All Festival Films 2026

“100 Solleder Lettenbauer” is a documentary about the legendary first ascent of the northwest face of Monte Civetta, located in the Dolomites, by Munich climbers Emil Solleder and Gustav Lettenbauer in 1925. The film explores the historical importance of the route, which is considered a milestone in mountaineering and one of the first Alpine routes at Grade VI difficulty. The film draws partly on archive material. It also features present-day climbers, who explain the history of the wall and how climbing there has developed up to the present day.

For many years, a single railway line was the only link across Canada – a narrow ribbon of steel through vast and rugged mountain country. In 1910, tragedy struck: 58 railway workers from Europe and Japan were killed while clearing avalanche debris from the tracks. In the middle of the night, a second avalanche swept down on them. The documentary follows two unlikely friends brought together by the disaster: a businessman from the city and a ski guide from the mountains. Both are searching for meaning and healing, and both are determined to uncover the secrets and injustices that still surround the tragedy.

Over more than 2,000 days, the film follows the Lapied family – father, mother and daughter – as they search for the elusive creatures of the mountains. For 18 years, the family have been observing the wildlife of the Gran Paradiso massif, venturing far from the trails to study the animals’ tracks and behaviour. Véronique, Anne and Erik spend long hours waiting patiently, endure setbacks and savour those rare moments when the animal they have been hoping for finally appears. Stunning images of the natural world, poetic visuals and reflections on the relationship between humans and nature offer a fascinating insight into the filmmakers’ work. Anne and Erik Lapied won the “Great Prize

A former Romanian stage actor leaves the world of theatre behind and returns with his camera to a remote valley in the Carpathians. Searching for traces of a vanishing way of life, he encounters people, rituals and landscapes shaped by centuries-old traditions. Part documentary observation, part personal journey, the film paints a portrait of an archaic world whose beauty and fragility are becoming ever more visible as times change. In 2022, director Mathieu Le Lay won the award for “Best Film – Mountain Nature” at the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival for his film “Yukon”.

Traditional livestock breeds that shaped the Alpine cultural landscape for centuries are now at risk of disappearing, pushed aside by modern high-performance breeds. The film follows Tobias Riedelsperger in the Salzburg region and Angelina Pucher, who lives and works in Kals at the foot of Mt. Großglockner. On their heritage farms, they breed rare animals such as Pustertaler Sprinzen cattle, Braunes Bergschaf (“brown mountain sheep”) and Tauernschecken goats. Both are convinced that these old breeds are healthier, hardier and irreplaceable for the ecosystem. Over the course of a year, the film accompanies Tobias and Angelina in their passionate commitment to preserving these animals.

Covering 630 square kilometres, Tierra del Fuego National Park is home to the world’s southernmost forests, vast glaciers, windswept peaks and deep fjords cutting into the Argentine mainland. In Patagonia, the landscape is defined by the seemingly endless pampas, crystal-blue lakes, evergreen forests and dramatic granite spires. From Ushuaia to El Chaltén, people live in close connection with nature: king crab fisher Liz Consentino, gaucho Miguel Burgos, puma expert Emiliano Donadio and the climbers of Fitz Roy. A journey through an extreme region rich in natural wonders and remarkable stories.

Dance on the volcano: is mountain biking on Italy’s Mt. Etna even possible? Spectacular lava fountains and smoking craters regularly put Etna in the headlines. A film crew sets out by mountain bike to explore Europe’s highest active volcano, entering a fascinating landscape of lava fields, forests and sweeping views. Gruelling climbs, exhilarating descents and warm Sicilian hospitality combine to create an adventure full of contrasts. The journey’s highlight is an attempt to reach the summit at around 3,400 metres – a challenge that depends on the wind, the weather and the moods of the volcano itself. Will “Mama Etna” allow them up?

The awards ceremony promises to be exciting. Accompanied by music, we’ll present clips from the winning films, welcome the award winners - either in person or on screen - and celebrate together the conclusion of the 23rd International Mountain Film Festival in 2026.

Frenchman Léo Slemett is one of the most promising newcomers in the world of freeriding. He fights tirelessly against adversity to pursue his dreams and push the limits of what he can do on skis. But fate has not been kind to him: repeatedly, Slemett is forced to cope with setbacks, and the loss of two life partners leaves him reeling. Knowing that the mountains have taken much from him but also given him everything, he slowly tries to find his way back to life.

While clearing out his basement, Checker Tobi comes across an old video recording. In it, his eight-year-old self asks his very first Checker question: who leaves the biggest mark on the ground beneath our feet? His search for the long-forgotten answer turns into his greatest adventure yet. It takes him into the extraordinary animal and plant world of Madagascar, to the Arctic seed vault on Svalbard and deep into the maze-like cave systems of Mexico in the footsteps of the Maya. Between dog-sled rides and climbing adventures, Tobi begins to understand the responsibility we all share for our planet. Checker Tobi’s third feature film is bursting with adventure, humour and curiosity – a must-see for young film fans!

In February 2024, Lise Billon, Fanny Schmutz and Maud Vanpoulle complete the first all-female ascent of the legendary “Compressor Route” on Cerro Torre in Patagonia. Ever since its first ascent by Italian climber Cesare Maestri in 1971, the route has been both famous and infamous. With humour and insight, Billon tells the story of how the three mountaineers battle technical challenges on rock and ice, their own inner demons and traditional ideas about women’s place in alpinism. Guillaume Broust received a Special Mention from the jury in 2025 for “The Future of Climbing” and won “Best Film – Mountain Experience” in 2019 for “The Pathan Project”.

Thomas Julienne travels through Patagonia by bicycle to explore the uneasy coexistence between livestock farmers and a wild predator – between sheep and pumas. Over the course of his long journey, the young biologist documents promising ways to resolve the conflict between people and predators. The result is a compelling adventure film that combines Julienne’s personal experience with fascinating insights into a spectacular wilderness and age-old cultural traditions. Shooting the film himself and also recording the sound, Julienne has created an exceptional and beautifully crafted documentary.

At the foot of Mont Blanc lies Courmayeur, a mountain village of around 3,000 people, shaped by nature, sport and a close-knit community. But at weekends and during the winter holidays, the village transforms into “Courma”: a glamorous tourist destination filled with luxury, nightlife and urban buzz. With a keen eye, Elettra Gallone follows residents and visitors who seem to inhabit two very different worlds. In doing so, she paints a portrait of a place searching for its identity somewhere between tradition and overtourism. An atmospheric documentary that captures the fragile balance between a deep sense of home and the polished image created for tourists.

Alongside the gentler peaks of the Mangfall Mountains, the Karwendel was the mountain home of Tegernsee native Otto Guggenbichler, who returned there time and again with his film crews. Made in the 1970s, his film about this rugged limestone massif between the Inn and Isar rivers contains a wealth of historic footage – including scenes from the construction of the Sylvenstein reservoir, when the old village of Fall disappeared beneath the waters of the Isar. The region’s long hunting tradition naturally plays a part, as does the rise of tourism. A fascinating historical document that dazzles with its superb cinematography and, thanks to Guggenbichler’s personal, wry commentary, is sure to provoke the odd chuckle.

This film is a poetic journey back to the roots and wonders of a childhood in Siberia – to the hanging stone, which seems to say: I have lain here for a very long time. Since the sky split open and the mountains began to remember. Once, people whispered about me around their fires. If I awaken, everything will be thrown out of balance. But I do not sleep out of anger. I sleep so that the world may endure. My stillness rests on a single stone. It hangs above an abyss thousands of years deep. Like memory. Like silence. Like the last thing still holding. Sometimes I can feel it: the balance has trembled. Because of something small. What happens in the end will be decided by those who walk upon the earth.

“Der Letzte seiner Art” follows nature filmmaker Jürgen Eichinger, who has remained dedicated to shooting on analogue 16 mm film for more than four decades. With patience, technical precision and an intimate knowledge of Alpine habitats, he captures wildlife, mountains and landscapes. The portrait takes us behind the camera of a filmmaker whose work is shaped by long stays in the mountains, waiting for the right moment and a commitment to the analogue medium. A tribute to nature filmmaking – an unhurried craft that thrives on a keen cinematic eye.

Directors Markus Schindler and Theresa Weidmann, as well as Jürgen Eichinger, will be in attendance.

The highest mountain in the GDR (East Germany) was once celebrated as the “St. Moritz of the East”. As the small nation’s only mountain truly suited to Alpine skiing, it became the training ground for the nation’s skiing elite. The film tells the story of the struggle over the mountain’s privatisation: since autumn 2025, the summit plateau, the Fichtelberghaus, ski lifts, snow cannons and the entire infrastructure have been in private hands. Among those portrayed are adventurer Lutz Heinrich, who set out from the Fichtelberg to conquer the world, yet nearly broke under the struggles he faced at home; ski-jumping legend and Olympic champion Jens Weißflog, who later became a hotelier and businessman and found himself, through no fault of his own, at the centre of a tourism scandal; and investor Rainer Gläss, who first discovered the Fichtelberg as a young man and has never been able to let it go.

“Der Weg ist das Ziel” is a masterpiece by Allgäu filmmaker Gerhard Baur. It reconstructs the dramatic events on the Eiger North Face in 1936, when an attempt by Toni Kurz, Andreas Hinterstoisser, Edi Rainer and Willy Angerer ended in tragedy. The film retraces the chain of events that led to one of the most dramatic rescue attempts in the history of alpinism. It also paints a revealing portrait of an era in which mountaineering was shaped by ideas of conquest and heroism.

“Der Weg ist das Ziel” will be screened together with “Eigerman” as part of the Bergauf-Bergab Edition. Director Gerhard Baur will be in attendance.

Filmmakers Hanna Carmen Schneider and Paul Schweller received the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival’s “LOWA Young Talents Incentive Award” in 2025. At this year’s closing ceremony, they present their supported project “Der Zeit ihre Steine”. The film follows young Swiss crystal hunter Nino on his search. Like many before him, he is drawn to the rocky and grassy slopes of the Graubünden mountains in eastern Switzerland. The slow, arduous pursuit of his goal develops into a poetic exploration of the relationship between people and mountains. Time, purpose and the individual gradually begin to merge.

Directors Hanna Carmen Schneider and Paul Schweller will be in attendance.

Once upon a time, there was an old oak tree … The seasons change, but its residents remain the same: the nimble squirrel, colourful weevils, noisy jays, tireless ants and countless other creatures. All of them find refuge, shelter and a home in this majestic tree. The oak is like an apartment block in the natural world, where neighbours squabble and celebrate together. There are animal concerts, dramatic natural disasters and action-packed chases. The film is a sensory journey into a wonderfully vibrant world – a nature documentary that, without a single word of narration, celebrates the magnificence of one ancient oak and, with it, of all trees.

A new working day begins at nearly 3,000 metres: The film follows those who spend the winter working high in the Alps – at a mountain hut in South Tyrol, behind the wheel of a snow groomer on the Zugspitzplatt, or as a mountain guide on the ridges above the Ötztal glaciers. For most people, snow-laden mountains and vast glacier worlds are the stuff of spectacular photographs and holiday memories. For mountain guides, snow-groomer drivers and hut keepers, they are where the work gets done. Director Peter Künzel shows the wide variety of professions carried out in the high mountains during winter. Despite the hardships, all of them cherish their extraordinary workplace at icy altitudes and continue to marvel at the landscapes and ever-changing light of the winter mountains.

Extreme mountaineer Robert Jasper is known throughout the global climbing community as “Eigerman”, yet remains little known to the wider public. Hailing from the Black Forest, he has completed around 30 routes on the Eiger North Face, including the legendary “Odyssey”, and has spent more than a year on the wall in total. His ice climbs have inspired an entire generation. In 2025, he returns to “his” wall. This time, for the first time, he approaches the mountain by bicycle before attempting the “Porte du Chaos” route solo. The film traces the story of a life shaped by the mountains.

Director Malte Roeper and Robert Jasper will be in attendance.

The secret to a long and happy relationship? Climb together and keep seeking out adventures. While others their age are settling into retirement, Ilse and Fritz are cheerfully planning their next climbing trips. For more than 60 years, the adventurous couple have forged their own wild path. During a climbing trip in Austria’s Mühlviertel, their panoramic life story unfolds, spanning almost a century across the Alps, various deserts and the Himalayas – inspiring both wonder and the odd chuckle. But what mark does a life like this leave on their children? Against the backdrop of two extraordinary biographies, the film becomes a moving reflection on how personal freedom, mutual responsibility and deeply held values can be brought into balance.

On 24 July 2024, a wildfire in Jasper, Alberta, destroys the home of aerial artist Sasha Galitzki. “Embers” links the loss of her home with the retreat of the glaciers she has witnessed for years – two consequences of the same cause: climate change. One year after the fire, the film follows Galitzki as she rebuilds her life and comes to terms with the changes affecting both nature and her community. In conversations with experts, she searches for answers and, through her art, finds her way back to hope. With striking aerial performances, “Embers” becomes a moving call for environmental protection.

Two fathers set off with their young sons, Emil and Karl, on a six-day mountain-bike journey through the Swiss Alps. Carrying heavy loads and towing child trailers, they cover 180 kilometres and climb 6,000 vertical metres around the Swiss National Park in the canton of Graubünden. Between steep ascents, sudden weather changes and the needs of two small children, the trip brings daily challenges – and becomes an unforgettable family adventure. As the boys discover the natural world with wide-eyed curiosity, the fathers learn to adjust their pace and their expectations. During the demanding tour, a special bond develops between fathers and sons amid spectacular mountain scenery.

“To fathom” means to get to the bottom of something, to investigate it and understand its causes. This short film by brothers Jakob and Matthias Weger bears its title for good reason. While climbing a steep, narrow couloir in the Dolomites, the two South Tyroleans are caught by a slab avalanche and swept down the mountain. The accident forces them to confront a difficult question: do they want to keep telling only heroic stories, or also reveal the harsh reality of extreme freeriding – and learn from facing up to their own mistakes?

To form a roped team means far more than a pragmatic alliance. It’s not just a matter of getting through a few pitches. A roped partnership is held together not only by the climbing rope, but also by an invisible bond of trust and understanding. In that sense, mountaineers Ines Papert and Sarah Huenekin make a perfect team. Together, the two women, both over 50, show that age is largely a matter of perspective – and that they can realise their full potential when they support one another as climbing partners.

Seasoned adventurers Stefan Glowacz and Christian Schlesener travel to Bolivia with the much younger brothers Moritz and Philipp Hans. Locals have told them about the legendary Valle de las Rocas, where untouched boulders and rock faces loom at an altitude of 4,000 metres. Shamans, river crossings, gods and a yoga session with Doña Gilda all add colour to the approach. While the Hans brothers go bouldering and post their footage on Instagram, Stefan and Christian bolt new sport-climbing routes – and are not shy about dispensing a little analogue wisdom along the way. On one thing, however, they all agree: the Valle de las Rocas is a world-class climbing destination.

Director Moritz Attenberger from Schliersee, as well as Stefan Glowacz and Philipp Hans, will be in attendance.

Born with cerebral palsy 45 days before his two triplet brothers, Clay refuses to let disability define his limits. Raised by “Super Mum” Joanne, who rejects the idea that disability should mean exclusion, the brothers grow up with a deep belief in the power of adventure and belonging. Clay and his triplet brother Tanner set their sights on ski touring and big-wave surfing. Together with a diverse group of world-class para-athletes, they challenge assumptions about limits, inclusion and who gets to move freely in nature. What begins as a personal journey grows into something bigger: a movement built on connection, possibility and the belief that outdoor adventure should be open to everyone.

In the church of Kolfuschg (Ladin: Calfosch) in the Dolomites’ Val Badia, members of the local community reconstruct the Holy Sepulchre (“Fossa Santa”) every Easter – a 19th-century installation of considerable historical and artistic value. This striking depiction of the Passion presents scenes from the suffering and death of Jesus Christ and forms part of a long-standing tradition of Holy Week and Easter liturgy that is being kept alive across the Alpine region. Paolo Vinati’s documentary explores this remarkable custom and its cultural significance for the Val Badia and beyond.

On foot, by kayak and on skis, director Bernhard Schirg travels through northern Sweden. He explores mountains, rivers and glacial landscapes shaped by hydropower, dwindling ice and the extraction of natural resources. Along the way, he follows in the footsteps of 17th-century scholar Olof Rudbeck, whose expeditions produced some of the earliest cartographic panoramas of the mountains. He also linked myths such as Atlantis and Elysium to the landscapes of Scandinavia. “Frozen Atlantis” investigates the layers of meaning folded into today’s landscapes, asking how stories shape our relationship with the world and how myths can still offer a sense of direction in places undergoing profound change.

As climate change melts the glaciers, relics that have lain trapped in the ice for thousands of years are emerging. For archaeologists, it is a treasure trove – and a race against time. The glaciers cover vast areas, while the annual window for fieldwork is extremely short. With climate change accelerating, the next 20 years will be crucial. After that, too much snow and ice may have disappeared for cultural artefacts to be recovered and studied. The film follows archaeologists as they search for traces of the past in icy caves and glacial landscapes, revealing how they preserve and investigate these artefacts.

For Chiara Schmidt, there is no contradiction between mountain sport and environmental protection. The Salzburg pianist is a passionate climber and climate campaigner who brings her music into the mountains. With concerts on summits and elsewhere high in the Alps, she hopes to draw attention to the dramatic effects of climate change. Helped by friends and fellow climbers, she carries her keyboard and equipment to remote performance sites set against spectacular mountain scenery. The film follows her as she climbs at Mt. Plombergstein and performs a glacier concert in the Hohe Tauern, capturing the powerful connection between experiences of music and nature

Taking over a farm means carrying on the life’s work of another person – usually within the family. But what happens when there is no heir to take it on? For the Bavarian Broadcasting “Homeland” editorial team, filmmaker Bernhard Wohlfahrter accompanies young women and men who are finding different ways to realise their dream of running a farm of their own and living as self-sufficiently as possible. They take over farms that have been left vacant or passed on beyond the family, investing enormous energy and dedication in keeping these businesses alive. New forms of farming emerge – rooted in tradition, community and a vision for a more sustainable future.

The film retells the story of the Arctic from a female perspective. Three remarkable pioneers who travelled, conducted research and survived under extreme conditions emerge from the shadows of an expedition history largely shaped by men. Their experiences echo in the lives of present-day female scientists and Inuit women navigating the intersections of climate change, research and memory. Combining rarely seen archive footage with contemporary voices, the film offers a richly layered perspective on nature, knowledge and female empowerment in one of the most fragile regions on Earth.

For centuries, the inhabitants of the remote village of Cavaione, high above the Val Poschiavo near the border with the Valtellina, deftly shifted between Swiss and Italian identities to avoid taxes and military service. Only in 1875 were they granted Swiss citizenship, when the hamlet and its 108 residents became part of the municipality of Brusio. Today, just eight people live in Cavaione year-round. For the 150th anniversary, people from across the valley gathered to celebrate and remember the village that was the last to join the Swiss Confederation. Its story is one of resourcefulness and survival, of crossing and accepting borders, and of regional identity in the mountains of Graubünden.

In this autobiographical documentary, Núria Castán Barón, who finished second in the 2024 Freeride World Tour, looks back on her journey from the beginnings of her snowboarding career to a life-changing event. On 4 April 2023, she survives an avalanche whose consequences have a profound effect on her mental health. Passion gives way to fear and pain. What follows is a process of healing, as the young athlete learns to accept her past and to regain control over her thoughts. Through beautifully composed images, Núria recounts her struggle and her return to freeriding – a story of resilience, mental health and inner strength.

Fall down and get back up. Fall down and get back up, every single day. This is the heart of the film and where its story begins. A man, struggling with health problems, lives in the city and suffers from insomnia. Then, on an ordinary day, he sets out into nature to go climbing – and gradually finds his way from inner turmoil to peace of mind. Told with elements of poetic narrative, the film uses its title, “Izarren Zaunka” (Barking Stars), as a metaphor for the restless nights within him, which slowly give way to a quiet connection with nature.

Mountaineer Benjamin Védrines is one of the strongest high-altitude climbers of his generation. He is known both for his exceptional technical skill and for his record-breaking speed ascents in the Alps and Himalayas. His great goal is to climb K2 (8,611 m) without supplementary oxygen and in record time. But the film follows more than this extreme challenge: it also traces Védrines’ personal search for meaning and direction. It explores the physical and mental limits that even an exceptional athlete must face. Learning to accept those limits takes him on a journey that reaches far beyond the summit. In 2024, Hugo Clouzeau won the German Alpine Club (DAV) award in the category “Mountain Experience” for “Nuptse”.

In summer 2024, mountaineers Liv Sansoz and Zeb Roche set out for K2 (8,611 m). Their ambitious goal is to climb the world’s second-highest mountain without supplementary oxygen and then launch from the summit on a tandem paraglider. Featuring spectacular, never-before-seen footage, the film is far more than a record of an extraordinary summit attempt. It accompanies the couple through doubt, hardship and the decisive moments of an expedition, and becomes a poetic declaration of love to the wild, rugged and captivating beauty of K2 and its unique high-altitude landscape.

Some events remain alive in places, memories and relationships. “Karma” moves through familiar spaces – a home, the city, an airport and the mountains – which together gradually form a quiet story about choices and their consequences. Drawing on his own experiences as a mountaineer and big-wall climber, Marcin Tomaszewski explores moments when people find themselves at a crossroads. Past and present begin to blur, while the voices of those close to him return like distant echoes. A poetic film about transitions, memory and the courage to follow one’s own path.

Steep, spectacular and with a long climbing tradition, the Salbitschijen (2,985 m) in the Swiss canton of Uri is one of the best-known granite climbing areas in the Alps. Malte Roeper explores the massif on several routes with different climbing partners. With Rita Christen, he tackles the west ridge; later, Dan Loutrel guides him along the south ridge towards the summit. Highlights include the Salbit Bridge, the Salbit Hut and a bivouac at 2,400 metres. Encounters with local climbing legends such as Moses Gamma round off the journey. In 2004, Malte Roeper and Tom Dauer won the award for Best Landscape Film for “Die Alpen – Eine Reise durch Bayrisch-Afrika” (The Alps – A Journey through Bavarian Africa).

An important and deeply impressive film. Told from the perspective of its protagonists, it portrays life in Numbi, a small town in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The film takes us straight into the daily lives of people mining coltan in extreme conditions – a raw material essential to almost every modern electronic device. With an observant, never judgemental eye, filmmaker Jean-Gabriel Leynaud manages to capture the brutal hardship of a life lived between dust and mud, intoxication and deprivation. Without moralising, he shows the consequences of globalisation and asks who ultimately pays the price for the ongoing digitalisation of our world. A film that concerns us all.

In a remote valley, surrounded by meadows and rivers, a mighty wall of rock and snow rises into the sky. Adventurous Lord Cliffrider sets out to become the first to reach its mythical summit. But as he follows the mountain’s call, time begins to accelerate and his goal slips further away. “Kronoshock” is a stop-motion film about change in mountaineering and the meaning of progress. Through poetic imagery, it brings different eras of alpinism together in a reflection on ambition, transience and the relationship between humans and nature. In 2021, Ignasi López Fàbregas received the “Award for a Special Film” for “El Gran Hito” (The Great Achievement).

This artistic and poetic short film explores the freeskiing life of Matthias Haunholder. For him, “La Cimota” is an inner landscape, his own inner mountain – a way of life and a philosophy shaped by skiing, competitive sport, expeditions and the search for meaning, fulfilment and balance. Director Johannes Aitzetmüller transforms this biography into an atmospheric and visually powerful cinematic space suspended between memory, dream and the expansion of time. The film traces a journey once centred on sporting success, but now increasingly concerned with existential questions of consciousness and identity. In the end, “La Cimota” is not a place, but a state of being.

More than a century ago, Flosi Björnsson and his seven siblings withdrew to the foot of Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest glacier. None of them married or had children. Long before anyone spoke of the glacier melting, they devoted their lives to it in radical isolation. Like a whale skeleton stranded on the shore, their remote derelict farm remained hidden from curious eyes – until now. Photographer Ragnar Axelsson returns to the place where he spent his childhood summers, opens the doors, and Flosi’s voice once again echoes through the house. Drawing on archival photographs, objects rescued from decay and new footage, the film becomes a poetic meditation on the interplay of memory and loss in a vanishing glacial world.

Moritz Grötsch’s documentary “Lange Tage” follows Bernhard Kämmerer as he prepares for the 2025 Transcontinental Race, one of Europe’s toughest self-supported ultra-distance cycling events: 4,676 kilometres from Spain’s Atlantic coast to the Black Sea. The enormity of this undertaking is matched by his meticulous preparations, during which he takes viewers on training rides and shares his doubts, worries and fears. Whether the endurance athlete ultimately reaches the finish becomes almost beside the point. What matters most, the film suggests, is having the courage to set out in the first place.

“Le tracce del Lupo” tells the story of Erik, a park ranger who develops leukaemia and survives thanks to a stem-cell transplant from a baby in Spain. As his body undergoes profound change, Erik returns to the mountains of the Italian Alps, where he watches and tracks wolves. Drawing on the diary he kept during his illness, the film becomes a record of treatment and his return to the field. These notes and observations offer a parallel map of fear, endurance and recovery. The search for tracks in the snow mirrors his healing process – the wolf comes to symbolise resilience and the will to live.

“Loving Karma” by Johnny Burke and Andrew Hinton is the sequel to the Emmy-winning documentary “Tashi and the Monk”. Twelve years after their first visit, the filmmakers return to Jhamtse Gatsal in the Himalayas, a community founded by former Buddhist monk Lobsang Phuntsok for children who have experienced severe trauma. At the heart of the film are Lobsang himself, Tashi, now grown up, and children who have joined the community more recently. An emotionally gripping film about the work of a remarkable man who gives children a second chance in life by embodying the love, care and patience they need.

The world’s largest lithium deposits are found in and around Bolivia’s Mt. Cerro Rico. While European players seek to secure this raw material for the automotive industry, local people see it as a possible way out of poverty. The film presents multiple perspectives, revealing just how different the priorities and perceptions involved can be. Businesspeople and diplomats engage in negotiations, while a group of local people gears up to resist foreign control of these resources. Among them: a farmer, a llama herder, a mine guard, a lawyer, a miner and an activist – several of them women. This struggle has deep roots in Bolivia: quotations from a 16th-century Indigenous chronicler show how European prosperity was built on the brutal plundering of Mt. Cerro Rico’s silver veins.

There’s a special charm to spending an entire day at the movies. After all, like almost no other medium, film offers the opportunity to immerse oneself in other realities, get to know interesting people, understand their worlds, and thereby broaden one’s own horizons. In other words, everything that makes mountaineering and travel so special—only without having to leave Tegernsee. The program will feature the winner of the “Grand Prize of the City of Tegernsee” as well as the winners in the categories “Mountain as an Experience,” “Mountain as a Natural Environment,” and “Mountain as a Living Space.” In addition, the winners of the “Otto Guggenbichler Young Talent Award” and the “Bayern2 Audience Award” will be shown on the big screen. The matinee program will be announced on Saturday evening. If there is high demand, the winning films will be screened in the cinema tent and at Medius.

After beginning his career in radio at Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Public Broadcasting), the young Tegernsee native Otto Guggenbichler moved into the even younger medium of television. There, he quickly found a way to combine his passion for the mountains with his work as a filmmaker. In 1957, he travelled to Chamonix to make a film about the town and its local mountain, Mont Blanc. Footage of the ascent of the highest peak in the Alps was shot by well-known climber and cameraman Martin Schließler from Baden-Baden. Anyone familiar with today’s bustling, tourist-filled Chamonix will be both surprised and delighted by Schließler’s images.

Slavka Adžović owns 170 sheep and goats. She is the only woman in Montenegro who works as a shepherd and the only Romani woman in the country to make her living this way. She never learned to read or write, but her love of animals helped her build an independent life as a farmer. Around her mountain hut on the windswept Krnovo plateau, four calves and 14 cows also graze, and she sells their milk. In striking images, director Galina Breitkreuz portrays a woman forging her own path between tradition and progress.

Monteviasco is a remote village in Lombardy, largely cut off from the outside world, with no shops or school. Since the cable car serving the village stopped running seven years ago, Monteviasco has been accessible only by a two-hour hike or by helicopter. Yet five residents still hold on in this “forgotten mountain village”. The film observes their isolated daily lives amid dwindling infrastructure, while also capturing the quiet determination of those who remain and asking what future lies ahead for the community.

In the world of climbing, people are constantly “moving mountains”. More than a metaphor, the phrase reflects the pursuit of what seems unreachable or impossible. In its purest form, that pursuit finds expression in bouldering – climbing on large rocks without ropes or protective gear. Bernd Zangerl is a pioneer and master of this discipline. In his second home in the Indian Himalayas, the Vorarlberg native has found his own personal Shangri-La. Indian filmmaker Abhishek Tiwari observes Zangerl’s world from his own perspective and discovers a man for whom these granite boulders have become the foundation of a deeply committed and spiritual way of life.

They are the quiet, stoic masters of the Arctic tundra: muskoxen. For around a million years, these sturdy animals have inhabited the hostile, freezing and windswept regions far north of the Arctic Circle. In breathtaking images, the film follows their lives – herd cohesion, clashes between rival bulls, threats from Arctic wolves and polar bears, merciless winters and the sheer intensity and resilience of life in one of the most extreme landscapes on Earth. But muskoxen are under threat. Climate change and resource extraction are steadily shrinking their habitat. Can one of the world’s oldest surviving species endure into the future?

In his attempt to climb Nanga Parbat in alpine style, David Göttler sets his passion against the absurdity of life. “Nanga Parbat – Echoes of Sisyphus” centres on an athlete who describes himself as an “expert in failure”. Over the course of twelve years, he makes five expeditions to climb the 8,125-metre Nanga Parbat via the Schell Route. His repeated pushes on the Rupal Face become a process of learning that shapes this mountaineering Sisyphus both as an alpinist and as a person.

Protagonist David Göttler and director Tom Dauer will be in attendance.

The animated short film “Natura Fugit” was inspired by a painting by Caspar David Friedrich depicting the Mer de Glace in the Mont Blanc massif. Confiscated by the Nazis, the work was long believed to be lost. From its starting point on the glacier, the film embarks on a journey through time and a mountain world in constant transformation. Seen from the perspective of the ice, both the growing human imprint on nature and the effects of climate change and global warming come into view. Created over more than four years and based on almost 3,000 large-format drawings by Jesús Mari Lazkano, the film weaves aesthetic and ecological concerns together.

Two women set off together on a ski expedition across Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier in mainland Europe. Their approach is deliberately minimalist: they travel to Norway by train, prepare their own food in advance and pare their equipment down to the essentials. Crossing the vast expanse of ice, they encounter extreme weather, battle through storms and whiteouts, and at the same time experience the overwhelming beauty of a landscape in constant change. Paring back the means at their disposal, trusting in their own skills and meeting the wilderness on its own terms become the ingredients of a great adventure.

René Grincourt tells the story of rediscovering an Alpine landscape. The peaks of the Mont Blanc massif become the backdrop for a quieter form of exploration: alpine bouldering. Together with Clément Lechaptois, Jim Pope and Ashima Shiraishi, the French climber opens up a new bouldering area at high altitude. The focus is not on sporting achievement, but on a different relationship with the mountains. Against the backdrop of climate change, this slow, attentive approach becomes an invitation to listen to the fragile Alpine world and find a new connection with it.

Switzerland: one of the richest countries in the world. Its people: often somewhat reserved. So how difficult is it to travel across this country without any money? Matthias Rusch, a reporter with Swiss broadcaster SRF, decides to find out. Over four days, he travels on foot and by hitchhiking from Zermatt across wintry Switzerland to Lake Constance. He carries no money and no provisions – just a backpack and a mobile phone to film the experiment – and offers his labour in exchange for food and a place to sleep. An adventure close to home that leads to surprising encounters and memorable experiences.

Pedro Casanellas is a passionate mountain guide, climber and ski instructor who has lived in Switzerland since the age of 15. In the heart of the Alps, he has found not only his calling, but also a home. In the canton of Ticino, Casanellas lives in a simple rustico, with no creature comforts but in close contact with the natural world around him. “Pedro – Ein Leben in den Bergen” is a moving documentary about a man who has managed to bring the way he thinks and the way he lives into harmony – a quiet film about freedom, closeness to nature and a conscious life away from the modern world.

This is the story of a family of four who live in a camper van they converted themselves. At first glance, their life seems free and simple: the parents go climbing together, their journey takes them through beautiful landscapes, and the children grow up closely connected to nature. But between quiet mornings and spectacular sunsets lies another reality, shaped by constant effort, sacrifice and perseverance. With an empathetic eye, director Lars Goos shows just how much strength it takes to live an alternative life beyond society’s conventions.

Nina Caprez, Nicole Niquille and Rita Christen – three women who followed their passions and, almost in passing, became pioneers. They never made a show of campaigning for equality, yet they managed to hold their own in a world shaped largely by men. The documentary looks back at a time when female mountaineers faced deep-rooted prejudice. At the same time, it shows how the mountains can open up spaces for living life on one’s own terms. In this way, the three protagonists became trailblazers – leaving tracks for younger women to follow.

The short history of a great love affair between a mountain village and ice hockey, which became the cultural heart of the community in the 1970s. As enthusiasm grew, an entire generation devoted itself to the game, and before long hockey began to shape both daily life and the spirit of the place. Between gripping matches and long evenings at the rink, a small world of its own emerged, built on emotion and solidarity. But even the most intense love stories are not made to last forever – and eventually the rink fell quiet, becoming a place of farewell and, finally, of memories. In 2022, Gaël Truc won the award for the best film in the category “Mountain Life” for his film “Combat”.

Trust the British to turn eccentricity into a sport: walking backwards, running backwards and, yes, even climbing mountains backwards. Starting with a spectacular but not entirely serious record attempt in the 1970s, the film sets off on an entertaining and surprising journey through more than two centuries of “retro” history. Along the way, it meets people who run marathons backwards or dream of circling the globe in reverse. One protagonist tackles Kilimanjaro in unconventional fashion – looking down as he climbs and up as he descends. An original film about the innocent joy of upending the way you see the world.

After years of feeling caught in a rut, Dave Pen, singer with British rock band Archive, reaches a turning point. When the pandemic brings touring to a halt, the 45-year-old begins searching for a challenge that can give him a new sense of purpose. He finds it in one of Britain’s toughest endurance events: the 268-mile winter Spine Race along the Pennine Way. The film follows him on an extreme physical and mental journey through cold, exhaustion and doubt. Blending concert footage, personal memories and endless miles on foot, it becomes an intimate portrait of a man searching for meaning and identity through a fresh start.

In an industry still largely dominated by international operators, Adam Kjeldsen is one of the few Inuit ski guides in Greenland. The documentary follows his efforts to promote a form of ski tourism that is more firmly rooted in the local community and brings greater benefits to the people who live there. Against the spectacular backdrop of Arctic mountains and fjords, the film paints a portrait of a man whose relationship with the land reaches far beyond sport. Along the way, it explores questions of cultural identity, economic participation and the right of local people to shape the future of their own homeland.

Director Jennifer Peedom originally set out to document the tensions of the 2014 Everest season from the Sherpas’ perspective, as anger over dangerous working conditions and economic exploitation erupted into physical confrontation. But during filming, an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall kills 16 Sherpas and fundamentally changes the direction of the film. From then on, it centres on the grief and solidarity of the Sherpa community: in the wake of the tragedy, its members decide to reclaim a greater say in the business of the mountain they call Chomolungma.

Jennifer Peedom received the International Alliance for Mountain Film’s “Grand Prix” in 2026 in recognition of her body of work. 

By the end of the 21st century, most Alpine glaciers will have disappeared. This will also have significant consequences for the Valais bisses, a traditional irrigation system based on transporting glacial meltwater. Mountain agriculture, tourism, energy production and ecosystems will all be affected. Water will remain at the heart of the debate. But could the communally managed bisses themselves perhaps offer part of the solution? The film follows Gaëtan Morard, director of the Musée valaisan des Bisses, along the water trail, where he meets people who are already thinking about the challenges of tomorrow.

“Si Vîf” roughly means “one lives” in Friulian – a laconic response to the question “How are you?” Singer-songwriter Gigi Maieron has remained deeply rooted in the mountains of his northern Italian homeland throughout his artistic life. Amid the peaks and valleys of Carnia, where rugged nature meets quiet expanses, an artistic world unfolds, shaped by Maieron’s intuition, individuality and poetic sensibility. Blending scenes from everyday life, moments on stage and reflections on the past, the film creates a portrait of a musician whose work is closely bound to the place he comes from.

Filmmaker Valentin Rapp follows a crew attempting to rig a highline across Salto Ángel, an 800-metre waterfall on Auyán-tepui in Venezuela’s Gran Sabana – the fulfilment of a dream more than 16 years in the making. After a thrilling journey through remote wilderness, weighed down by heavy packs and battered by tropical downpours, the group finally reaches its destination. But the highline itself is not the only challenge facing the athletes there: by the time filming takes place, there are already clear signs that the US government is preparing a military operation in Venezuela.

Director Valentin Rapp from Rosenheim, as well as Lukas Irmler and Antonia Rüede-Passul, will be in attendance.

Hiba, Bachir and Manan are three young people who migrated to the Spanish province of Navarre as unaccompanied children. In their new surroundings, they find in climbing and the mountains a place of freedom, where their worries recede into the background and they can develop a new sense of confidence. Nature becomes a space where the refugees can find their footing, regain strength and reconnect with themselves. But as their lives gradually begin to diverge, the fragility of this shared refuge also becomes apparent. Between a traumatic past, the present and an uncertain future, how can a sense of belonging take root when one’s own roots have been severed?

The film follows alpinists Nicolas Hojac from Switzerland and Philipp Brugger from Austria as they attempt to break the speed record for climbing the north faces of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. Their goal is to complete the trilogy in under 24 hours. In darkness, on ice and steep rock, the two alpinists fight against the clock under extreme conditions. After 15 hours and 30 minutes, they reach the summit of the Jungfrau – almost ten hours faster than the previous record, set in 2004 by Stephan Siegrist and Ueli Steck. Director Jochen Schmoll is a three-time award winner at the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival.

In 1955, a British expedition team succeeded in making the first ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), the third-highest mountain in the world. The film retraces the expedition and explores its significance in the development of Himalayan mountaineering. Particular attention is given to the fully integrated Sherpa team, whose indispensable contribution to the expedition’s success went without the recognition it deserved for many years. Historical film footage and photographs, together with the latest research, are interwoven with insights into the cultural and spiritual significance of the mountain, which is revered as sacred. The result is a multifaceted portrait of a first ascent regarded as a milestone in mountaineering history.

In Innsbruck, the “Nordstau” is regarded as an almost mythical weather phenomenon: moist northerly air piles up against the mountains, blanketing the Karwendel in fresh powder and setting off a race among freeriders for the coveted “first line”. At the centre of this satirical film, freeski world champion Arianna Tricomi meets the frantic scramble with remarkable composure. As ambitious powder junkies try to outmanoeuvre one another with dirty tricks, creating mounting chaos in the process, the hunt for untouched powder becomes increasingly absurd. With wry humour, the film takes a sharp but playful look at the dynamics of the freeride scene.

Kate Kelleghan and Laura Pineau have set themselves an ambitious goal: to become the first all-female climbing team to complete the legendary “Triple Crown” of three big walls on El Capitan, Half Dome and Mount Watkins in under 24 hours. To do so, they must climb more than 3,000 vertical metres and cover considerable distances between the walls. The film follows these two exceptional climbers through intensive training and meticulous planning, all the way to their decisive attempt in California’s Yosemite Valley. What makes their undertaking particularly engaging is that, despite all the effort, challenges and risks involved, Kelleghan and Pineau never lose their sense of humour or lightness of touch, bringing a fresh, distinctly female perspective to this extreme pursuit.

Former professional cyclist Joe Petrowski has 14 hours to make history. Within that time, he aims to cycle 290 kilometres from the Italian Riviera to Chamonix, then climb Mont Blanc, gaining a total of 4,810 metres in elevation. His goal? To beat the Fastest Known Time (FKT) set by Italian triathlete Marcello Ugazio. A crash, thunderstorms and crevasses all stand in his way. Over the course of one sleepless night, Joe pushes himself to the limit to discover exactly where endurance ends and madness begins. A breathtaking, visually striking journey into the thin air between success and failure.

Hamish McArthur is one of the world’s most talented boulderers. In Valle Orco, Italy, a film crew follows him as he attempts an ambitious new project – while that same crew is itself being filmed during its supposedly documentary work. Before long, the line between biographical reality and staged role-play begins to blur. Through increasingly absurd exchanges between athlete and fictional director, the film deliberately disrupts its own narrative and raises questions about identity and authenticity in documentary filmmaking. And yes, there’s some spectacular climbing too.

The Matterhorn (4,478 m) is one of the world’s most dangerous mountains: since 1865, more than 600 mountaineers have died while attempting to climb it. “Tod am Matterhorn” investigates why the risks are so often underestimated, particularly on the Hörnli Ridge, the standard route to the summit. The film accompanies Air Zermatt mountain guide Anjan Truffer to the Solvay bivouac, portrays hut warden Edith Lehner at the Hörnlihütte and follows mountain guide Meli Rüfenacht on her first ascent after she witnessed a fatal accident. The reportage examines the dangers of the mountain, the psychological impact on those left behind and on rescuers, and the influence of social media – a film of particular relevance given the difficult conditions on the mountain during the 2026 summer season.

Fifty years after a tragic event, Dare returns to Triglav. Back then, several young hikers were killed when lightning struck twice during a thunderstorm. Trying to make sense of the disaster, he confronts his memories, feelings of guilt and the fact that the past cannot be changed. In conversations with the last surviving witnesses, he tries to understand what happened and to make peace with himself. The film explores the perspective of survivors who see the tragedy as an act of nature – not something for which blame can be assigned. In this way, it becomes both a memorial to the victims and a warning to today’s mountain enthusiasts.

Four-time para-climbing world champion Angelino Zeller is joined by Christina Wechsel, who hikes and climbs with a prosthetic leg, and 94-year-old climber Maria Kittl. All three have found their way back to the mountains after serious accidents and other devastating setbacks. Despite their physical limitations, these very different athletes are united by their passion for the mountains. The documentary deliberately shifts the focus away from the hardships they have endured and towards what is still possible. In doing so, it paints a multifaceted picture of resilience, self-determination and love for the mountains.

A group of climbers begins gathering in the Atxarte Valley in the Pyrenees in 1970. Over the years, the women and men grow into a close-knit community. A serious accident marks a turning point and gives rise to a special tradition – one that celebrates life and strengthens the bonds within the group. But after five decades, the annual gathering comes under pressure from social change and risks fading into obscurity. The film portrays a community in transition, searching for ways to preserve its identity and keep the spirit of freedom alive.

Over four years, Jürgen Eichinger documents the profound transformation of the Alps. Through striking before-and-after comparisons, sweeping panoramic images and close observations of wildlife, the film traces changes across summits, mountain forests, wild rivers and Alpine pastures. It shows how climate change and human intervention are reshaping habitats, and how wild animals adapt to new conditions – or reach the limits of what they can endure. A visually powerful mountain nature documentary about the changing dynamics, transience and future of the Alpine habitat. Jürgen Eichinger is a multi-award-winning filmmaker who still works with analogue film today. 

Director Jürgen Eichinger will be in attendance.

A shepherd and a nobleman cross a vast landscape of rugged limestone peaks around Picu Urriellu in the Picos de Europa. In this harsh yet mysterious setting, the boundaries between two social worlds that could hardly be more different begin to blur. The journey is long, and only one of the two knows the way. As the landscape increasingly asserts itself as a force in its own right between them, the relationship between the two men also begins to shift. Distance gives way to dependence, uncertainty to trust. The film takes viewers on a quiet allegorical journey that raises questions about way-finding, power and the fragile balance between knowledge, nature and human experience.

A group of skiers travels to the far north to ski steep lines on an Arctic island. But shortly before departure, the whole plan is thrown into doubt: in the tiny village of 500 people that is meant to serve as their base, the petrol station has burned down – a seemingly minor event that upends the logistics of the entire expedition. The skiers face uncertainty and long delays. Forced to improvise, they adjust their goals to the new situation. When a narrow weather window finally opens, they are rewarded with a descent that far exceeds their expectations.

In 1976, a four-man Styrian roped team led by mountaineer Hanns Schell sets out for Nanga Parbat (8,125 m). In striking footage, the film documents the expedition and conveys the challenges of a high-altitude ascent at a time when mountaineering expeditions still had to manage largely without modern equipment or communication. At the same time, it preserves an important historical record of Austrian expedition history and offers an authentic glimpse of teamwork, endurance and the fascination of one of the world’s most distinctive eight-thousanders.

At the age of 94, Seyfour wants to return to the homeland he was forced to leave 50 years ago. His former home disappeared beneath water after the construction of a dam. While his family sees the journey as pointless, he sets out alone to protect the last remaining piece of his land and his father’s grave. The film tells a story of memory, loss and the inseparable bond between identity and place of origin. In one man’s return, a universal story takes shape – about places that vanish and human insistence on belonging.

Drawing on eyewitness accounts, photographs, archive footage and historical reports, the documentary traces the years mountaineer Walter Bonatti spent in Bardonecchia. After his early fame following the Italian K2 expedition of 1954, he was hired by the local community the following winter as a mountain guide and ski instructor. He lived in the Piedmont town for two years, and Bardonecchia did more than simply welcome him – it practically adopted him. His time there proved formative, marking a period of transition between a major mountaineering career and a new life as a public figure.

Katherine Choong invites her friend Eline Le Menestrel to climb Zahir, a multi-pitch route on the Wendenstöcke and one of the hardest lines in the Swiss Alps. Eline agrees – but on one condition: the entire journey there must be made by bicycle. Their shared climbing project soon becomes a double challenge, combining technical difficulty on the wall with physical exhaustion. Between long days in the saddle and the technical demands of the route, the project becomes a test of whether sporting ambition and ecological commitment can truly be reconciled. Under these self-imposed constraints, can the climbers still reach their goal?