The Festival’s history begins in October, 2002 when it was called the ‘Wanaka Mountain Slide Festival’. The Festival was founded by Wanaka locals Mark & Jo Sedon after Mark got the idea from visiting a Festival in Australia’s Blue Mountains. Mark is a Mountain Guide and Jo is a Realestate Agent. They were both keen climbers, hikers, travellers, a skier (Mark) and a snowboarder (Jo).
It was a beautiful spring Labour Weekend, the first nice weather weekend of the summer. Way too nice to be inside, but the talks were well attended and the festival theme was created, “A Celebration of Adventurous Sports and Lifestyles”. One speaker flying in from Wellington got delayed due to fog, so they had to think of something to fill the space. Guy Cotter leant a DVD which was played, much to the enjoyment of the visitors and to the surprise to Mark of how good the film looked on the big screen.
This first film inspired the creation of New Zealand’s first and still sole adventure film makers competition and the timing of the festival was changed to Autumn, when the days are shorter and there is less to do in Wanaka – click on the read more history for the rest of the story…
2002
The Festival’s history begins in October, 2002 when it was called the ‘Wanaka Mountain Slide Festival’. The Festival was founded by Wanaka locals Mark & Jo Sedon after Mark got the idea from visiting a Festival in Australia’s Blue Mountains. Mark is a Mountain Guide and Jo is a Realestate Agent. They were both keen climbers, hikers, travellers, a skier (Mark) and a snowboarder (Jo).
2004
The next event was in June 2004 and called the ‘Free Spirit Festival’. Presenters gave slide shows using the ‘old fashion’ 35mm slide projectors (the last year these were used). The adventure film maker’s competition attracted 40 films so Jo and Mark came up with a judging criteria to help select the best films to screen. They hired a state of the art digital projector ( and a backup) and the biggest screen available in NZ. The Lake Wanaka Centre’s tiered seating system was used so that every seat in the house was spectacular. Festival Passes were sold to all shows which proved extremely popular to this day ($50 in 2004).
There was a world record attempt at a Dyno Competition which thrilled 250 spectators with young strong shirt-less lads leaping over 2m in the warm autumn sunshine. Mark came up with the Hiddleston/MacQueen Award for the best NZ made film in remembrance of two great friends and personalities recently lost to the mountains. The Wanaka community got behind the Festival as it promotes the ethics and passions many people living in the area hold.
2005
At the risk of being the festival with many names, the name changed to the “Wanaka Mountain Film festival”. The event started gathering momentum and with several big name sponsors they started inviting international speakers. The Adventure Trade Show and Art Exhibitions were added to the programme. Workshops were added to the schedule and the Queens Birthday event started bringing a couple of hundred people to town.
2007 – 2011
In 2007 film entrants reached a 75 and the date of the festival was moved to the first week of the school holidays (July). The final (for now) name change was in 2008 when it was changed to the ‘NZ Mountain Film Festival’. The forecasted economical benefits for the region almost reached the half million dollar mark. A charity auction evolved from donated goods sold through a silent auction.
In 2009 the Festival went digital making for better stream lined starts and reliable play back of films. Before this Mark would introduce the films, then duck behind the curtain and play the film on VHS or DVD.
The 2011 festival was huge as none of the ski resorts had snow so everyone flocked to the event for the films and speakers. The Adventure Film School was created and an Adventure Film Editing Competition trialled.
2012 – 2013
The decennial festival in 2012 was also the biggest at six days long with additional venues in Wanaka (Ruby’s and Cinema Paradiso) and a new venue in Queenstown (Queenstown Memorial Centre). This was also a turning point in the event’s history. The Festival was becoming more and more work to organise. It wasn’t something Mark could organise on his weekends and in his spare time. It was decision time, formalise the event, or shut it down…..
By the time the 2013 Festival opened an un-paid Board of Trustees was signed in, a Trust Deed written and approved, guidelines developed and non-profit status established. The Board retained Mark Sedon on as Festival Director. Later in 2013 the NZ Mountain Film Festival Chartable Trust was approved and registered as an official charity (registration #CC49344).
The Trust is currently trying to develop a group of Patrons, Friends and Benefactors who make a tax deductible donation to the Trust (see here). Additional funds are also raised through funding agencies and gaming trusts.
The event established its formula of five days of activities in Wanaka, one in Cromwell and two in Queenstown with an average attendance of around 3000 people. Around $3,000 – $4,000 is raised at the charity auction annually to give away through the Trust’s grant scheme.
The Trust continues to develop and run free youth programmes and Central Otago youth are often bussed into Wanaka (at the Trust’s expense) to attend free and inspirational shows. Youth scholarship positions are offered on the Adventure Film School and community educational workshops are offered.
2015-2018
In 2015 the inaugural NZ Mountain Book Festival was added to the programme and a book competition added in 2016. Free family shows and a national free school programme was also added as the Trust looks for ways to keep Kiwis active in the outdoors and with the environment.
2017 and 2018 saw us carry on building on the Mountain Book events, the free family shows and region wide school programme where we provide transport for students to come to Wanaka. Speakers included Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding and the Festival was welcomed into the International Alliance for Mountain Film.
The Trust is dedicated to keeping the Festival as a grass roots event. Small intimate shows and a friendly social atmosphere. It’s mandate is to keep the shows as inexpensive as possible, while putting on world class events. They aim to inspire people to dream big and take on new challenges suitable to their physical ability.
2002
Shaun Barnett, Dean Staples, Mark Sedon, Eric Draper, Paul Rogers, Graham Charles, David Hiddleston, Guy Cotter, Steve Eastwood, Hugh Barnard, Mark Morrison, Daniel Jenkins, Mark Watson, Pat Deavoll, Karen McNeill, Dave Vass, Al Uren
2004
Jim Harding, Sean Waters, Marcus Waters, Duncan Kemsley, Lydia Bradey, Colin Monteath, Mark Sedon, Lionel Clay
2005
Athol Whimp (Australia), Monasterio brothers, Shaun Barnett, Guy Cotter, Sean Waters, Doug Hamilton, Pat Deavoll
2006
Peter Hillary, Bruce Dowrick, Jonathan Clearwater, Simon Carter,
2007
Allan Uren, Paul Knott, Mark Inglis, Lani Evans, Helen Nortje
2008
Timmy O’Neill (USA), Alice Smith, Dennis Behan, Brian Alder, Mark Sedon, Chuck Berry, Lydia Bradey
2009
Andrew Lock (Australia), Craig Stewart, Rosalind Wood, Penny Goddard, Hugh Barnard
2010
Will Gadd (Canada), Adrian Laing, Martin Jones, Kylie Wakelin
2011
Greg Child (USA), Debbie Chambers, Lydia Bradey, Steve Eastwood, Steve Gurney, Steve Moffat
2012
Tim Emmett (UK), Christine Byrch, Mal Haskins, Michael Archer
2013
Cory Richards (USA), Cas and Jonesy (Australia), Blair Smith, Dave Johns
2014
Kitty Calhoun (USA), Kieran McKay, Tim Cope (Australia)
2015
Alex Honnold (USA), Ben Brown, Steve Gurney
2016
Chris Davenport (USA), Brando Yelavich, Steve Fortune
2017
Leo Houlding (UK), Chris Jensen Burke, Penny Webster
2018
Conrad Anker (USA), Crystal Brindle, Dulkara Martig, Mark Sedon
2019
Lynn Hill (USA), Ben Kozel (Australia), Annabel Anderson.
2020
Tara Mulvany, Scott Donaldson, Geoff Spearpoint and Jo Haines (all NZ).
2021
Mark Watson, Tara Mulvany, Peta Carey, Sam Masters, Nic Low and Max Quinn (all NZ).
Our international mountain film competition has been going since 2005 and here are our list of past winners:
2005 – Amazonia Vertical, Slovakia, Directed by Pavol Barabáš.
2006 – The Other Face of K2, Spain, Directed by Roig Rigol.
2007 – Gasherbrum II – The Fastest Summit, Germany, Directed by Niko Jager.
2008 – The Beckoning Silence, UK Directed by Louise Osmond.
2009 – Acopan Tepui, Germany, Directed by Jochen Schmoll.
2010 – Mount St.Elias, Austria, Directed by Gerald Salmina.
2011 – The Prophet, UK, Directed by Alastair Lee.
2012 – Race for the Nose, USA, Directed by Nick Rosen and Peter Mortimer.
2013 – The Shark’s Fin, USA, Directed by Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen, Josh Lowell, Renan Ozturk, Shannon Ethridge.
2014 – Footprints on the Ridge, Slovakia, Directed by Pavol Barabáš.
2015 – Myanmar: Bridges to Change, USA, Directed by Mark Fisher and Eric Daft.
2016 – Locked In – First Descent of the Beriman Gorge, Austria, Directed by Bryan Smith and David Pearson.
2017 – Into Twin Galaxies – A Greenland Epic, Germany, Directed by Jochen Schmoll.
2018 – Liv Along the Way, Canada, Directed by Mike Douglas.
2019 – Spectre Expedition – To the End of the Earth, Directors: Alastair Lee & Leo Houlding.
2020 – Lhotse, Directed by Dutch Simpson, USA.
2021- K2: Impossible Descent, Directed by Steve Robillard, Austria.
2022 – House of The God, Directed by Matt Pycroft, UK.
Mark Sedon’s Spectre expedition
The NZ Mountain Film Festival Charitable Trust is governed by an unpaid eight member board of Trustees.
Chairperson: Anna Cook (Lake Hawea).
Secretary/Treasurer: Mark Sedon (Lake Hawea).
Trustees: Sue Webb (Wanaka), Quentin Smith (Wanaka), Jo Sedon (Lake Hawea), Megan Davies (Wanaka), Richard Sidey (Wanaka) & Whitney Oliver (Wanaka).
