Official, Audience and Independent Awards

GOLDEN GENTIAN - GRAND PRIX CITY OF TRENTO

For the film that best represents the cultural objectives inspiring the Festival overall, being of high artistic quality.

6000€

Le Chant des Forêts

Vincent Munier

France / 2025 / 95'

We have declared war on nature, but we will lose the battle. Nonetheless, this film gives us hope and shows us that it is not too late to reconnect with what truly matters. Seen through the eyes of three generations, challenging a society that has made speed and performance its cardinal virtues, Le Chant des Forêts invites us to rediscover patience, slowness and silence, and to cultivate the transmission of knowledge with poetry, wisdom and sensitivity. Vincent Munier teaches us to open our eyes, but above all, our ears. He invites us to marvel at the simple things before and below us. There is no need to go to the other side of the world: it is enough to enter the first forest within reach and listen to its song. All of us can do this, thus putting an end to the war and making peace both with nature and ourselves.

GOLDEN GENTIAN CAI - ITALIAN ALPINE CLUB

For the best film on mountaineering.

3000€

Kronoshock

Ignasi López Fàbregas

Spain / 2026 / 9' / International premiere

Kronoshock is thought-provoking, creative and entertaining. In less than ten minutes, it summarises the evolution of mountaineering over the decades, its goals and challenges, but above all its impact on nature. With humour and irony, it invites the audience to consider when and where we lost our way and what we can do to find our way back to the summit.

GOLDEN GENTIAN CITY OF BOLZANO-BOZEN

For the best exploration or adventure movie.

3000€

The North

Bart Schrijver

Netherlands / 2025 / 131'

The greatest exploration takes place within. The greatest adventure is finding the right perspective to view one’s own life from a distance. This happens when we turn our eyes, minds and pathways back towards the wilderness.

SILVER GENTIAN

For the best artistic-technical contribution.

1500€

Le Sang et la Boue

Jean-Gabriel Leynaud

Congo - Kinshasa, Germany, France / 2024 / 96' / Italian premiere

Confronting a harsh and cruel reality, the film gives a voice to those who would otherwise be dismissed as mere statistics or collateral damage of progress. Thanks to a director who skilfully recedes into the background, we see individuals with lives, dreams, hopes and a shattered future, leading us to form a genuine bond with the characters. In this way, the film helps to restore some of the dignity taken from them.

SILVER GENTIAN

For the best short film.

1500€

White flag

Parviz Rostami

Iran / 2025 / 15' / Italian premiere

Pure poetry, raw emotion and pure cinematography, this film tells a universal story that transcends time.

JURY PRIZE

2000€

Silver

Natalia Koniarz

Poland, Norway, Finland / 2025 / 79' / Italian premiere

Rather than attempting to explain the world inside the mines, Silver is a film that allows us to experience the atmosphere and silence reigning within them, along with the exploitation characterising them. Exploitation of men and women, but at the same time, exploitation of the mountains, which are gradually disappearing, gutted by mining taking place with a violence that desecrates the sacredness of the mountains – a situation masterfully conveyed by the film.

T4FUTURE AWARD

An award established by Trento Film Festival in 2022 – For the best work in the T4Future film section. The jury is made up of pupils at secondary schools in Trentino..

The Last Ranger

Cindy Lee

United States, South Africa / 2024 / 28'

Following careful assessment of the competing films, we have chosen as winner The Last Ranger for the way it conveys a subtle, often overlooked message, prompting the audience to reflect on humanity’s enormous impact on nature.

AUDIENCE AWARD - BEST MOUNTAINEERING FILM
 ROTARI

For the mountaineering, climbing and adventure film, of any length, most voted by the audience among all the films in the program.

Girl Climber

Jon Glassberg

United States / 2025 / 82' / Italian premiere

AUDIENCE AWARD - BEST FULL-LENGTH FILM 
DAO

For the film most voted by the audience among the feature documentaries in Competition.

Courma et Courmayeur

Elettra Gallone

Italy / 2025 / 79' / Italian premiere

MARIO BELLO AWARD

Assigned by the Film Library of Club Alpino Italiano in memory of Mario Bello, it is awarded to the film that best reflects the association’s founding values and ideals, and that represents the many facets of mountaineering as a human, cultural and technical adventure, respecting the environment.

1500€

The jury, chaired by Angelo Schena and made up of Alessia Moretti and Marco Ribetti, has decided to assign the award to the film

SUSTRAIAK, raíces perdidas

Luis Arrieta Etxeberria

Spain, Morocco / 2025 / 73' / Italian premiere

In the film, climbing is an activity symbolising the protagonists’ quest for a better future, despite the difficulties they face. The director presents us with a gripping film narrative, marked by a wealth of human and social nuances.

RAI TRENTO AWARD

Established by the RAI branch in Trento - For the best documentary on current affairs.

750€

The jury, chaired by Sergio Pezzola and composed by Waimer Walter Perinelli and Stefano Uccia, has assigned the award to the documentary

Land of Canaan

Maggie Lemere

Palestinian Territories, United States / 2025 / 84' / International premiere

“We are all under the same sun” – these are the opening words of the film Land of Canaan by Maggie Lemere, director, oral history scholar and National Geographic explorer. The story is set in Palestine, a land ravaged by war. At the heart of the narrative lies the olive tree, a symbol of peace and life. Through their labour, Palestinian farmers defy those who seek to displace them, nurturing their trees as a source of wealth to pass on to their children; a tradition and legacy handed down, given to us by our parents. The land of Canaan has an abundance of ancient, centuries-old olive trees, whose fruit provides life-sustaining sustenance, thanks to a solidarity-based economy. The olive tree is not merely an economic resource, but the very lifeblood binding together the past and the future, a link between generations and nature, and a millennia-old symbol of identity and resilience. The film is a condemnation of war but also a message of peace: “What does your religion matter,” says one of the protagonists, “Muslim, Jewish, Christian – we all share the same sky. When we are in harmony with the earth, there is peace.” Through the land, the people reassert their existence and their right to guard their heritage.

DOLOMITES WORLD HERITAGE AWARD


Established by the Fondazione Dolomiti UNESCO and SAT Società Alpinisti Tridentini - For the best film documenting the awareness within communities of the exceptional universal values recognised by UNESCO and the ability to carry out active conservation of the area.

1000€

The jury, made up of da Massimiliano Corradini (President), Mauro Pascolini and Cinzia Fedrizzi has decided to award the prize to the film

La Cima

Simone Cargnoni

Italy / 2026 / 52' / Italian premiere

Three bodies, three stories and a wall in the Dolomites. Climbing is neither a race nor a record, but a shared enterprise, and silent and unspoken support between climbers. The camera stays close, without dramatising. The summit brings no celebration, only questions; and in the dialogue between man and nature, limits once thought to be insurmountable become open questions. Mountains cannot be owned: they are there to be listened to, together, while some make them accessible to those who have stopped believing, in the spirit of UNESCO’s universal values.

The jury for the prize has also decided to award a special mention to the film

Beyul

Francesco Clerici, Angelica Pastorella

Italy / 2026 / 64'

STUDENTS’ AWARD - UNIVERSITIES OF TRENTO, BOLZANO AND INNSBRUCK


Established by the Universities of Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck - For a work of particular cultural value made by a director under the age of 33.

1500€

The international jury for the prize, made up of Edoardo Marchetti, Jenny Pianezzola, Francesca Fumera (University of Trento), Marco Gardini, Delia Bianchi, Lorenzo Del Forno (University of Bolzano), Leonardo Colabianchi, Mara Gerstgrasser and Mara Nicolussi Moz (University of Innsbruck), has decided to award the 2026 special prize offered by these institutions to

Silver

Natalia Koniarz

Poland, Norway, Finland / 2025 / 79' / Italian premiere

The jury assigns this award for the film’s high technical quality, highlighted by the precision of the framing both in confined spaces and within the open quarries, alongside sound editing of rare effectiveness; for its ability to interpret the festival’s theme in an original way, transforming the silver mine into an unprecedented mountain landscape with its own cultural ecosystem; for the film’s political commitment, aimed at rigorously recreating the life and historical legacy of the Potosí mines, defined by colonial reasoning and brutal working conditions.

A special mention is also reserved for

The Wind Blows Wherever It Wants

Ivan Boiko

Georgia / 2026 / 69'

ANTHROPOCENE MUSE AWARD

Established by MUSE, Trento Science Museum - it is awarded to the work that best explores the relationship between mankind and the rest of the natural world in the Anthropocene era.

1000€

The jury, made up of Stefano Bruno Galli (President), Massimo Bernardi, Davide Dalpiaz, Luca Scoz, Fabio Pupin ed Elisabetta Filosi, has unanimously decided to award the prize to the film

A Bear Remembers

Zhang & Knight

United Kingdom / 2024 / 20' / Italian premiere

The Anthropocene MUSE Award is presented to the film A Bear Remembers for its ability to portray the Anthropocene as a loss that is not merely environmental, but also cultural and symbolic.
Using a contemplative and evocative style, the film portrays the erasure of memories, knowledge, and relationships connecting communities to their environment, transforming the ecological crisis into a crisis of imagination and social cohesion. However, the act of remembering opens up a possibility: the ending suggests a fragile yet significant form of reconnection, where memory becomes an act of resistance and a starting point for reimagining human and the non-human relationships.

MUSEO ETNOGRAFICO TRENTINO SAN MICHELE AWARD

Established by the Museo etnografico trentino San Michele - For the film best documenting the traditions and customs of mountain people with ethno-anthropological documentary accuracy.

1500€

The jury, chaired by Ezio Amistadi and made up of Armando Tomasi and Luca Faoro, has awarded the prize to the film

Pestiferus Lupus

Luca Jankovic, Ludovico Serra

Italy / 2025 / 54' / Italian premiere

“I get the feeling that some people think the mountains should become a museum, a park for visitors to come and see. But that’s not the case. We live here all year round. It is our home.” The words of the parish priest in the small community of Forno reveal the profound meaning of the film, in which the return of the pestiferus lupus becomes a symbol and metaphor for mountains that cannot be reduced to an idealised world constructed and cultivated elsewhere.

CINEMA FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD

The Prize is a joint initiative of the Fondazione Campana dei Caduti and the Forum Trentino per la Pace e i Diritti Umani – For the work that best communicates the underlying values of the two institutions and that raises public awareness about issues related to human rights, peace, sustainability, and awareness and dialogue between peoples and cultures.

1000€

The jury, made up of Katia Malatesta, Marco Marsilli, Morena Berti and Riccardo Santoni, has decided to award the prize to the film

Le Sang et la Boue

Jean-Gabriel Leynaud

Congo - Kinshasa, Germany, France / 2024 / 96' / Italian premiere

Set in Numbi, the film exposes the inhumane exploitation of Congolese workers in the mining of coltan, which is essential for our smartphones. Through its ability to blend artistic expression with social commentary, Le Sang et la Boue stands out as a work of great ethical and artistic merit, shedding light on the contradictions of a post-colonial system that turns the earth’s riches into a curse.

GREEN FILM AWARD

Set up by the Agenzia Provinciale per la Protezione dell'Ambiente and Trentino Film Commission - The prize is awarded to the film that most effectively expresses environmental protection and sustainability values and practices, with particular attention for the mountain environment and climate change.

1500€

The jury, made up of Marco Niro, Lavinia Laiti and Linnea Merzagora has awarded the prize to the film

Le Chant des Forêts

Vincent Munier

France / 2025 / 95'

AMELIA DE ECCHER AWARD - FOR WOMEN ACTIVE IN FILM AND MOUNTAINS

Established by Riccarda de Eccher - In memory of Amelia de Eccher, for women on both sides of the camera.

1000€

The jury, made up of Linda Cottino, Bruna Proclemer e Ingrid Runggaldier, has awarded the prize to the film

Fémene

Elena Goatelli

Italy / 2026 / 61' / Italian premiere

The jury unanimously awards the prize to director Elena Goatelli for her documentary Fémene, which impressed the jury by placing women of different generations at the heart of a narrative full of both information and emotion, exploring the condition of women in the mountains of Trentino and within Italian society. These intimate and personal micro-stories come together to form a collective narrative in which the political subjectivity of women emerges clearly, through themes ranging from education, family and gender relations to abortion, employment and economic dependence, offering a perspective that is delicate, sensitive and ironic, yet never superficial.

"CITY OF IMOLA” AWARD

Established by C.A.I. Imola branch and Municipality of Imola - Assigned to the fiction or documentary film work that stands out from the others in terms of its artistic and technical quality, emphasis on the underlying values of CAI, and the originality of the issues dealt with and/or the story recounted.

1000€

The jury, made up of Tamara Lunger (President), Mauro Bartoli, Carlo Machirelli, Nicoletta Favaron, Giuseppe Savini and Giacomo Gambi, has decided to award the prize to the film

Oltre i venti del sud

Gian Luca Gasca

Italy, Switzerland / 2026 / 27' / Italian premiere

Majori and Della Bordella’s winter expedition to the most unforgiving pillar of Mount Fitz Roy pays tribute to the legendary Renato Casarotto, forty years after his death, echoing the passion that defined his life. Mirroring its protagonists, the film offers an intimate, clear and authentic account of a mountaineering adventure that transcends time, capturing both the allure and the harshness of extreme mountaineering.

The jury for the prize has also decided to award a special mention to the film

Prima dell'Aurora

Chiara Zoja

Italy / 2026 / 14'

EUSALP AWARD. WHAT KEEPS ME HERE OR BRINGS ME BACK

Established by Autonomous Province of Trento - the Prize aims to promote the stories of those who choose to live in or come back to the mountains, recognising the value and potential of these areas. Specifically, the initiative intends to highlight experiences related to work in mountain environments, ranging from traditional trades to innovative experiences, including those developing as a result of digital technology. Grasping these new opportunities allows residents of all ages to make fully aware choices to stay or settle in the mountains, generating significant socioeconomic spin-offs and combating the depopulation of mountain areas.

1500€

The jury, chaired by the Provincial Councillor Simone Marchiori and composed of Valeria Placidi, Roberta Cuel, Metella Costanzi and Filippo Benedetti, has awarded the prize to the film

Une journée | Un berger, dans les Alpes françaises

Camille Walter

France / 2025 / 48' / Italian premiere

The documentary was chosen because it offers an authentic account of the various reasons leading four young people to embark on life paths linked to sheep farming. Although they come from different backgrounds and contexts, the protagonists share a strong emotional and cultural bond with the mountain environment, which emerges as a unifying factor in their choices and aspirations. The film successfully conveys the value of alpine ‘know-how’, which is essential to the identity of mountain communities within the EUSALP Strategy. The sincerity of the stories and the reflection on the multiple meanings and motivations underlying the choice to live in the mountains were particularly appreciated. Specifically, the film stands out for its original and sensitive perspective, moving away from more conventional and bucolic representations of the Alpine environment, and has been given the award for portraying the modern face of Alpine pastoralism honestly and faithfully, without romantic idealisation yet imbued with a deep respect for the land. It is precisely this ability to combine authenticity, complexity and narrative rigour that has earned the documentary Une journée | Un berger, dans les Alpes françaises recognition with the EUSALP Award, “What keeps me here or brings me back”.

CinemAMoRe Award

Established jointly by Religion Today Film Festival, Rovereto International Archaeological Film Festival and Trento Film Festival - For the best work/movie/documentary in the Near Horizons section featuring directors, productions, stories and protagonists from Trentino Alto Adige.

The jury, made up of Claudia Beretta, Andrea Morghen and Chiara Sandona, has unanimously decided to award the prize for the Orizzonti vicini section, to the film

La Cima

Simone Cargnoni

Italy / 2026 / 52' / Italian premiere

“The summit is the desire not to run away when you’re afraid.” This line, spoken by one of the protagonists, brings the CinemAMoRe prize-winning film to a close. The award recognises its powerful message of inclusion and accessibility in mountain sports – themes recently spotlighted by the Paralympics in Trentino. Celebrating ten years of inclusive climbing at the Brenta Open, the film weaves together archive footage and compelling personal stories, told through studio interviews and intimate glimpses into everyday life.

RITTER SPORT AWARD - THE THRILL OF THE MOUNTAINS

Established by Ritter Sport, the award wishes to celebrate the “the thrill and joy of experiences in the mountains, in the midst of nature - To the work that best succeeds in transmitting these feelings, which only the mountain environment can provide, combining adventure, discovery and the spirit of sharing”.

1000€

The jury, made up of the photographer and filmmaker Fabio Pasini, Marika Ciaccia, founder of @my_life_in_trek, Silvia and Davide, founders of @bagaglioleggero, Elena Marinoni of Rifugi di Lombardia, Silvestro Serra, communication chief of Touring Club, Andrea Greci, journalist and CAI editorial director, Leonardo Bizzaro, journalist for "La Repubblica", SimonPietro @miliomillemiglia and a team of Ritter Sport Italy, has assigned the award to the film

OUTLIER: Common

Dani Reyes-Acosta

United States, Canada / 2024 / 26'

This film chronicles the stirring journey of three women — a scientist, a filmmaker and a revolutionary (Dr Nina Aragon, Dani Reyes-Acosta and Vanessa Chavarriaga Posada) — as they traverse the mountain ranges of North America in search of new horizons, both in the mountains and within themselves. The story is told with sensitivity and empathy by Dani Reyes-Acosta, who weaves together majestic landscapes and personal stories marked by challenges, changes and profound transformation. Outlier: Common is a work that goes beyond a simple account of a mountain adventure: it represents an intimate and powerful exploration of individual journeys, the courage to reinvent oneself, and the deep connection between nature and identity.

DOLOMITI ENERGIA AWARD

Established by Dolomiti Energia, the award is intended to celebrate the force of water, wind and the sun, which becomes a symbol of positive and lasting synergy between people and nature through transformation into energy for life - To the work that best interprets this relationship, by expressing the concept of energy in a natural context.

500€

The jury, made up of Silvia Arlanch, Clara Mazzi, Chiara De Pol and Sofia Farina has awarded the prize to the film

The Road to Patagonia

Matty Hannon

Australia / 2024 / 90'

The Road to Patagonia emerges as the winner thanks to its intense and authentic narrative, which delicately interweaves a personal journey with the crucial balance between humanity and the planet’s resources. The journey becomes an opportunity for discovery, reflection, and change, leaving the viewer deeply engaged and profoundly moved. Furthermore, the quality of the pure and extremely varied cinematography was particularly appreciated, maintaining a respectful and powerful perspective while moving across radically different environments, from Patagonia, the Amazon rainforest and Central America to Alaska. The film masterfully transforms movement through space into narrative energy, and the power of nature into a driving force for deeper awareness of life.