Hey film lovers! We’re delighted to announce that entries have opened for the second annual South African Trail Film Awards, in association with sponsors Saucony South Africa, First Ascent, and GoPro.

How to enter

• Email your film’s URL on Youtube, Vimeo, or another online platform to us. More entry details and rules at the bottom of the page.
• 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.

Prizes for 2019

• Saucony Peregrine ISO trail shoes
• First Ascent R5,000 value in product of winner’s choice
• GoPro HERO7 Black (the top model!)

Submissions from 2018

Documentary

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

The sounds of 100 miles (3 min) by Rae Browne

Inspirational running video (3 min) by The Endangered Malpas

The Woodcutters Journey by Dane Sweet

Shorts

Film Awards submissions under 120 seconds in duration.

International entry Running Solo 4000kms Across 4 African Countries – Namibian Desert (1:35) by Nautilus Studios

RUN Inspire & motivate (1:59) by The Endangered Malpas

Journey of Perception (1:38) by Normedia Productions

Robertson Run (1:59) by Juan Scholtz

Back to basics (0:45) by Maureen van den Bergh

Event Films

Pro entry Hundred Mile Horizon (36 min) by Amehlo Productions

Pro entry Ultra-Trail® Drakensberg 2018 (7 min) by Danegerous Pictures

Pro entry 36HOURS 100MILES (28 min) by 369 Communications

Trail Running | Chokka 62km 2018 (5 min) by Pierre Prins

SPCA Trail run 2017 (5 min) by Maureen van den Bergh

The Leopard Run (4 min) by Andre Hugo Media

Pushing my limits at the Otter African Trail Run! (15 min) by Roughing It With Ruth

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.

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 and 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. View the panel of judges below.
• 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.