2025 – Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival – “Tegernseers continue to represent Europe”
NL/Press Release – 2025-05-20
22nd Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, 15 to 19 October 2025
“Tegernseers continue to represent Europe”
Early this May, Festival Director Tom Dauer travelled to Trento to visit the oldest mountain film festival in the world. Shortly after, at the International Alliance for Mountain Film’s (IAMF) spring meeting, he was elected to its Board of Directors, meaning that for the next few years, Dauer will represent Europe’s mountain film festivals there. He’ll help decide on the admission of new members and on awarding the annual “Grand Prix” to the best mountain film makers worldwide.
The IAMF’s recent spring meeting, held in Trento, was more than just another event on the calendar for Festival Director Tom Dauer. “This year’s gathering of the world’s leading mountain film festivals was truly special,” Dauer remarked. “Not only was our president, Javier Barayazarra from Bilbao, re-elected, but the Board of Directors was also newly appointed. And once again, we Tegernseers were selected as official representatives for Europe.”
Dauer thus holds an important representative function. In future, he will help choose festivals to be admitted into the coveted circle of the Alliance. The IAMF joined forces in 2000 and by now, its website mountainfilmalliance.org lists 27 members. These festivals take place in 21 countries across Europe, Asia, New Zealand, North and South America. The Trento festival, founded in 1952, is also one of the Alliance members, as are Kathmandu, Autrans (France) and the Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival, founded in 2003. Recently, Santiago de Chile became the 28th member. The latest application comes from the Caucasus, says Dauer, from Mestia in Georgia. “The application still needs to be evaluated. But the chances for Mestia are good, which I am personally very happy about.”
Each year, the Alliance awards the prestigious “Grand Prix”. In 2025, the honor goes to French filmmaker Sébastien Montaz-Rosset in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the mountain film genre. “I’ll be at the table when the next candidate is chosen,” Dauer says with a grin.
For Tom Dauer, another key event in the industry was his visit to the Trento Film Festival—the world’s oldest mountain film festival—at the beginning of May. Each year, the festival sets new standards in terms of diversity and its supporting programme, attracting the most prominent names in mountain sports and mountain film. 2025 is Dauer’s first year as solo Festival Director of the Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival. In Trento, he was joined by Manuela Brandl, who has been serving at the new head of the festival office since the beginning of the year. Together, they represented the Tegernsee Festival, watched and picked attractive films and used the festival experience to exchange ideas and network.
Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing at Lake Tegernsee. By the end of May, a six-member selection jury will determine the films to be screened in autumn. Afterwards, the festival programme will be curated. The event will showcase a diverse range of films highlighting the breadth of the mountain film genre—featuring stories beyond the mainstream and welcoming many fascinating guests.
Details on prizes, endowments, and the call for entries can be found at: www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de
Further information: Sonderbüro Bergfilm-Festival Tegernsee, Rathausplatz 1, 83684 Tegernsee, Germany, Phone +49(0)8022-1801-27 or -53, bergfilm@tegernsee.de, www.bergfilm-tegernsee.de