We’ve been flooded with a wave of fantastic fresh entries to the sixth annual BMC TV & Womenclimb Women in Adventure Film Competition and have 30 new female-led adventure films to share with you.

Gaining more and more engagement each year, the competition was set up by the BMC, Womenclimb and the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival to try and get more women in front of, and behind, the camera.  A whopping 30 films were entered this year, with a £1,500 prize pool up for grabs and with Montane coming on board as the official sponsor, this year is set to be the best one yet. And now we can share the doses of female-led adventure with you!

The winning film will be screened at the BMC Sheffield Adventure Film Festival (ShAFF) and Kendal Mountain Festival, PLUS the winner will bag themselves free entry into Banff Mountain Film Festival. All the films are now available on the Team BMC YouTube channel so now it’s over to you to join us in watching them!

Spread the Word

The count for the Most Watched category starts today! The winner of this award will be decided by the number of views each film receives through the BMC's Youtube channel. So don’t forget to get sharing your favourites to help them win. The judges will also be looking to award films the Judges Special Mention Award, the Montane Women in Adventure Award, Runner Up Award and Best Professional Film.

Read more about the judging criteria and prizes up for grabs 

Women in Adventure Events at Sheffield Adventure Film Festival

BMC Women in Adventure Screening: Presented by Montane. Saturday 21st March 14:15-15:30

Come and watch the shortlisted BMC Women in Adventure film competition entries and be the first to see who are crowned the 2020 winners. 

Women in Adventure Panel and Workshop. Saturday 17:30-19:00

Back with a new structure for this year, this FREE Women in Adventure 2020 Panel and Workshop is bringing you a rotating interactive session where those interested in finding out more about the outdoor industry will be able to move through the tables with our special guests from the industry: These rotating sessions will be a mixture of presentations, talks, informal Q&As and advice giving with sessions about:

🌳 How to develop skills for the Outdoors Industry with Womenclimb Founder Emily Pitts

📽️ How to make a great film: from passion project to commercial work with award-winning film makers Emma Brennand, Anna Paxton and Emma Crome

🎞️ The Outdoor Film Industry: Who chooses? with ShAFF Head Judge Claire Carter and European Outdoor Film Tour Programmer Paula Flach

🧗 How to get into Mountain Rescue: Ask the experts with Mountain Rescue candidates

🚵 Volunteer to President: volunteer skills in the outdoors with BMC President Lynn Robinson

🔬 Research into women in the outdoors and adventure with Senior Lecturer Adele Doran

This will be a valuable event to attend whether for networking, looking for the next step to get you involved in your own Women in Adventure project or if you're looking for new opportunities and ideas to improve on your own film making.

The films

Are you ready to receive your hit of adventure? Here they are, all the awesome films that have been entered this year:

Hers to Take

A documentary exploring the benefits of risk-taking for women in outdoors adventure sport. The story follows the filmmaker Annie Martin as she learns to deal with her fear of failure while bouldering in the Peak District. To aid with this journey, she meets with some other women to learn how they cope with risk-taking and fear in the outdoors adventure sports world.

Daughters of the Dark

Women cavers reveal the challenges, joys and unique experiences they have discovered in the deep dark of the underground world. Explorers, discoverers, beginners, scientists, artists and women of all ages find adventure and camaraderie in caving. This film documents a huge range of activities underground in UK and Ireland caves and mines. It was made to encourage participation in caving, speleology and potholing. A film by Antonia and Andy Freem.

Clean up the Arctic

Filmed during a 4800 mile journey to Svalbard. This film documents the challenges and the special moments experienced by the crew as they strive to learn more about how humans are affecting life in the Arctic Ocean. A film by Katherine Knight.

Brompton

Corrine and Persia, two young and driven female producers cycled their Bromptons on each of the widest range of landscapes in the world. Cycling, much like music and dance, is an activity that is inclusive and relatable to people in almost every walk of life, and something that brings people together, which was something that the duo tried to achieve in the video. A film by Persia Castellani and Corrine Amos

Enduro Escape: Transylvania

In a tiny village near Brasov, Transylvania, three friends and fellow dirt bike riders decided to start a tour company. In an attempt to widen their potential customer base, they invited influencer and nomadic journalist Egle Gerulaityte, and rider/shooter Gabriella Linford along for a few days of hard enduro training. Here’s what it’s like to let loose in the Romanian wilderness on dirt bikes, to ride where no woman has ridden before, and to show the blokes what women are really made of! A film by Gabriella Linford.

Looking Out

A story about the Human Spirit. Pa (Philippa) Arding has suffered two life threatening accidents in the last 11 years. Left with a permanent limp and a brain injury that makes speech and language incredibly difficult for her, she has defied the odds and gone on to overcome many obstacles, take part in great adventures and lead marine conservation initiatives. Pa is an inspiring human with an amazing story to share, relating to every one of us. A film by Greg Dennis.

Conquer the Kent Coast: Swimming

This film is one ‘episode’ from a fundraising challenge in which Liu and Georgina attempted to cycle the entire coastline of Kent, while trying as many different sports as they could along the way - all in just one weekend! This is the Open Water Swimming section of the challenge - hosted by a member of a local open water swimming club. A film by Liu Batchelor and Georgina White.

Conquer the Kent Coast: SUP

This film is one ‘episode’ from a fundraising challenge in which Liu and Georgina attempted to cycle the entire coastline of Kent, while trying as many different sports as they could along the way - all in just one weekend! This part features the Standup Paddle boarding section (plus a key milestone of the challenge). A film by Liu Batchelor and Georgina White.

Child of the Teign

An unhappy young teenager, lacking any self confidence is sent to go and stay with her grandmother on Dartmoor over the summer, and discovers that her mother's love for the wild rivers and talent for open water swimming might have been passed on to her. After initial struggle, she grows to love Dartmoor and the rivers too, instead of seeing it as a punishment. A film by Madeline Earp.

Bob & Marion

“It’s the agony and the ecstasy,” reflect Marion (78) and Bob Luker (81). An intimate portrait of a lifetime's marathon running, set against Dartmoor's epic landscape. When Bob Luker decided to try his first distance run after turning forty, he got the running bug, and so did his wife Marion. Once they tried one, they couldn’t stop. Half a lifetime later, they’ve run more marathons and ultras than they can remember. “Christ! I’m 80 years old and I’m still out running. Beat that!” A film by Amanda Bluglass & Callum Earnshaw.

Rathlin

Sometimes modern life can feel overwhelming. Anxiety has turned into a normal part of our everyday lives. We’re so busy living we’re forgetting to live. Feeling burnt out and lost in the city, Nathalie travels alone to a remote island off the coast of Northern Ireland to experience wild swims, cold winds, and the joy of living slowly again. A film by Nathalie Baker.

The Adventure Itinerary

Katherine is dedicating her life to harnessing adventure as a means of protecting and conserving the marine environment, to inspiring everyone to step beyond their doorstep through adventure to fall in love with the beauty and wonder of nature and through this love, to be inspired to take action to protect our wonderful planet. A film by Caroline Côté

The Need To Go

A film about life in the outdoors and what it really means to live the wilderness. A film by Alice Rosso, Bj Klophaus, Erica Mellow and Thomas Ostapchuk

Train Your Brain for Adventure

By learning how to harness the power of your mind, how would your life transform? By training your brain, like you do your body, you can become more resilient, adventurous, positive and so much more. Without understanding how to train my brain to optimise my mindset, I’d still be confined to my bed with severe chronic fatigue syndrome. Your mindset is everything. So do remember to train it. A film by Adelaide Goodeve and Skyrise Productions

Untrodden

Leading female explorer, Lucy Shepherd, introduces the world of adventure to an outdoor novice, taking them up one of the UK's most renowned mountains in the middle of December. With an unexpected storm bringing winds of up to 115km/h, this mini expedition suddenly seems a whole lot more daunting, especially for a beginner. Highlighting just how beneficial adventure is for us, this short documentary explores accessibility of the outdoors, perseverance and women in the industry. A film by Laura Jeacocke.

Wild Swim

Wild Swim is a collaboration born out of a shared love of wild swimming between Kate Drucquer, Whitney Blank and Amy Walker. Amy was living in the Yorkshire Dales whilst the film was shot so there were many beautiful swimming spots to choose from but Janet's Foss proved the perfect location. The film brings together ideas around swimming for positive mental health and the joys of body acceptance in the wild swimming community.

Women's Alpine Adventure Club

Louise Kennedy is passionate about climbing, alpinism and yoga in the Ecrins. Last May, the newly formed Women’s Alpine Adventure Club held their first meet in the perfect location of the Ailefroide valley, staying at the Pre Du Madame Carle refuge, run by the super woman Pauline. A truly international mix of women from a range of backgrounds and experiences came together to learn and grow in confidence in this beautiful mountain range. Join her as she explains why the Ecrins are the perfect mix of adventure and serenity and share in the achievement of 20 women reaching their first Alpine peak. A film collaboration from Women's Alpine Adventure Club, Pays Des Ecrins Tourism Board and Giles Cornah.

All The Tors

Emily Woodhouse journeys across Dartmoor and through her life, as she tried to be the first person to visit all the tors on Dartmoor in one continuous circuit. The All the Tors Challenge took place in 2018: 119 tors, 10 days and 300km of walking solo and self-sufficient across the wilderness, fundraising for Dartmoor Rescue. A film by Emily Woodhouse

Should

'Should' examines the challenges that teenage girls face as they battle the pressures to conform to society’s ideas of what girls should be like. With bikes and the Adventure Syndicate’s positive role models they find the freedom and courage that comes from adventuring outdoors. A film by Jenny Graham, Lee Craigie & Katrina Brown

Classic Rock

Jasmin Paris and Mhairi Helme attempt to climb Ken Wilson's classic climbs in the Lake District AND link them all up by running between them in 24 hours. 35 miles of running, 13,000+ feet of ascent and 15 Classic Rock climbs. A film by Shotbro Films & Celia Powell.

Revel in the Climb

For some, the mountain offer a place of escapism from modern day living, whilst to others they are a place of inspiration for art and creativity. Maybe they are a place for challenge and personal growth, or a place for play, adventure, or health and fitness. But what happens when the mountains are your happy place and you then find yourself on an exposed and crumbling ridge caught in the strangling grip of a panic attack? Abbie had climbed to the summit of Ben Nevis a number of times before, but this time the mountain was calling her to push to the very limits of her mental health. What happened taught her a lesson we can all take courage from. A film by Abbie Barnes.

Rhythms of the Ocean

Follow the spirit of a woman as she goes West to catch the waves. Her journey follows the Rhythms of the Ocean as she connects to the environment trying to catch just one wave. A film by Shira Gordon

I Am a Fellrunner

Fell running is more than a sport - it is part of an identity. Through the evocation of a poem, ‘I am a Fellrunner,’ explores the way in which one woman is defined as a fellrunner in the place where she belongs. A film by Jessie Leong and Julie Carter.

Source to Sea

Following the source of the Tawe river, from Llyn y Fan Fach to the Gower Peninsula, four women embark on their own adventures down the Swansea valley to the sea, linked by the landscapes of Wales and a shared love of the outdoors. A film by Mikaela Toczek, Natalie Hemingway and Carys Griffiths.

Uncomfortable

An exploration of mental health, the outdoors, and discomfort. A film by Rachel Sarah.

Pirates of the Canals

"A parent needs to create experiences and opportunities worth inspiring their children" - Addi What Addi and Athina do, together, is important because it reminds us that women have often wanted, always been able to and frequently required to create their own paths. A film by Beki Henderson and Kerry Hill.

Mountain Bike Vs Mountain Runner

Can a mountain biker beat a mountain runner in a race? In the third of six episodes in our Versus series, mountain biker Katie Edwards challenges mountain runner Hannah Russell to a race to the top of Helvellyn and back. Who will win? A film by Anna Paxton and Ed Birch. The film was commissioned by BBC Sport and 1/3 of the budget was donated to the John Muir Trust in order to maintain and protect Helvellyn and the surrounding areas.

YHA and Yugen Explore: Save YHA Snowdon Bryn Gwynant

Yugen Explore recently took over YHA Snowdon Bryn Gwynant for a weekend of hiking, paddle-boarding and making new friends, all to raise awareness of YHA campaign to save the hostel. This grand old lakeside lodge has welcomed more than half a million YHA guests but the beloved building is too tired to continue as a hostel without major building work. YHA cannot guarantee its future without the public’s help. YHA is a charity who give back to the community and provide access to amazing locations across the UK. They fund adventure weekends for underprivileged children to give them access to the outdoors and provide the skills they need to create a better future. A film by Grace Wilson.

Women's Bouldering Festival | 2019

The Women's Bouldering Festival in Fontainebleau is an inclusive platform that allows climbers to meet like-minded individuals in our sport. We hope to promote excellence in climbing and perpetuate climbing ethics through creating a network of mentorship and support. We believe that outdoor recreation inspires confidence and helps in building skills transferable to other areas of life. We promote outdoor conservation and best practices in the Forest of Fontainebleau. All our actions are rooted in an intersectional framework adopted to advocate for social equity and environmentalism. A film by Jo Soithongsuk.

#IfICanYouCan

Live life to the fullest. A film by Louise Chicot.

The BMC TV Women in Adventure Film Competition is back and accepting submissions for 2022. So dive in, if you have a story to tell or a cause to share it's time to do so!

We want to see your adventures captured on film and keep the cycle of inspiration rolling as we head into the eighth year of the competition, supported by Montane.

WATCH: All the entries to the Women in Adventure Film Competition 2021 on BMC TV

FIND OUT MORE AND ENTER: Submit an entry

WATCH: Women in Adventure Film Competition 2022 Trailer on BMC TV

Need inspiration?

WATCH: All the 2021 winners and entries

WATCH: All the 2020 winners and entries

WATCH: All the 2019 winners and entries

WATCH: All the 2018 winners and entries

WATCH: All the 2017 winners and entries

WATCH: All the 2016 winners and entries

WATCH: All the 2015 winners and entries

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