The City of Tegernsee – in collaboration with the German Alpine Club (Deutscher Alpenverein), Bavarian Public Broadcasting (Bayerischer Rundfunk) and Tegernsee Valley Tourism (Tegernseer Tal Tourismus GmbH) – presents the
22nd Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival from October 15th to 19th 2025
1. Entries to the competition (feature films, documentaries, features, short films, reportages, portraits, educational films) can be submitted in the following three categories, whose content criteria are as follows:
1.1. Mountain Experience – Alpinism, Mountain Sports, Adventure
Central to these films is a sportive encounter with the mountains – the depiction of achievements and personalities from the various disciplines of mountain sports.
1.2. Mountain Nature – Landscape and Environment
Submissions in this category include all aspects of natural mountain environments – their unique landscapes as well as environmental preservation, protection and sustainable development.
1.3. Mountain Life – Culture, Science and Society
Films in this category approach encounters between people and mountains from an ethnological and cultural angle; they emphasize the valence of the mountains as a symbol and reveal people, history, society and environment in their special relationship to them.
Productions completed before 2022 will not be accepted into the competition.
2. For registration use our registration form or the multi-submission form on the website of the Int. Alliance for Mountain Film www.mountainfilmalliance.org/submissions
All entries must include: a brief plot summary, a short biography and filmography of the director (including their age, if the film is to be considered for the junior film maker category!) and a choice of three pics (minimum size 3 MB) for free-of-charge use in the festival programme, in other festival publications and for the press coverage of festival activities. Publication of these pictures is at the discretion of the festival organisers. All textual contents submitted with an entry must be in German or English.
3. To be accepted into the competition, films must be submitted in one of the following formats: AVCHD – specifications 1280×720; 1440×1080 or 1920×1080 / mp4 / .mov (H.264). All files must be created in a Microsoft Windows-compatible data format (NTFS, exFAT)!
We request digital transmission of films with prior registration
by email to the festival office bergfilm@tegernsee.de.
An access code enables the film to be uploaded.
If digital transmission is not possible, the following data carriers will be accepted for pre-selection and festival screening:
data DVD – Blu Ray – USB stick – external hard drive (HDD/Windows data format) – SD cards.
Data carriers can be delivered in person or by mail at the following address: Internationales Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, c/o Stadt Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, D-83684 Tegernsee, Germany.
Maximal data carrier size: 20 GB
It is the submitter’s responsibility to produce a valid version of their film for festival screening.
4. Submitted data carriers must only contain the video registered for the competition. Only flawless copies of a high technical standard are accepted for competition. Entries must contain a complete original version, must not display promotional identifiers or trademarks (e.g. of broadcasting stations or sponsors), and must include a lead text and credits.
5. The selection committee’s decision regarding admission of a film to the competition is final. The submitters will be informed by the festival office.
6. The Festival Director and his team determine the selection criteria and screening sequence for films running in the festival.
7. An international jury evaluates the films admitted for competition and may award the following prizes:
7.1. Great Prize of the City of Tegernsee for the best film across the three categories 2.1. – 2.3. (€ 3,000)
7.2. Prize by the German Alpine Club for the best film in the category Mountain Experience (€ 1,000)
7.3. Prize for the best film in the category Mountain Nature (€ 1,000)
7.4 Prize for the best film in the category Mountain Life awarded by Tegernseer Energie Gesellschaft mbH & Co KG (€ 1,000)
7.5. Otto-Guggenbichler-Prize for the best entry by a Junior Film Maker. By the end of the film’s production period, the author/director must not be older than 32 years. (€1,000)
7.6. Special Prizes for the Most Outstanding Camera Work (€ 1,000) and Award for the Exceptional Film (€ 1,000)
A prize will only be awarded if at least three films were submitted to its respective category.
At its own discretion, the jury reserves the option of refraining from awarding a certain prize or of dividing a prize between two nominees.
The jury may also honourably mention submissions of special value.
8. Audience Voting
8.1. The Bayern2 Audience Prize goes to the film voted most liked by the audience. (€1,000)
8.2. Voting also occurs during school class screenings, and the festival awards the Mountain Film Festival Mini Prize to the best childrens or young adult film. (€ 500)
9. Non-German-language entries are welcome and may be submitted in the original language, but ideally with German subtitles. All such films must be submitted with a German and English script (preferably with time codes – “in and out”) to enable the production of German subtitles. In this case, a clean feed copy must be available on request.
10. By submitting a film into the competition, the entrant consents to the film being screened free of charge at the festival. Should the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival be interested in screening a film at another event, independently from the festival week, separate licensing agreements will be made with the submitter.
11. All participants in the festival competition consent to free-of-charge broadcasting of one or several excerpts from their film (no more than 5 minutes in total) on German television and on the homepage and social media sites of the festival and its affiliated organisations for reporting news on festival activities.
12. The organisers guarantee the greatest possible care when handling entries to the festival. However, they assume no liability for damage to films either during shipment or in Tegernsee.
13. The submitter of a film guarantees that all submitted image and sound material is his/her property or that he/she owns the rights to use this material. German copyright and data protection regulations apply.
14. The festival will cover two days’ local expenses (accommodation and breakfast) for one representative of every film running in the festival. Attendees are expected to cover their own travel expenses.
15. To apply for entry into the competition please use the enclosed form or do so online at www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de or www.mountainfilmalliance.org/submissions.
Submission of an entry entails acceptance of all regulations included in this call for entries. In the event of disagreement arising from the conditions here stated, the German version and German law shall be applicable.
16. Unless an entrant has received a written deadline extension from the festival organisers, all entries must reach the festival committee by
May 15th 2025
Once submitted, films cannot be withdrawn from screening during the festival.
17. The entrant assumes the postage fees for shipping. The festival covers the return postage.