NZ Mountain Film Festival – More speakers than ever before.

NZ Mountain Film Festival – More speakers than ever before.

The NZ Mountain Film Festival will host a broad range of speakers this year. The festival is bringing Kiwi and international speakers to both Wanaka and Queenstown to celebrate adventurous filmmaking and to introduce mountain literature to the line up. Adventure is the common thread that is woven into the lives of each of the speakers. Each has a vastly different story to tell, yet at the heart of the stories, outdoor adventure is the commonality that has provided what each of them need in their lives; joy, solace, challenge, purpose, achievement and in many cases vocation. The festival is proud to host such a high calibre of speakers in this, the 14th NZ Mountain Film Festival.

The speakers include: Chris Davenport (Aspen, Colorado), one of the world’s most accomplished big mountain skiers, Craig Potton (Nelson NZ), New Zealand’s best-known landscape photographer, author and publisher, Brando Yelavich (Auckland, NZ), who completed the first full circumnavigation of the New Zealand coastline by walking, swimming, scrambling, rafting or climbing the 8,000km loop, Laurence Fearnley (Christchurch, NZ) an award-winning novelist and non-fiction writer, she has been awarded the NZ Post Fiction Award for her novel The Hut Builder, she researched New Zealand mountaineering writing for a PhD in Creative Writing and she is the author of Going Up is Easy, the story of Lydia Bradey becoming the first woman to climb Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen. One of New Zealand’s most highly respected mountaineers Steve Fortune (Queenstown, NZ) will talk about how he is fostering the growth and legacy of climbing in New Zealand and Nick Allen (Palmerston North, NZ) will speak about Mastering Mountains a charitable trust he has established to help tackle perceptions around multiple sclerosis and to fund and encourage individuals into the outdoors as a way to tackle the disease. This phenomenal range of speakers will accompany films from NZ and as well as some unlikely corners of the earth.

The film competition official closed and the judging panel is currently viewing 155 impressive films from all around the globe, the largest amount of submissions to date. The calibre and quantity of the NZ made entrants is higher than ever as Kiwi adventure filmmaking continues to flourish. Alongside the solid Kiwi contingent, films were received from the usual countries such as Canada, USA, Spain and Australia. However this year, high quality films have also been submitted from different origins such as Bulgaria, Greece, Ethiopia, Italy, India, Nepal, Sweden and Singapore. The programme, offering adventure storytelling with a unique international flavour, will be released on June 1st. General admission tickets will go on sale online on June 1st at mountainfilm.net.nz.

The NZ Mountain Film Festival Charitable Trust is offering a free Youth Programme for under 18 year olds in Wanaka and Queenstown. The show in Wanaka also offers free bus transport to town for Central Otago students; the half-day show includes an inspirational talk by Brando Yelavich and a set of films designed to inspire youth and promote adventure. Youth also have the chance to apply for a scholarship placement on the Adventure Writing School or the Adventure Film School. The festival offers educational workshops for beginners, aspirational authors and filmmakers, and those looking to fine tune their skills in either genre. The hands-on works shops are presented by author Laurence Fearnley and documentary maker Hugh Bernard.

The NZ Mountain Film Festival will run from the 1st to the 9th of July in Wanaka, Cromwell and Queenstown.

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