Sestriere Film Festival

A week of cinema at 2,035 metres

Every summer, Sestriere transforms into the international capital of mountain cinema. The Sestriere Film Festival, organised by the Associazione Montagna Italia in collaboration with the Municipality of Sestriere, brings the best documentaries and auteur films set in the mountains and extreme regions of the world to the screen of the Cinema Fraiteve — the highest cinema in Europe, at 2,035 metres altitude. For over fifteen editions, this festival has chronicled mountaineering, exploration, verticality, and the delicate relationship between man and the high-altitude environment.

Much more than a film festival

The programme goes beyond evening screenings. The festival features an international film competition, a photography contest with public voting, the "Mountain Tales" literary award, and a series of free guided hikes departing every morning from the Tourist Office to explore the trails of the Via Lattea. There are also frequent meetings with mountaineers, directors, and photographers, turning every evening into an open dialogue with the audience.

Mountains, sport, and memory

Past editions of the festival have paid tribute to great figures of culture and mountaineering, from Walter Bonatti to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, and have hosted the Fanfare of the Taurinense Alpine Brigade. The event concludes with an awards ceremony and, often, a final concert to bid farewell to the Sestriere summer.

Where it takes place

All screenings and events are held in Sestriere, a pearl of the Piedmontese Alps in the Via Lattea ski area, in the Province of Turin. The heart of the festival is the Cinema Fraiteve, located in Piazza Fraiteve, in the town centre. Admission to all evenings is free, reflecting the popular and educational spirit of a festival that aims to bring the general public closer to mountain culture.