The film Listen has won the Grand Prize of the 2026 Banff Mountain Film Competition. The 15-minute American film was directed by Taliesin Black-Brown and produced by Sam Davis; the Grand Prize is worth CAD 5,000. The result was announced by the Banff Centre on 8 November, the final day of the 51st Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival.
Ten categories, CAD 30,000
According to information provided by the festival, the jury awarded a total of CAD 30,000 in prizes across ten film categories, in addition to the CAD 5,000 Grand Prize. The Adventure category was won by The Navigator. The full list of awards is available in the organiser's press release; FestivalTV does not shorten the field here as if only the Grand Prize winner mattered.
The competition programme this year featured 12 world premieres, 24 North American premieres and 20 Canadian premieres. These are the programme data provided by the organiser, not independent audience or market records.
Short online window with regional restrictions
According to the Banff Centre, almost all of the winning films will be available in the online selection between 12 November and 22 November, but exclusively in Canada and the United States. Therefore, one should not assume automatic access from Hungary; local screenings of the World Tour are organised separately and require separate tickets.
Based on data from the organiser, the Banff World Tour reaches more than 45 countries and over 1,000 screenings annually. This distribution network can provide a secondary audience for short mountain films that a single festival week could not reach.
What does this decision mean for viewers and the industry?
The Grand Prize does not simply add another title to a film: the Banff name is an important seal of approval in the mountain and adventure film market. For the viewer, the most important practical information now is the online window and its geographical restriction; for distributors and local event organisers, the World Tour can offer legally compliant screening opportunities.
The archive event photo used for this article does not depict the Canadian awards ceremony: it shows Manik Bannerjee and Vineeta Muni at the 2026 Banff Mountain Film Festival event in Kolkata. The image is precisely identified and is a FestivalTV crop under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Summary
The 15-minute American film Listen won the CAD 5,000 Grand Prize at the 2026 Banff Mountain Film Competition. The festival awarded a total of CAD 30,000 across ten categories; the majority of the winning films are available to watch online from 12 November to 22 November in Canada and the United States.
Frequently asked questions
- What won the 2026 Banff Mountain Film Competition Grand Prize?
- The 15-minute American film titled Listen, directed by Taliesin Black-Brown and produced by Sam Davis.
- What was the total prize fund?
- The organisers awarded a total of CAD 30,000 across ten categories, with the Grand Prize being CAD 5,000.
- When can the winning films be watched online?
- According to the Banff Centre, almost all of them will be available from 12 November to 22 November, exclusively in Canada and the United States.
