Director: Jessica Markowitz

Woman-identified Director, Producer

Bailey Bowe has a childlike affinity for play. She grew up in Lake Elsinore, California and learned to skateboard at a young age. For Bailey, skateboarding is a form of meditation and self love. It has been the constant in her life. This short film is the fifth part of a series called People Who Love What They Do featuring people with a passion for just about anything. Bailey professes and explains her love of the sport while she rolls around the hills and skatepark in Carbondale, CO.

Director: Tara Kerzhner

Woman-identified Director, Producer

In the fall of 2017, Margo Hayes, Emily Harrington, Colette McInerney, Paige Claassen and I traveled to a small island off the coast of Spain, where we’d braid each other's hair, share bottles of wine, and go deep water soloing. We began the trip as five vastly different women with just a shared passion for climbing. We left as Slaydies.

Director: Kieth Rutherford

Powanoia is a powder film featuring the riding of all women snowboarders, at various locations around the globe. Powanoia has numerous symptoms, including a strong tendency to frontside slash or an overwhelming desire to ride the perfect line. Powanoia is believed to be heavily influenced by fresh snowfall, often to the point of dropping all responsibility and calling in sick to work. At this point in time, there is no cure; it can only be treated with frequent exposure to deep snow.

Director: Sarah Menzies

Woman-identified Director

Ultra-runners overcome obstacles on every trail. In this film, Mirna Valerio overcomes the negative voices that don’t believe she belongs in the sport.

Jackie Ganter has ice water in her veins. A third-generation cowgirl, she’s the rising star in the high stakes, blistering-speed sport of barrel racing, but Jackie’s story is about much more than riding horses. Race into the world of barrel racing through her perspective.

Director: Joris Debeij

Woman-identified Director

“Sitting in a jail cell made me realize this is my bottom, and I need to stop. And, I had to change my life.” -HOKA Fan Catra Corbett. Catra is an ultrarunner, and she lives in Fremont, California with her dachshund, Truman. She has raced over 250 ultramarathons and is a prominent member of the ultra community.

Director: Boryana Ivanova

Woman-identified Director, Producer

Once a swimming champion in Syria, now Sarah finds herself on a broken boat in the Mediterranean. She knows that this will be the most important race she will ever compete in. The prize - saving her own life and the life of her sister.

Director: Jon Glassberg

She’s been trad climbing for only three years, but The North Face & Petzl Athlete, Emily Harrington didn’t let that sway her from the magnetic pull of El Capitan’s ‘Golden Gate’ (5.13 VI). 6 days and 40 pitches later, she stood on the summit with broken skin, aching muscles and a smile that stretched across Yosemite Valley. Here Emily shows us that it’s just as much about the journey as it is the destination.

Life has a way of putting us where we need to be. For Vala, that’s in both Greenland – where she works at her family’s fishing lodge – and Reykjavík, where she teaches her daughter how to do it all on her own, too.

Director: Matty Hong

In high-end modern rock climbing, 5.15 is the top of the difficulty scale, a grade achieved by only a few men and never by a woman. Margo Hayes, a little known 19-year-old from Boulder, Colorado, is determined to change that. To be closer to the world’s hardest routes, she has moved to Europe, where she trains and climbs with the goal of succeeding on two of the most iconic 5.15s in France and Spain. But pushing her body and mind to the absolute limit, she risks injury and failure in her quest to be the first.

Director: Henna Taylor + Becca Droz

NMLFF Ambassador

NMLFF 2017 Pitchfest Recipient

Woman-identified Director, Producer

Hip Hop may have originated in the streets, but it has a place in the wild. Both hip hop and the wild hold space for creative expression to be exercised liberally. Hip Hop is evolving, so is climbing and so are we. Becca Droz loves rock climbing for many of the same reasons that she love beatboxing and writing raps. They both connect her more deeply with others and with her truest self. They both help her think about death and feel more alive. The wild of the mountains inspires her to create something beautiful.

Director: Elle Ginter

Woman-identified Director

The perception of women is changing. Our perception of ourselves is changing. Three athletes tread forward without dragging stigmas behind them and re-define femininity. Featuring professional skateboarder Mariah Duran, professional ballerina Alison Stroming, and athlete and high-level personal trainer Elise Young. Made in an un-ladylike fashion in honor of International Women's Day 2018.

Director: Yves J. Ma

Emily is an avid kayaker who has always lived life to the fullest, but when she faces the biggest challenge of her life, she must face this chapter as if it may be her last.

In the end, by way of her inspirational journey, she shows us how one can live a life without regrets.

Director: Adam Clark and Isaiah Branch-Boyle

Woman-identified Executive Producer, Producer, Art Director

People have opinions about skier Caroline Gleich: Inspirational. Gumby. Social media star. Role model. Model masquerading as a mountaineer. At sixteen, she stumbled upon a copy of the cult classic guidebook The Chuting Gallery. Irreverent and wonderfully arbitrary, the guidebook lays out a set of 88 ski mountaineering lines across Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. They were difficult and dangerous. When she first said out loud she wanted to ski them, she was met with laughter. “Maybe it was because I was five feet tall, or I was a little blonde girl, but I remember that clearly — and it didn’t feel good” says Gleich. After a decade building her skills, Gleich set out to complete her vision and become the skier she dreamt of being. 'Follow Through' is a story of loss, belonging and desire for respect. In this age of hyperconnectivity, which voices do we choose to hear and which do we ignore?

Director: Rush Sturges

Woman-identified Producer

French professional kayaker Nouria Newman sends big drops on California's Upper Cherry Creek. Coupled with Sa Roc’s song I Am Her, Nouria’s strong persona and boss paddling are exemplified as well as juxtaposed with narration from a 1950’s instructional “How to be A Good Wife.”

Director: Dana Romanoff

Woman-identified Director, Producer

La Cumbre unveils the reality of what it means to live as an amputee in the developing world. In partnership with the Range of Motion Project we join world class mountaineer and wounded warrior Chad Jukes on a heartfelt journey to shed light on a public health issue affecting amputees world wide. 80% of the world's amputees live in developing countries. Only 2% have access to prosthetics. La Cumbre aims to shift that percentage.

Director: Craig Grant & Joey Schusler

Woman-identified Writer

Sarah, a freelance fine art and commercial artist, her work—and her play—all stems from flow. It’s why her mountain biking and her painting go hand in hand. Her goal is to share with other people whatever magic she sees in the world around her.

Director: Joris Debeij

Woman-identified Director

“If not all, most barriers are within ourselves that need to be broken. Barriers of how we think and how much we dare to dream and how much we dare to chase those dreams and how much we dare to not give up. Our fears prohibit us from discovering so much about ourselves.” - HOKA ONE ONE Fan Shirin Gerami. Shirin - who is Iran's first female triathlete to compete in a world championship event - is part of our Women Who Fly series. These films follow three women who have all been defined by a life-changing event. Running has provided a new perspective that has made it possible for these inspiring women to overcome their challenges and be stronger for it.

Director: Caleb Smith

Disco Process is a shred edit of Hannah Bergemann and Ali Osgood ripping together on the newly redesigned Kona Process 153 CR.

Director: Alex Patrick

A day in the shoes of Lola Migot...or lack thereof. Hanging ten and cross stepping across town on her way to the beach.

Director: Delaney Buffett

Woman-identified Writer, Producer, Director of Photography, Editor, Assistant Camera, Sound

A documentary short that explores the lives of the mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs.

Director: Hannah Maia

Woman-identified Director, Producer

A young-ish woman has fallen out of love with her own body. Frustrated, she wishes they didn’t have to hang out quite so much. Committed to making a change she sets herself the simple goal of swimming in open water at least once a month for a year. As she braves the elements throughout the seasons to swim in wild places she also begins to appreciate the quiet heroism of a female life and it’s body. A story about womanhood, miscarriage, healing, loving your own skin & freezing your bum off in cold water.

Director: Milda Baginskaite

Woman-identified Director and Producer

A tale of one girl's dream to escape Planet Earth.

Director: Lorena Alvarado

Woman-identified Director, Producer, Screenwriter, DOP, Editor, Camera, Sound + Music, VO

Beatrice Vio cultivated a passion for fencing when she was five years old. At 11, she contracted severe meningitis. In the hospital, the doctors gave her an unimaginable choice: Keep her limbs and risk death, or amputate all four to ensure survival. She chose life. Now, Vio is a Paralympic champion and the only fencer in the world who competes without arms or legs.

Director: Lead Evans Jamie Tanner

Woman-identified Director and Producer

Musicians and athletes create a riding film together, rethinking the way we make movies in the mountains. Based out of a backcountry touring hut, they draw inspiration from the natural landscape and their shared experience to write, record and produce both the film and its soundtrack at 7000ft.

Director: Julia Kwan

Woman-identified Director, Producer

While dealing with one of the darkest times of her life, processing family trauma and recovering from injury, Azzah overhears a conversation around the question, “what do you want to do before you die?” Inspired and energized, she rushes home and begins her bucket list. Although she has never seen herself as much of an adventurer, she realizes she’s capable of more than she ever imagined. We pick up with Azzah in her own personal sunrise as she redefines what she wants her life to look like. Her story is one of identity, self-discovery and answering the call of the natural world. It reminds us that there’s a difference between living and just being alive.

Director: Krystle Wright

Woman-identified Director, Producer

Surfers and free divers know well those dark, lung-searing seconds waiting to surface after a wave has pinned you to the ocean floor. It can feel like an eternity. In those underwater minutes, Australian adventure photographer Krystle Wright envisions herself in a desert with roiling grey skies and bootpacking a snowy ridgeline, her trusty Canon capturing the stunning dreamscapes. Vivid and ethereal, In Perpetual Motion is about the remarkable beauty revealed when time stands still for just a moment.

Director: Roberto Nascimento

The story of Madeleine, a seven year old girl from Auckland, New Zealand and her journey to be the top ranked BMX rider in her age group. Against old stereotypes of what is expected from a girl that age, Madeleine shows passion and focus beyond her young age - and incredible determination to become Number 1.

Director: Layla Cameron

Woman-identified Director, Producer

A woman seeks to make the outdoors more accessible for fat people - just as they are and without shame. Armed with her slogan “Trails Not Scales”, she soon finds herself hosting events all over North America.

Director: Aly Nicklas

Woman-identified Director and Producer

Blue is an fantastical journey into a young girl’s imagination. Our character is a four-year-old growing up in Valdez, Alaska. Fresh off training wheels, she begins to push her boundaries and explore what’s possible on her bike, her eyes naturally drifting to the mountains. We dive into the world of her fantasy and explore the mountains, glaciers and rivers of Valdez by fat bike with a crew of boundary-pushing female athletes hailing from Alaska and beyond.

Director: Lacy Kemp

Woman-identified Director

Mountain biker and artist Micayla Gatto rides in and out of her own painted landscapes in "Intersection" project. In athletic endeavors, there are often underlying attributes that provide a foundation for talent. Mental and physical strength are the obvious pillars, but there are other forces at work which help to build an individual athlete's style in their sport. For Micayla Gatto, a Canadian professional mountain biker, artistic creativity is the key that unlocks her unique approach to riding.

Director: Renan Ozturk, Ben Ayers

Woman-identified Producer

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita, Nepal’s leading female mountain guide, has been on top of the tallest peaks on Earth. When she teams up to make a first ascent with an unlikely partner - local punk-rock icon, Sareena Rai - they both find that the paths to the greatest summits lie within.

Ice climbing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is relatively unknown, but the climate, landscape, and geological features make it home to some of the USA’s best. The waterfalls freeze into spectacular ice formations, creating countless climbing routes.

Director: Sandra Lahnsteiner

Woman-identified Director, Producer

With 'Shades of Winter: COUPLES', one of the short films Shades of Winter releases in fall 2018, creative producer Sandra Lahnsteiner (AUT) introduces a new aspect of her female action sport protagonists when Janina Kuzma (NZL), Julia Mancuso (USA) and herself bring along their spouses on a freeride trip into the wild mountains of British Columbia, Canada, for the first time ever.

As professional athletes the ladies are constantly faced with the risks and challenges of backcountry skiing, overcoming vulnerability and fear, experiencing adrenaline rushes and absolute joy.

But did they ever think how their spouses feel about them being out there in these wild mountains? Together, in 'Shades of Winter: COUPLES' they all explore the Purcel & Selkirk range in Canada, BC, sharing the fun as well as the expertise and loads of big smiles.

Director: Anya Miller

Woman-identified Director, Producer

Big mountain shredder Ingrid Backstrom’s letter to her 1 yr old daughter, Betty Bee, is a look into a badass mountain mama’s adventure raising a kiddo in the outdoors.

Director: Cheyne Lempe

Sjo Tarn is a film that discusses the purpose (and lack there of) a lifetime devoted to the simple act of climbing. Katie Lambert and Caroline George explore rock towers in the Fjordlands of Lofoten, Norway.

Director: Anna Callaghan

Woman-identified Director, Producer

Sherpa women aren't encouraged to climb mountains. But that wasn't going to stop Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, who grew up in a Himalayan village with no electricity or running water but knew that she would one day summit Mount Everest. At 21, she stood on top of the world and then started a new quest: to become the first woman from her country to earn mountaineering's most elite title—an IFMGA. An IFMGA certification can take more than five years and $30,000 to complete, and of the 6,937 certified guides worldwide, only 1.5 percent are female.

Director: Taylor Keating

“I don’t want to be known as just a one-armed climber,” says Maureen Beck, “I just want to be a good climber.” Maureen Beck may have been born missing her lower left arm, but that hasn’t stopped her from going hard. She takes whippers on 5.12 and crushes overhanging boulders, while shot-gunning beers. But she is not here to be your inspiration. “People say, ‘Look, a one-armed climber, now I have no excuses.’ I’m like, dude, you never had any excuses in the first place.” Maureen is here to crush the gnar — with one bloody stump helping her get to the top.

Director: Ian McMullen

Features NMLFF Ambassador

Emma Yardley, a 23-year-old fly fisherwoman, adventurer, artist and NMLFF Ambassador, shares her story of growing up on the river with her dad in Vermont, and how, through her travels to New Zealand and Patagonia, fly fishing and spending time alone on the river have influenced her creative spirit, and been a constant reminder to slow down.

Director: Bjarne Salén

Woman-identified Producers

Finding the Line is a film about fear, it’s paralyzing grip on humans and how it affects our decision-making. In this feature length documentary, Olympian and X Games Slopestyle champion Anna Segal and her Freeride World Tour, big mountain skiing sister, Nat Segal, use their skiing to understand fear and how it manifests in the two siblings’ lives. Throughout their careers as professional skiers, Anna and Nat have both constantly been challenged by fear. Yet, despite being brought up under the same roof, they have learned to deal with it in almost contrasting ways, neither leading them to the success they dreamed of. A heartfelt journey on the knife’s edge of big mountains throughout Canada and France push them to their physical and emotional limits. The extreme skiing mecca of Alaska pushes them beyond. The Australian sisters soon realise that the most important lessons lie within each others' approach. Equipped with greater insight, they negotiate the fine balance between staying in their comfort zone and taking too much risk, learning that sometimes to move forward, you need to understand what is holding you back.