Mountainfilm

The published 2026 cash awards are: Best Documentary Feature — $5,000; Best Documentary Short — $5,000; Audience Choice (feature) — $5,000; Audience Choice Short — $1,000; Charlie Fowler Best Adventure Film — $2,500; Moving Mountains — $2,500, split between the film ($1,500) and its associated nonprofit ($1,000); Women in Film — $3,500; Student Choice — $2,000; James Balog Creative Vision — $5,000; First Peoples — $2,500; and LGBTQ+ Impact — $3,000. Juries select film awards, while festival attendees choose the two audience prizes and participating high-school students choose Student Choice. Other honours include the Hilaree Nelson Lifetime Adventure Award and Golden Heart Award. The 2027 submission guidelines confirm cash prizes; individual award amounts above describe the published 2026 structure.

2027 eligibility: Documentary films from any country are considered when they fit the festival’s mission. Features are 40 minutes or longer; shorts are under 40 minutes including credits. Non-English films require English subtitles. VR projects and rough cuts are not accepted; clearly labelled fine cuts may be considered. Films should normally premiere after June 2026 and must generally not have screened or been broadcast in Colorado before the festival. Previous screenings and online availability affect selection. Submit through FilmFreeway with complete contact details, synopsis, technical information, high-resolution stills, director biography/headshot and an online screener; features also require a trailer. Vimeo is preferred, and screeners must remain available until 15 June 2027. Each film needs a separate application. Fees are non-refundable. The final deadline is 14 January 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Fee discounts are considered for eligible low-/middle-income-country, global-majority/BIPOC and student applicants. Selected films require a DCP for exhibition. New cuts are normally not reviewed after submission, except completion of a previously identified fine cut.