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.

Photo credit: Banff National Park, Paul Zizka

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
Best Feature Film: $3,000 – Over 70 minutes in length
Creative Excellence: $3,000 – 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 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.
• All prize amounts listed in Canadian dollars

Winners will be announced during the film awards ceremony in Banff on Sunday, November 9th, 2025. The jury reserves the right to not present an award, and its decisions will be final.

The competition closes at 11:59pm (PDT) on August 6th 2025. Before entering, please ensure you read the Rules and Terms in their entirety.

By submitting a film through FilmFreeway to Banff Centre the individual or entity submitting the film (the “Entrant”) hereby grants Banff Centre the right and license to use the film as outlined in these Rules and Terms and further agrees to comply with these Rules and Terms:

1. Completed films need to be uploaded at the time of entry. We do not accept rough cuts, trailers or unfinished projects and are unable to consider new versions of films once they’re entered. If you wish to apply for a late entry past the submission deadline, refer to the late entry application process in the section below.

2. Films produced in the year 2023, 2024, and 2025 are eligible for competition.

3. If English is not the original language of the film, it MUST be entered into competition with English subtitles, or be dubbed in English. Please familiarize yourself with industry standards for subtitling, as this directly affects the selection committee’s viewing experience.

4. Any film submitted must fit the criteria of one or more of the subject-based categories. Banff Centre reserves the right to make the final decision on the category of any film entered.

5. The same film may only be entered once in the Mountain Film Competition. A new edit of a film submitted in a previous year may considered if there is a minimum 30% variance in length. If feedback on your project has been provided by Banff Centre, it is not eligible for re-submission at any length.

6. All entries will be viewed prior to the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival by a pre-selection committee chaired by the Director, Mountain Culture. Finalists chosen by this committee will be screened by an international jury and viewed by the public at the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival.

7. Films that include current Banff Centre staff as significant contributors to the film (as producers or directors) are not eligible for consideration and should not be submitted.

8. All finalists will allow Banff Centre to screen the film live during the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, at multiple locations, from November 1 through 9, 2025, and to stream online in Canada and the United States of America following the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival from November 12 through 23, 2025.

9. Film finalists agree to enter into a licensing agreement with Banff Centre regarding film screening and online streaming.

10. The Entrant acknowledges and agrees that all matters will be decided by Banff Centre and/or the jury at its sole discretion.

LATE ENTRY INTO THE COMPETITION
We usually cannot accept late film entries into competition due to the timing of our programming logistics. However, if the final version of your film will be completed by August 25, 2025, you may apply for a late entry, and we will consider your application. To request details and an application form, please email banffmountainfilms@banffcentre.ca. Enquiries made after August 6 2025 will not be considered.

In the meantime, do not enter unfinished films, rough cuts or trailers into competition.

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. All films require a full stereo audio mix. 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: Banff Centre 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 with a thick black outline or 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 Centre. Details of requirements will be sent to film finalists.

INDEMNITY
The Entrant agrees to indemnify Banff Centre and it's successors, assigns, licensees, and officers, directors, members, agents and employees and hold them harmless from and against any and all claims, liability, losses, damages, costs, expenses (including reasonable legal fees) and penalties arising out of, resulting from, based upon or incurred because of a breach by the Entrant of any statement, representation or warranty made by the Entrant in this entry form.

GRANT OF RIGHTS AND WAIVER
By entering the film competition, the Entrant represents and warrants that:
(a) The Entrant owns all right title and interest, including the copyright and all intellectual property rights, in and to the film being submitted to the Banff Mountain Film Competition or, if applicable, has received all necessary rights, licenses and permissions from the owner of the film to submit the film to the Banff Mountain Film Competition.
(b) All music licenses including, without limitation, all synchronization, mechanical and master use licenses, as applicable, have been obtained and all required payments to all artists and to any applicable performing rights organization (such as SOCAN and BMI) have been made that are required for the public performance of the music incorporated in the film.
(c) No material in the film being submitted by the Entrant to the Banff Mountain Film Competition is libelous or is slanderous or defamatory or violates any right of privacy or publicity of any person, and the full use of the rights in such film will not violate any rights, including copyright or moral rights, of any person, firm or corporation.
(d) By entering the Mountain Film Competition, the entrant acknowledges and agrees to all entry Rules and Terms.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • laurence billiet

    We were honoured that our film THE GIANTS was awarded a prize at Banff Film Festival. We really recommend this festival to filmmakers -super well organised, great and friendly communications, in a stunning setting. Buzzy atmosphere, good social events and lots of inspiring films and books... Make sure you allow yourself some time to explore Banff and the surroundings – this is a truly wondrous location! Thank you for having us. :)

    March 2025
  • Katie Tannenbaum

    Well organized event with so much going on! Amazing staff, great networking opportunities, all in a beautiful location. A positive experience from beginning to end.

    November 2024
  • Stephanie Boyd

    I highly recommend this festival to all filmmakers. The venues are great and the public is enthusiastic and all screenings were well-attended. There were a lot of fun events for filmmakers to meet and network and the Banff center is an incredible place to be with stunning views of the mountains. I felt thoroughly spoiled - it was like going to a spa resort and film festival at the same time.

    November 2024
  • The Banff festival is revered for its programming and the people it draws into its gravity. I met so many incredible people from all over the world and was able to glean insights into the inner workings of how to grow as an adventure film maker. Thank you so much including “Jamrock” in the programming and being a guiding light for adventure filmmakers everywhere.

    November 2024
  • Gabriele Canu

    This festival is amazing. One of the most beautiful location for a mountain festival, many other filmmakers to meet and discuss with, great communications, lovely people. I also had a special jury mention for my film. Should I say anything more?

    November 2024