Competition

The Diversity is Stunning

65 Alpine stories to be screened at this year’s Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival

Great stories, thrilling images, authentic characters and an exciting competition – at the 20th Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, guests may once again look forward to the fascination of the mountains, to the creativity of filmmakers and their protagonists. At the various screening venues, the entire range of the “modern mountain film” genre can be admired on the big screen: classic documentaries as well as edgy short or feature films and gripping docudramas. Since the festival’s premiere exactly 20 years ago, the organising team has been striving to bring the world’s best and most interesting films to Lake Tegernsee – as well as the people behind the stories. The mountains can be narrated through an infinite number of facets. And always in surprisingly different ways.

This year, 165 productions from 28 countries were submitted and pre-screened. Of these, 40 were excluded – and 65 films included in the festival programme. A total of 125 films will remain in competition. The diversity is stunning: creations about landscapes, adventures, people and animals will feature. Films can be viewed at four indoor venues and – for the first time – also inside a large tent on Tegernsee’s Point peninsula. As exciting as the films is the question which productions might score prizes during the closing ceremony at Tegernsee’s festive Baroque Hall.

As always, the international jury will carefully consider all films so as to award prizes to the best. To facilitate the competition, organisers continue to stick to the tried and tested. “We are convinced that our submission categories are a good fit for the highly specific mountain film genre,” emphasises festival director Michael Pause. “We tried once to integrate an additional category with annually changing theme into the competition (e.g. portraits or reportages), but then did not pursue this idea further.” In addition to the main prizes awarded in the three categories Mountain Experience, Mountain Nature and Mountain Life, further prizes allow the jury to add individual emphasis and highlight special achievements (Most Outstanding Camera Work, Exceptional Film, Junior Filmmaker and Special Mentions). This year’s winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony on 21 October. One thing is certain: every category already has its favourites, and each submission inspires the film-hungry community in its own special way.