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The Moments That Shaped LMFF
and The Films That Powered Us
Love in the time of COVID
2020
We were all set for the Royal Geographical Society, London in May of 2020, when the pandemic struck and knocked us sideways. As the world fell apart and everyone sat indoors we realised we had the opportunity to provide some escapism to the world’s outdoors community. An incredible 15,000 people jumped online to watch our free-to-view film selection. It was a joyous, shared unlocking of adventure and the start of something bigger.
As the months rolled by and further lockdowns came and went, we tested out all sorts of ideas online to see what our community wanted. We launched an online club to share films on a monthly basis; we hosted lockdown chats with filmmakers; we streamed the online world premiere of Life of a Mountain: Helvellyn; and we were busy collecting films to host at our festival never really knowing if it would be held or not. It wasn’t!
2021
Creating the digital experience
The man from Kentucky
2022
Finally, in the run-up to 2022 we were able to do something in-person when we hosted an autumn version of our event including a sell-out premiere of The Alpinist. Then it was back online for the main festival in Spring. And then something life-changing happened… One of our selected filmmakers got in touch to ask permission to host an event streaming our films online. In Kentucky. “Of course!” we hollered, and the penny dropped.
The idea of providing communities with the opportunity to curate their own film events from our master curation seemed like an obvious winning idea to us, but we still had to prove the concept beyond doubt. Enough brave community leaders stepped forward to give it a go, and so did we, taking over a pub in Wimbledon. This was also the year we hosted the community-hearted SPINE film in a cosy Covent Garden cinema. Our mission crystallised.
2023
Testing out Community Events
Couch to £10K and beyond!
2024
In February 2024 we were back in Covent Garden and our beloved festival also spread its wings to over 50 communities across the UK and beyond. The social impact of these events equated to £10,000 in raised funds but there was more to it than money. Village halls, climbing walls, community cinemas, pubs… communities everywhere felt the vibe. In 2025 we will blow this number up - and all from a festival that started on the sofa…
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