Doors Open On The NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival This Friday
The countdown is on! This Friday, 20 June, the 23rd NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival kicks off in Wānaka, welcoming audiences to an exhilarating programme of award-winning films, world-class speakers, and remarkable adventures that will leave a lasting impact. The festival runs for five days in Wānaka (20–24 June) and two days in Queenstown (26–27 June), providing an opportunity to experience the best of outdoor storytelling on the big screen.
As well as enjoying great films, the festival is all about inspiring people to make their own adventures – big or small. For those who can't make it to Wānaka or Queenstown, or who simply prefer to experience adventure in their own time and from the comfort of their own couch, the Online Festival runs from 1–31 July. Festival Director Whitney Oliver hopes audiences will embrace both experiences.
'There's nothing quite like reconnecting with fellow adventure-lovers and sharing those edge-of-your-seat moments,' says Oliver. She continues: 'The atmosphere throughout the festival just buzzes, and the stoke is infectious. But for those who can't travel or take part in Wānaka or Queenstown, the Online Festival is the perfect way to avoid the FOMO and fill your adventure cup.'
While the Online Festival features all 64 exceptional films, the 11 speakers will present exclusively at the in-person event, providing audiences with rare insights into their experiences.
This year's speaker lineup is packed with bold voices and unforgettable stories. Headlining is legendary climber Beth Rodden (USA), whose pioneering ascents on El Capitan and remarkable survival of a hostage ordeal in Kyrgyzstan have cemented her place in climbing history. Her recent memoir, A Light Through the Cracks, has captivated audiences worldwide, and festivalgoers in Wānaka and Queenstown will have the opportunity to hear her speak in person.
Joining her are Kiwi adventurers Sam Smoothy and Nick Pascoe. Smoothy—freeride skiing legend turned ski mountaineer and filmmaker—will present his ambitious project XXIV, documenting his attempt to climb and ski all 24 of New Zealand's 3000m peaks. Expect raw honesty, tough terrain, and plenty of backcountry grit. Pascoe will share stories from his 2023 mission traversing from Mt Aspiring to the Tasman Sea—bush bashing through dense terrain with skis, boots, and a packraft in tow, before navigating glaciers and wild alpine rivers.
Rodden will also speak at a special free session for local high school students—part of the NZMFF Charitable Trust's long-standing effort to inspire the next generation of adventurers. This year, 180 students from Mt Aspiring College and 105 from Cromwell College, along with 20 local home schoolers will attend, with travel supported by the Trust. Families are also welcome at free one-hour film screenings in Wānaka and Lake Hāwea—an ideal introduction to the world of adventure storytelling.
The festival champions both adventure and environmental responsibility, encouraging attendees to support sustainability efforts. Audiences are urged to reduce waste, carpool, bike, or walk to venues, and bring a reusable cup for complimentary tea and coffee. Additionally, visitors can contribute to the 'buy a tree' initiative at the festival café, supporting local reforestation efforts through Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust. Digital tickets are encouraged to minimise paper waste.
The NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival promises an inspiring and unforgettable experience, celebrating exploration, storytelling, and the spirit of adventure.
Further information: https://mountainfilm.nz
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
15 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Adventures to unfold on big screen
Some of the best adventure films from across the globe will be shown in Queenstown next week. The annual NZ Mountain Film Festival, now in its 23rd year, this year received a record 294 entries — the final lineup features 64 award-winning and finalist films, including 18 by Kiwi film-makers. Being held at the Queenstown Memorial Centre next Thursday and Friday, the films will also be available to watch online from July 1 to 31. The Thursday session here, from 7pm, starts with a 'social session' before a conversation with Beth Rodden, regarded as one of the greatest rock climbers of all time, who's recently published a memoir, A Light Through the Cracks, from 7.30pm. Four films will then be shown including Trango, directed by Leo Hoorn (US), the grand prize winner this year. The film follows a team of ski mountaineers, including previous NZ Mountain Film Fest guest speaker Christina Lustenberg, of the US, who skied the first descent of the Great Trango Glacier in Pakistan, after a two-year attempt. Navigating risk, grappling with grief and facing physical danger, the team pushes the limits of human experiences, facing the unimaginable together. Other films on Thursday night are Body of a Line (Henna Taylor, US), solo award winner Far Enough (Julien Carot, France), and Alone Across Gola (Jude Kriwald, UK), the best film on adventurous sports and lifestyle. Another seven films will screen during Friday's 'Pure NZ' session, between 3pm and 6pm. They include the community spirit award-winner, Spirit of the West (Pedro Pimentel), which is set against New Zealand's West Coast and captures the spirit of the Old Ghost Ultra, All In or Nothing, directed by Gordon Duff, which won the best documentary award, and follows young athlete Matthew Fairbrother who's up against 120 riders with full support crews as he attempts to win the overall title at the NZ MTB Rally, on his own, and Waiatoto (Josh Morgan and Jasper Gibson), winner of the Hiddleston/MacQueen Award for best NZ-made film. It tells the story of a traverse across the Southern Alps through packraft, skis and tramping. Starting at the Matukituki, Gibson, Nick Pascoe and Charlie Murray travelled via Tititea, the Volta Glacier and the Waiatoto to the Tasman Sea. "We didn't set out to make a film," Pascoe says, "the focus was on a creative adventure through an incredible corner of the country, simply for the sake of it." Rounding out this year's festival is Friday night's 'Snow Show', from 7pm, which includes best snow sports film Painting the Mountains (Pierre Cadot, France), set in El Chalten, a remote Patagonian village beneath Fitz Roy, where three French skiers arrive to pioneer new lines. Tickets to Thursday's session cost $30 ($5 youth discount) and $25 for each of Friday's sessions, with youth discounts. For more info, or to buy tickets, see
Otago Daily Times
15 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Soundscapes of the Southern Lakes
Celebrated Kiwi pianist Michael Houstoun. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Some of New Zealand's most acclaimed chamber musicians are heading our way in October, to perform during the fifth At the World's Edge (AWE) Festival. Artistic director Benjamin Baker's brought together acclaimed pianist Michael Houstoun, cellist James Bush and composer in residence John Psathas, who'll be joined by a cast of international artists. This year's festival draws on the natural world as a source of creative inspiration — between October 4 and 12 there'll be seven curated performances across the district and a series of free events to highlight the many ways composers engage with nature. In Queenstown, AWE will be based at Te Atamira. "As a festival rooted in the landscapes of the Southern Lakes, we're constantly inspired by our surroundings," festival director Justine Cormack says. "It's a privilege to celebrate five years of extraordinary performances with artists and audiences who share our belief that music, like nature, can shift our perspective and stir something deeply personal." That theme's also guiding the AWE+ series of free public performances, workshops and talks, which include Queenstown-based architect Fred van Brandenburg, who'll share insights into biomimicry and design, and Olympic freeskier Jossi Wells on the parallels between performance, creativity and the alpine environment, while there'll also be a keyboard-focused programme with works for piano and harpsichord, and performances from Aussie harpsichordist Erin Helyard and Houstoun. AWE culminates in a tour of schools across the Southern Lakes between October 13 and 17. For more info, or to buy tickets, see
Otago Daily Times
15 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Epic films' special guest
A promotional image for Vincent Ward's Rain of the Children. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Whakatipu residents get a unique opportunity next week to see two iconic films by internationally-acclaimed Kiwi film-maker Vincent Ward — and then engage with him in Q&A sessions. Auckland-based Ward's Rain of the Children screens next Tuesday at Queenstown's Te Atamira at 6.30pm, then Vigil screens at Arrowtown's Dorothy Browns on Wednesday at 5.45pm. He's being brought to Queenstown by Milford Galleries, which next Saturday hosts the launch of his unique photography exhibition, 'Palimpsest', featuring photos of human bodies he's painted. Ward calls Rain of the Children, released in 2008, "sort of my favourite, because it's got such a personal connection to the people in it". It came 30 years after a documentary, In Spring One Plants Alone, about his experience living in the remote Urewera Ranges with an elderly Maori woman, Puhi, who was caring for her adult schizophrenic son, Niki. Rain of the Children sees Ward return to the area to explore who Puhi — played by Rena Owen — was. She'd been chosen, aged 12, by Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana — played by Temuera Morrison — to marry his son. At 14, with their baby, she escaped from the 1916 police raid on Rua's community, in which he was arrested. She subsequently had another 13 children — when Ward stayed with her, Niki was her last remaining. Radio New Zealand called the movie "one of the most moving films to come out of NZ cinema". Meanwhile, Vigil, released in 1984, was the first film by a New Zealand director to be officially selected 'in competition' at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation. It follows 11-year-old Toss, who navigates grief, isolation and change in a remote, primeval valley — it's said to be partly autobiographical as Ward grew up on a farm in the Wairarapa. He says it's "about an imaginative way of seeing the world — these kids that are a little bit isolated live in their own heads and come up with almost an alternative reality to try and understand what's going on". To celebrate Vigil's 40th anniversary last year, former child actor Fiona Kay, who played the central role — "and was compared by the Los Angeles Times to one of the great silent film stars" — was brought over for a screening at Wellington's Embassy Theatre, and the producer appeared for another. "And then Queenstown gets me," Ward quips.
