Welcome to no man’s land
UN-DEFINING FEMININE IN ADVENTURE AND SPORT THROUGH FILM SINCE 2015
As the premier all-women + genderqueer adventure film festival, No Man’s Land Film Festival (NMLFF) has celebrated the full scope of athletes and adventurers by un-defining femininity in adventure, sport, conservation, and film since 2015. Based out of Denver, CO, NMLFF meets a need and desire to highlight and connect women + gender-nonconforming communities in pursuit of the radical. Along with cultivating a deep interest in exploring the vastness of our planet from a groundbreaking point of view, we strive to create a history of motivating audiences to implement and inspire change through human collaboration. Our mission transcends the films presented; this festival acts as a platform for progressive thought and movement in the outdoor industry.
No Man’s Land has toured globally while our Flagship Festival was previously based in Carbondale, CO. While we have been successful, we have tried to bring diversity to a place that can’t sustain the demographic that ultimately supports No Man’s Land. Mountain towns are expensive, access can create a challenge, and they are predominantly white. We know that the public face of the outdoors is changing and we won't stay rooted in the past.
We were the first all-woman adventure film festival, hosting over 150 events each year around the world, and we have changed the way and the frequency in which women and genderqueer athletes are represented in the outdoor industry. It is time for us to shift with the times. In 2020, we announced our Flagship Festival to be held in Denver, CO over International Women's Day weekend. We want our films and audiences to represent the new realm of femininity in the outdoors. We want to hear your stories and take part in your city.
Moving forward, we revised our mission statement in 2020 and expanded our platform to include the experiences of and advocate for LGBTQ+ communities, especially transgender athletes. No Man’s Land seeks to destabilize the gender binary by exploring the nuances of identity through an intersectional and pluralistic lens. There is a difference between not being discriminatory and being inclusive, and as a community, we need to acknowledge that. Being inclusive requires more effort and understanding of social constructs in order to break them down and un-define what it means to be “feminine”.
NMLFF is founded by women and run by women. We use and understand the terms “feminist” and “feminism". While we love sunsets and poems by the fire, we speak to an audience that might run until they vomit, choose whiskey over yoga, and dance all night into an alpine start. We use sarcasm (but are always happy to explain.) We are working to become an international voice for the underrepresented global majority — shaping an inclusive space in adventure, sport, conservation, and film, while actively investing in BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.
We are at the forefront of a movement, and we ask that you join us in empowering the present and future generations of women to elevate themselves from supporting roles and lead us into the wild and radical unknown. Grit. Audacity. Determination. Boundless Passion: For almost a decade, we have embodied, fully realized, and upheld these characteristics with integrity and championed athletes, storytellers, and creatives who are action-oriented and wish to support a shared vision of gender equality — and above all, love adventure.
