: Creative Excellence Award
$2000 – Sponsored by Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine
My Last Day of Summer
(United States, 2019, 8 mins)
Director and Producer: Kristina Wayte

Best Mountain Short
$2000 – Backcountry Lodges of BC Association
Voice Above Water
(United States, 2020, 11 mins)
Director: Dana Frankoff
Producer: Eric Ebner

Best Mountain Feature
$2000 – Sponsored by Oboz Footwear
Godspeed, Los Polacos!
(United States, 2020, 90 mins)
Director: Adam Nawrot
Producer: Sonia Szczesna

Grand Prize
$4000 – Sponsored by MEC
Then Comes the Evening
(Serbia, 2019, 27 mins)
Director: Maja Novaković
Producers: Milan Milosavljević, Maja Novaković

Special Jury Mentions
24 Leeches
(Canada, 2020, 10 mins)
Director and Producer: Aaron Peterson

Bear-Like (der Bär in mir)
(Switzerland, 2019, 91 mins)
Director and Producer: Roman Droux

All 2020 Film category winners will be available as an exclusive two-day only  Best of the Fest – Award Winning Film screenings available November 7 and 8 through the virtual Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. The 2020 Audience Choice Award sponsored by BUFF® will be announced on Tuesday, November 10.