Film Award Winners

GRAND PRIZE

Torn

Director: Max Lowe

In a profoundly intimate look at the Lowe-Anker family, filmmaker and Alex Lowe's son Max captures their intense personal journey toward understanding Alex as a man, not a myth and the emotionally and physically harrowing trek to Shishapangma, where they will finally put him to rest.

People's Choice Award

A Woman's Place

Director: Menna Wakeford

A conversation with The Pinnacle Club - celebrating 100 years of women's climbing in Britain.

Best Climbing

They/Them

Director: Blake McCord & Justin Clifton

The story of Patagonia Ambassador Lor Sabourin, examining the importance of identity and inclusion in the climbing community.

Best Mountain

The Alpinist

Director: Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen

An intimate documentary of a visionary climber who followed the path of his own passion, despite the possible consequences.

Best Adventure & Exploration

After Antarctica

Director: Tasha Van Zandt

The film follows the life of one of National Geographic's most celebrated polar explorers - Will Steger. A perfect blend of footage from a major landmark polar expedition in 1989/90 and a recent trip to the Arctic - the documentary offers the chance to witness the greatest changes in the polar regions of our planet whilst at the same time conveying an individual's life story and passion for the environment.

Best Short

Totally Alone

Directors: Rufus Exton & Steve Bliss

A story of mental resilience that touches on the healing power of nature and solitude, coupled with our human need for connection in a time of separation and loss. It is an inspiring tale that will speak to anyone whose mental fitness has suffered during the pandemic.

Best Creative

Freedom Swimmer

Director: Olivia Martin-McGuire

When there is no choice left. A father's story of his perilous swim from China to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution.

Best Environmental

EVE

Directors: Joya Berrow & Lucy Jane

An intimate story of a 9-year-old girl, living in one of the oldest off-grid communities in the UK, following her journey returning to school and becoming a young climate activist. Her story encapsulates the human complexity of navigating the environmental crisis.

Best Community & Culture

The Last English Poacher

Directors: Emma Crome, Peter Emery

Brian Tovey lives in a rural village in England where he continues the poaching tradition handed down to him by his father and grandfather. He takes us on his illicit hunts, telling us how they will continue on at the risk of imprisonment. This is an elegy to England's lesser know rural history.

Best Sport

Stormskater

Director: Guen Murroni

Meet Stormskater, a London based roller-skater who started skating by picking up tips and techniques from other skaters in different spots in the city. She gives us insight into the increasingly popular sport, its community, appropriation, ownership, authenticity and the fundamental need for space.

Judges Special Prize

Horse Tamer

Director: Hamid Sardar

In the Darhat valley in northern Mongolia, the horses of nomadic tribes are disappearing. Bandits steal horse from their owners.

Change Maker Award

Soul Deep

Director: Dominic Gill

Soul Deep is a look inside a burgeoning rock climbing movement of inner-city African Americans taking up the sport and making it their own.

YETI COMMUNITY AWARD

The Art Of Not Breathing

Mari Huws

The Mountain People Film Grant

Kendal Mountain Festival and outdoor brand Rab has awarded The Mountain People Film Grant to the proposed film project, Radical Trails.

The filmmakers behind this proposal, Jaha Browne and Olivia Martin McGuire, aim to show the British outdoor landscape through a different lens in an intimate, character-driven portrait of inspiring black females in the outdoors.

© Kendal Mountain Festival 2023
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