Film Festival St. Anton
Cult Status in the Heart of the Alps

Every August since 1995, the famous town St. Anton am Arlberg, located in the Austrian Alps, is characterized by mountain and adventure films. The Film Festival St. Anton presents a wide variety of this film genre: International documentaries, films about breath-taking outdoor sports, such as extreme climbing, skiing and snowboarding, paragliding, expeditions to the highest and most difficult mountains on the earth. In addition, spectacular films about living in the mountains – the Alps, Andes, and Himalayas – are presented.

History of the Film Festival

The first Film Festival St. Anton was held in 1995, when the world celebrated 100 Years of Film and 100 Years of Cinema. Ever since the motto has been „Mountains, People, Adventure”.

It is not by chance that this famous town at the Arlberg initiated a film festival: Winter sport is legendary here and already in the 1920s mountain and skiing films were made. For example, Arnold Fanck, the pioneer of the German mountain film genre, used the unique winter scenery at the Arlberg for his spectacular films, such as „Der weiße Rausch” (White Frenzy) shot in 1931. Hannes Schneider from Stuben am Arlberg, skiing pioneer and founder of the Arlberg skiing technique, and Leni Riefenstahl featured in this film. Luis Trenker, who later became famous as a director and actor, started his acting career at the Arlberg in 1924.

The FILM FESTIVAL ST. ANTON is well aware of its historical background and the stewardship of cinematic history is also an important part of the festival. However, the main part of the annual event consists of up-to-date mountain films from all over the world: Documentaries, feature films, sport and promotional films showing mountains and comparable natural landscapes are presented.

The FILM FESTIVAL ST. ANTON is also famous for its unique atmosphere: Look out for numerous celebrities – filmmakers and extreme athletes – who are among the audience; the FILM FESTIVAL is a meeting place for all mountain and mountain film enthusiasts.
The films are skillfully presented at the film stage, and directors and protagonists answer questions and talk about their film work and their adventures. Among the special guests of the last FILM FESTIVALS were Dean Potter, Hans Kammerlander, Alexander Huber, Catherine Destivelle, Peter Habeler, Beat Kammerlander, Hubert von Goisern, Dana Vavrova, Alain Robert, Stephan Siegrist, Kurt Albert, Bernd Arnold, Ines Papert, Stefan Glowacz, Heinrich Harrer, Paul Flora, Joseph Vilsmaier.

The FILM FESTIVAL ST. ANTON takes place at the meeting and congress centre „ARLBERG-well.com”. The cinema accommodates up to 600 visitors; in the lobby you find the „Mooserwirt” bar and on your way to the cinema hall you can admire impressive exhibitions of photography and paintings. The „ARLBERG-well.com” is the perfect venue for the FILMFESTIVAL ST. ANTON.

The Festival Team

The German author and film maker Stefan König and Heinrich Wagner, the then tourism director, established the FILM FESTIVAL ST. ANTON in 1995.
Soon Manfred Pascher (marketing), Christian Flatz (program planning) and Harald Krumböck (technical director) joined the team.
In the meantime, we have been able to recruit new and younger members for the management of the FILM FESTIVAL ST. ANTON: On stage, Kathi König and world class boulder star Bernd Zangerl present the films and entertain the guests – by bringing forth new ideas, they have significantly influenced the FILM FESTIVAL ST. ANTON.

The Festival Partners

The FILM FESTIVAL ST. ANTON is supported by the St. Anton Municipality and Tourism Association, the Provincial Government of the Tyrol, CINE TIROL and numerous other supporters. For example, the legendary restaurant „Mooserwirt”, the financial institution Raiffeisenbank St. Anton, the Tyrolean Alpine Association, EWA St. Anton, the Arlberger Bergbahnen AG and other members of the hotel and catering industry of St. Anton.

Information for Guests

For information on the program and news, have a look at our website www.filmfest-stanton.at
For information on accommodation, special FILM FESTIVAL packages and for making ticket reservations contact
Tourismusverband St. Anton am Arlberg
Dorfstraße 8, 6580 St. Anton am Arlberg Austria
Phone: ++43 – 5446 – 22690
EMail info@stantonamarlberg.com
www.stantonamarlberg.com

Information for Filmmakers, Producers and Journalists

You can sign up and submit your film until 20 March of the festival year, clearly stating contact details such as address, phone number and email address. In addition, you have to enclose your film on DVD, a summary of the film and a short biography of the film maker.
Send your application to
FILMFEST ST. ANTON
Stefan König
Floriansweg 4
82392 Iffeldorf Germany
stefankoenig@gmx.net

Your submission remains with The FILM FESTIVAL St. Anton.
If your film becomes part of the program, we need your film in the following formats:
DigiBeta, BetaSP, MinV or HDV.

If you have further questions, contact:
Stefan König, FILMFEST-Direktion
stefankoenig@gmx.net

Anna Stefanitsch, Koordination
marketing@stantonamarlberg.com