About us
Founded in 1952, Trento Film Festival is the oldest international film festival dedicated to the mountains, adventure and exploration. The Trento festival has represented the point of reference on these subjects for over 70 years, over time transforming itself into a genuine testing ground for visions and ideas on the highest lands on earth, embracing an ever-increasing range of interests, including environmental and cultural issues and current affairs, making the festival environment and programme even more varied and stimulating.
TRENTO FILM FESTIVAL – THE WORLD’S FIRST THEMATIC FESTIVAL
Mountaineering and mountaineers, mountain cultures and peoples represent the starting point for an initiative that has seen the Festival and its city evolve alongside each other, developing constantly innovative themes and languages, each year cultivating dialogue in line with the sensibilities of the times.
MOUNTAINS AND CULTURES
Established in 1952, Trento Film Festival is the oldest thematic film festival in the world and the second oldest film festival in Italy, predated only by Venice Film Festival. For seventy years it has been the key event dedicated to the mountains, adventure and exploration, over time becoming a genuine testing ground for visions and ideas on the highest lands on earth. The introduction of environmental, cultural and topical issues has gradually made the festival environment and programme even more varied and stimulating, at both the springtime edition in Trento and the Bolzano event. The mountains are the stars of the show and many themes have opened up and evolved over the years, starting with mountaineering and the key international players, exploring new forms of language, dialogue and sharing with the public.
FILM
Each year the international competition presents the best documentaries, fiction and short films set in the mountains and extreme areas of the Earth, competing for the Gentian awards, assigned by a jury made up of significant figures from the worlds of film, culture and mountaineering. The Festival also includes different sections recounting the fascinating and complex relationship between man and nature, promoting awareness and protection of the environment, examining in depth the bonds with peoples and cultures, and celebrating major and minor feats in the field of climbing and mountain sports.
LITERATURE
Since 1987 the MontagnaLibri fair, an international showcase dedicated to mountain publishing, has become one of the most popular and multifaceted events at national level, presenting around a thousand books fresh off the press, all ready to be browsed, and a programme of meetings with some of the most well-known and popular authors.
KEY PLAYERS
During the Festival, the city of Trento is transformed into the international capital of the mountains, a meeting place for mountaineers, directors, writers and the public, giving rise to unique moments and creating unforgettable memories. From the very first editions, the Festival has always attracted major international guests, featured at evening events dedicated to past history and current affairs. The Festival programme has never failed to include a range of meetings, round tables, shows and music, literary encounters, exhibitions and evening entertainment.
ART
The mountains have always inspired artists, who have depicted them by resorting to different languages. The exhibitions presented during the event range from photographic reports to painting, sculpture and graphics shows, also exploring land art, video art and original exhibition projects dedicated to games, comics and cartoons.
TOUR
Once the curtain comes down on the main event, Trento Film Festival goes on a 365-day tour of Italy. The emotions transmitted by the Festival can be relived thanks to film distribution and dozens of events organised in cooperation with national and international bodies and institutions, cultural associations and commercial organisations.
INQUOTA.TV
InQuota is the streaming platform developing out of cooperation between Trento Film Festival and Club Alpino Italiano (CAI), with the scope of allowing mountain enthusiasts to watch a large number of films dedicated to mountaineering, adventure and nature from the comfort of their own homes. Full information about how to subscribe and to explore the films online is available at www.inquota.tv
T4FUTURE
Trento Film Festival For Future is the independent section dedicated to schools, teachers, children and families, offering an extensive programme of screenings, image education workshops and activities designed to promote sustainable development, protection of the mountains and global citizenship education. T4Future also offers training activities directed at teachers, taking place during the school year, and an online teaching kit always available for classroom education.
In numbers
AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE*
CINEMA
120 films selected from 37 different countries
24 international premieres
87 Italian premieres
25 films competing in the International Competition
More than 20,200 tickets sold for the screenings
EVENTS
Over 160 events in more than 40 locations
More than 18 thousand spectators
MONTAGNALIBRI
Over 600 books on display: novels, biographies, essays, travelogues, guidebooks on the themes of mountains, exploration, adventure and highland cultures
More than 20,000 visitors
A bookshop with thousands of titles
22 guest authors at the Literary Salon
2 days of the Mostra-Mercato delle librerie antiquarie di Montagna in an ad hoc location
T4FUTURE
Section of the Trento Film Festival dedicated to children, families and schools, to educate on global citizenship, mountain conservation and environmental sustainability
83 workshops and events for children at the Parco dei Mestieri in Piazza Fiera
13,500 entries over the nine days of activities
4,700 students and teachers involved in cinema and in-presence activities
ART AND MOUNTAINS
15 exhibitions organised or hosted by the Trento Film Festival
One live artistic performance that accompanied the ten days of the festival
*2024 edition data references
