Hey trail film lovers! We hope you enjoy the latest entries into the second annual South African Trail Film Awards, in association with sponsors Saucony South Africa, First Ascent, and GoPro.

2019 Trail Film Submissions

Documentary

MOUNTAIN MEN – CEDERBERG TV EPISODE 1 (4:26) by Christiaan Roux

Mates head to the Cederberg, plan a route, and share the views with us to a mellow soundtrack.

BREAKING THE RECORD_ Teboho Noosi (2:40) by Carl Houston McMillan  

High production value documentary of Teboho Noosi, an athlete from Lesotho who dreams of breaking records.

The Middle Challenge [Pondoland] (12:52) by The Middle

Two Durbanite friends embark on an adventure along the Wild Coast. To start is easy, but life’s twists and turns shape us.

Groendal (10:32) by UltraRunningSA

Exploration of beautiful wilderness area, with forest, mountains, fresh water pools, and a cave.

Explorerman 100 (22:39) by Philip Olckers

A self crafted challenge takes a trio of friends on a long difficult journey. Action footage interspersed with interviews.

Shorts

Film Awards submissions under 120 seconds in duration.

The HIGHS and LOWS of trail running by Roughing It With Ruth

A highly relatable collage of moments Ruth has experienced in her trail running journey in the past year.

Running Table Mountain by Samir Abdul 

Action footage from a solo trail run showing off the beauty of TM on a sunny day.

Salomon_CUT RunCappadocia2019 by Waheeb Slarmie

A wanderlust collage of clips and photos from the CT Rockjumpers crew at Cappadocia Ultra Trail with a piano soundtrack.

Finding Peace on the Trail by Dawn Nunes

A creative portrayal of physiotherapist and runner Dawn Nunes’ injury and recovery, with local rock band’s music as the soundtrack.

Shining a light on trail running by Geoffrey Hunt 

A humorous solution to the bane of South Africans: load shedding!  

Running for Beer! by UltraRunningSA

Short, fun, upbeat film of a social run and the resultant celebration. 

Event Films

WEAK AT THE KNEES (14:04) by Dean Oelschig

Self-deprecating documentary to prove that an average runner can finish Otter African Trail Run if they train hard enough and are tough enough.

Karkloof 100 (7:57) by Maureen van den Bergh  

Filmmaker documents her son’s most painful and victorious moments at checkpoints throughout Katkloof 100 miler.

The 2019 Otter African Trail Run (8:32) by Jeff Ayliffe 

The elites duke it out for victory at the Grail of Trail with a soundtrack and footage that feels like and action movie.

The 100 Mile Grind (18:58) by UltraRunningSA

Happy memories of Karkloof 100 Miler, and the inevitable pain that comes with that distance.

UTCT 65 2019 (5:02) by Jan-Hendrik de Villiers

A wordless summary of the beautiful experience, complete with statement moustaches and apt music choices. 

How to enter

Entries are now closed.

• Email your film’s URL on Youtube, Vimeo, or another online platform to us by 13 December. More entry details and rules below.
• NB: One entry per filmmaker per category.

This year, we’re broadening the scope.

The 2019 Trail Film Awards will showcase trail running films produced by anyone, anywhere.

However, only non-professional South African citizens resident in SA are eligible for the sponsor prizes.

International filmmakers and professional filmmakers (local and international) are encouraged to submit their works into the international category, but are only eligible for Honorary Mentions, and not prizes.

For some background, scroll down to explore the 2018 Awards, with Saucony and Hi-Tec as its sponsors.

Rules and Dates

Rules

• Films produced between 1 December 2018 and 13 December 2019 are eligible.
• Submit one film entry per category.
• You have to be the creator of each film submitted.
• Only SA citizens resident in South Africa are eligible for sponsor prizes.
• Professional SA filmmakers as well as regular international entries are eligible for Honorary Mentions in their respective classes, but only if more than four entries are received per category.
• The winners will be chosen by a panel of South African trail running film experts.
• Judge and voting decisions are final.
• Prizes will be delivered to the winners by the brands in early February 2020.

Dates

• Final submission date is midday, Friday 13 December 2019.
• Winners announced Friday 7 February 2020.

Prizes for 2019

• Saucony Peregrine ISO trail shoes
• First Ascent R5,000 value in product of winner’s choice
• GoPro HERO8 Black (the top model!)

Winners from 2018

Chasing the Prodigal (6 min) by Lost in South Africa

Robertson Run (1:59) by Juan Scholtz

A truly South African affair

We are fans of the Trails in Motion Film Festival (which mostly screens international films) and the Cape Union Mart Adventure Film Challenge during the Banff Film Festival. The SA Trail Film Awards are in no way a replication of their good work, as the focus is quite different.

There are currently no other official Awards for South African trail running films that we know of, and our goal is to develop a vehicle to do that.

We think this kind of exposure for South African filmmakers should be encouraged and developed because this will boost creativity and pride in South Africa’s vibrant trail running scene.

We value feedback from fellow creatives who want to make a meaningful difference to the future of South Africa.

Stay in the loop with new film awards submissions by following TRAIL on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.