IMF Mountain Film Festival – India Tour 2026

The Himalayan Club in collaboration with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) Mountain Film Festival – India Tour 2026 brings a selection of short adventure films to the Bengaluru, following the festival’s 7th edition held at the IMF Campus in New Delhi this past December. Organised by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, India’s governing body for mountaineering, the tour carries the award-winning and popular films to audiences beyond Delhi. 

The discipline of a climb, the patience of high altitude, the quiet nerve it takes to cross terrain that offers no shortcuts: the films range as widely as the country’s own geography, offering both a platform for the filmmakers behind them and a rare window into the scale of what is actually out there. 

In celebration of the climb, the solitude, and the mountains that outlive us all.

Schedule

Opening Note: 11am – 11:05am

First Session: 11:05am – 12:05pm

Showing Up
7 minutes | English | Prashant Madan
A gruelling hike across the European Alps, turning a 2,000-kilometre, 145,000-metre-elevation trek into a raw journey of endurance, self-discovery and redefinition of success.

Duchess – Highland Gathering
9 minutes | English | Kopal Goyal
In January 2025, 15 women from across India gathered in Lonavala for the third Duchess Gathering — a weekend of highlining, rigging workshops, shared meals, and camaraderie. This film celebrates learning, laughter, and the spirit of women coming together in a sport still dominated by men.

Nazia – The Shepherdess and Her School
10 minutes | Hindi | Jalal Ud Din Baba
The journey of a young Gujjar Bakerwal shepherd-girl, Nazia, who balances tending sheep in the mountains with her dream of getting education.

Papsura – Peak of Evil
35 minutes | English | Morgan Shields
A documentary by Patagonia that follows snowboarders Nick Russell and Jerry Mark as they journey from California to the remote Himalayan summit of Papsura and attempt the most extreme descent of their lives.

BREAK: 12:05pm – 12:10pm

Second Session: 12:10pm – 1:15pm

Seeing Red – Saving Red Pandas
30 minutes | English | Mummun Dalaria
A documentary that follows India’s captive-breeding and conservation efforts to protect the endangered red panda and prepare rescued cubs for a return to their Himalayan forest home.

Stepping Stone
15 minutes | Marathi | Niraj Patil
Kokankada is a dramatic cliff its sweeping concave wall rising abruptly over the Konkan plains. Reaching its top is considered one of the toughest objectives for serious rock climbers in the Sahyadris. The film follows the remarkable journey of two women climbers who take on this formidable challenge, capturing their grit and partnership.

Changabang – Return to the Shining Mountain
20 minutes | English | Nick Kowalski
In 1976, British alpinists Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker made the first ascent of the West Wall of Changabang, for the next four decades the route gained legendary status as climbers from around the world would come to attempt to successfully repeat this route in 2022, three climbers from the New Zealand Alpine Team would try their luck on this infamous climb. Will they succeed?

Interactive Session with Select Filmmakers: 1:15pm – 1:30pm

In collaboration with:

Indian Mountaineering Foundation
Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) is the apex national body for mountaineering and allied sports. IMF supports, promotes and regulates national and international climbing and mountaineering in India and is affiliated to the UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation). IMF is also the regulatory body for the competitive Olympic sport of Sport Climbing and is affiliated to the IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing). IMF is also engaged in mountain protection work, knowledge building and creating awareness of the Indian Himalaya.

The Himalayan Club
The Himalayan Club, founded in 1928, is one of the earliest mountaineering clubs to have been established in the sub-continent for promotion of adventure and mountaineering. The club has presence across the country and outside too. The club’s objectives is not confined to just mountain climbing but to a much wider range of interest and activities related to mountain world like publications, awards, lectures, social activities, sponsorships and mountain film festivals. First published in 1928, The Himalayan Journal (THJ) has achieved a worldwide recognition as the most reliable reference on the Himalaya, Karakoram and the Hindukush. Members of the club include some of the most famous and decorated mountaineers and explorers in India and abroad. The club would soon be celebrating its centenary year with a series of activities!

Supported by: