Trento Film Festival

Overview

The Trento Film Festival is the world's oldest mountain film festival, held annually in Trento, Italy, since 1952. The 74th edition runs from April 24 to May 3, 2026, programming approximately 130 films and 150 events across competitive sections, retrospectives, and cultural programming. The festival is organized by the cultural association "City of Trento" International Film Festival of the Mountains and Exploration, established by CAI (Club Alpino Italiano), the Municipality of Trento, the Municipality of Bolzano, and the Chambers of Commerce of Trento and Bolzano.

For filmmakers working in mountain, adventure, and exploration documentary, Trento is the most historically significant platform available. Submission is free of charge, the top prize carries a 6,000 EUR cash award, and the festival accepts films of any nationality, genre, and duration that deal with mountains, alpinism, exploration, and mountain cultures. The festival's location in the Italian Alps, with the Dolomites visible from the city, gives every screening a direct geographical connection to the subjects on screen.

Filmmakers ready to submit should visit the official submissions page and complete the online form. There is no FilmFreeway portal; submissions go through the festival's own website.

Key Sections

• International Competition - full-length documentaries (over 50 minutes) and short films of any kind, competing for the official Gentian (Genziana) prizes awarded by an international jury
• Nearby Horizons - films focused on the Trentino-Alto Adige region and surrounding Alpine areas; films in this section must not have been previously released in Trentino Alto-Adige
• MuSeDoc - thematic documentaries presented in cooperation with MuSe, the Trento Science Museum
• T4Future - section reserved for children, families, teachers, and pupils, encouraging interest in mountains, nature, and sustainability through film; films in this section compete for the T4Future Prize, awarded by a jury of secondary school students from Trentino
• MontagnaLibri - the 40th edition of the annual international showcase for publishing on mountains, exploration, adventure, and mountain cultures (books published in 2025 or the first three months of 2026 are eligible)
• Retrospectives and Special Screenings - classic mountain films and archival programming

Submission Details

Submission fee: Free. No entry fee is charged for any section.

Submission deadlines for the 74th edition (2026):

• January 10, 2026 - for works produced in 2024 and 2025
• February 10, 2026 - for works produced in 2026 only

Eligibility rules:

• Films must deal with mountains, alpinism, exploration, or mountain cultures
• Works first screened publicly before January 1, 2024 are not eligible
• Films already submitted for previous editions are not eligible
• Films admitted to the international competition must not have been distributed to cinemas in the Italian national circuit
• The festival management reserves the right to exclude works already available online through free or fee-paying platforms in Italy
• For films not in Italian, a file with English or Italian subtitles should be sent at the time of registration
• Selection notification: mid-April 2026
• Screening copies (DCP or digital format) must be delivered by April 5, 2026

How to submit: Complete the official form at trentofestival.it/en/2026-submissions/. Films should be sent via a link indicated in the registration form. Alternatively, a hard drive copy can be sent to: Trento Film Festival, c/o Centro S. Chiara, Via S. Croce 67, 38122 Trento, Italy. Materials sent from outside the EU must include customs clearance documents (pro forma invoice) stating "No commercial value, for cultural purposes only."

Major Awards and Prize Money

Official Gentian Prizes (Genziane), awarded by an international jury:

Additional awards:

• Audience Award for Best Mountaineering Film (open to all films presented at the festival)
• Audience Award for Best Full-Length Film (over 50 minutes, among competing films)
• T4Future Prize (awarded by a jury of secondary school students from Trentino)

Special awards from partner organizations (independent juries):

• Mario Bello Prize: 1,500 EUR
• RAI Trento Prize: 750 EUR
• Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Prize: 1,000 EUR
• University of Trento, Bolzano, and Innsbruck Student Prize: 1,500 EUR
• Anthropocene MuSe Prize: 1,000 EUR
• Trentino Ethnographic Museum San Michele Prize: 1,500 EUR
• Cinema for Human Rights Prize: 1,000 EUR
• Green Film Prize: 1,500 EUR
• Amelia De Eccher Prize (for women in mountain film): 1,000 EUR
• City of Imola Prize: 1,000 EUR
• EUSALP Prize: 1,500 EUR
• Ritter Sport Prize: 1,000 EUR
• Dolomiti Energia Prize: 500 EUR

Special awards are cumulative with official Gentian prizes - a single film can win multiple awards.

What Filmmakers Should Know

Trento is a destination festival for mountain and adventure documentary filmmakers. The free submission removes the financial barrier that most festivals impose, and the total prize pool across official and special awards exceeds 25,000 EUR. The festival's 74-year history means that winning a Gentian carries weight in the mountain film community that newer festivals cannot match.

The 2025 edition (73rd) awarded the Golden Gentian for Best Film to "Donde los arboles dan carne" by Alexis Franco (Argentina/Spain/USA), produced by Roberto Minervini. The CAI Prize for Best Mountaineering Film went to "Adra" by Emma Crome (UK), and the City of Bolzano Prize for Best Exploration or Adventure Film went to "All The Mountains Give" by Arash Rakhsha (Iran). The 2026 edition (74th) awarded the Golden Gentian for Best Film to "Le Chant des Forets" by Vincent Munier (France), with the CAI Prize going to the animated short "Kronoshock" by Ignasi Lopez Fabregas.

Films selected for Trento screen in a city surrounded by the Italian Alps, and the festival audience includes a high concentration of mountaineers, alpinists, and outdoor industry professionals. The festival's April timing falls before the European mountain season begins, which means the audience is primed for mountain content in a way that summer or fall festivals cannot replicate.

The festival also runs MontagnaLibri, a parallel book fair for mountain and exploration publishing, which provides additional exposure for filmmakers whose work intersects with print media or book projects.

Festival History

Trento Film Festival was founded in 1952 by CAI (Club Alpino Italiano) and the Municipality of Trento. The founding came during the golden age of Himalayan exploration, when the first ascents of the world's highest peaks were generating global attention. Trento provided a dedicated platform for expedition films and mountaineering cinema, establishing a tradition that has continued uninterrupted for over seven decades.

The festival has operated continuously since 1952, making it older than every other mountain film festival in existence, including Banff (founded 1976) and Kendal (founded 1980). The Gentian (Genziana) awards, named after the alpine flower, are among the oldest continuous film prizes in the documentary and adventure filmmaking world.

The festival is now jointly organized by CAI, the Municipality of Trento, the Municipality of Bolzano, and the Chambers of Commerce of Trento and Bolzano, reflecting its regional significance across the Trentino-Alto Adige area. The 74th edition in 2026 programs 130 films and 150 events, and the 75th edition is already announced for April 24 to May 2, 2027.

See Also

For adventure documentary filmmaking, see Documentary Filmmaking Guide. For the Banff Mountain Film Festival, see Banff Mountain Film Festival. To calculate your festival submission budget across multiple festivals, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For festival circuit planning, see Film Festival Strategy.