Adventure film & book fest prepares for 2024
The dates for the 2024 NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival have been released and filmmakers and writers are invited to enter their work in the annual mountain film and book competitions.
The popular seven-day event will run in Wānaka from 21-25 June and in Queenstown from 27-28 June. Audiences throughout New Zealand and Australia will also be able to watch the festival films online from 1-31 July.
With the 2023 event attracting a record number of festivalgoers and many of the sessions selling out, Festival Director and co-founder Mark Sedon is hopeful that this year’s edition will prove just as popular.
“If you’re keen to share your story with a super-engaged audience, here’s your chance,” Sedon says.
Now in its 22nd year, the event has garnered a reputation for attracting world-class films as well as providing a stepping stone for up-and-coming creatives from throughout Aoterora New Zealand as well as overseas.
Some $9000 of prize money is awarded across a range of categories with the grand-prize-winning film and the Best NZ-made film each eligible for $2500 and the Mountain Book of the Year $2000.
The festival theme is adventurous sports and lifestyle but competition entrants are invited to add their own creative spin, so long as there is a link with adventurous sports or people, the world’s mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans or skies provide the stage, or there is a cultural or environmental theme. The final programme – to be released in May – will be made up of competition winners and finalists.
For those who aren’t able to attend in person, the online film festival is a popular option. Whereas in previous years the films have opened online at the same time as the live festival, this year, the online festival won’t begin until 1 July, after the Wānaka and Queenstown shows have closed.
“We still want to encourage people to come to the event if they are able to,” Sedon says. “We’re a community-focused event and bringing people together to share their adventures is what we love doing.
“However, we know people are busy and might not have time to join a whole session; the online option means they can watch when it works for them and enjoy the films at their own pace. They can also go back and rewatch something they’ve really enjoyed and recommend it to other people.
“It’s also great for festival fans further afield, throughout New Zealand and Australia, although we’d definitely encourage you to visit us in Wānaka and Queenstown someday if you can. Our films will inspire you to come to the mountains!”
Authors have until 30 March to submit entries for the NZ Mountain Book competition while the deadline for the Film competition is 20 April.
Find out more at mountainfilm.nz
