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iF3 Festival

Location	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Founded	2007
Language	French English
Website	www.if3festival.com

The International Freesports Film Festival (iF3) is a film Festival dedicated to screening and rewarding freeskiing and snowboarding movies. Held annually at the end of October in Montreal, iF3 was created in 2007 by Félix Rioux, Doug Bishop and Jean-Francis Durocher. As it premieres the best movies of the past season, iF3 has been referred to as the "Cannes of the ski world!" by ESPN^[1] and won Quebec action sports Gala Maestro's event of the year in 2010.^[2]

History

Origins and purpose

iF3 stemmed from its founders’ will to unite all elements that compose freeskiing culture in one place, such as ski cinematography, producers, athletes, photography, brands, music, art and parties.^[3] The stated mission of the festival is to, recognize the best of what the freeski community has to offer through innovative and entertaining media and events in order to unite sport with culture and expand it to new levels. Each year athletes, filmmakers, industry leaders and ski enthusiasts get together for a long weekend of celebration, kicking off the upcoming season.

Key players

The International Freeski Film Festival (iF3) was created in 2007 by ski industry veterans: professional photographer Félix Rioux, Newschoolers publisher Doug Bishop, and Bite Size Entertainment's Jean-Francis Durocher. In 2009, after the third edition of the festival, Bishop left the team, followed by Jean-Francis Durocher in 2011. Luc "Skypowder" is currently the President of the festival.

Evolution

Gradually, iF3 became the biggest gathering of independent movie productions in skiing and draws producers, athletes, and event attendees from more than 20 countries. Both fan participation and video submission have increased every year since inception. The roster has grown from 11 professional and 5 amateur entries in 2007 for the first edition to over 120 professional and amateur films, shorts, and documentaries in 2022. The festival expanded to snowboarding in 2017 and mountain biking in 2021. ^[4]^[5]

iF3 Movie Awards

Ceremonies

The iF3 Movie Awards ceremonies show venue in Whistler. An international jury panel reviews all the movies submitted online prior to the event, and the awards to be announced and given during the festival in Montreal. The film producers, production teams and athletes who win receive an emblematic trophy known as the iF3 Palm alongside various gifts. In 2023, the iF3 Movie Awards will take place on Saturday October 21, in Whistler .

In 2021, iF3 extended the Movie Awards Gala to the Mountain Bike. The first ever Mountain Bike Movie Awards Gala took place in Vancouver.

European edition

iF3 Europe in Annecy was the first iF3 to take place outside of Montreal at the end of September 2010. In 2014, following the expansion of the event worldwide, Like That Agency, the agency holding the licence of the European edition, organized its own event, the High Five Festival.^[7]^[8]

The iF3 France is now taking place in Chamonix Mont-Blanc since 2021. The third edition will take place November 30 to December 2, 2023.

World Tour

In addition, iF3 has organized events in several other cities including Innsbruck, Le Massif, London, Mont-Tremblant, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Santiago, Stockholm and Whistler. In 2023 the festival will be taking place in Santiago, Chile in July 2023, in Montreal, Québec September 30 to October 1, 2023, in Whistler October 18–21, 2023 and in Chamonix, France November 30 to December 2, 2023. ^[9]