Famous Ski Movie Festival Announces Official Selections

Yesterday, August 29th, iF3 -- a world-renowned snowsports movie festival -- announced its official 2023 movie selections.

See the announcement below.

For those unfamiliar, you can think of iF3 as the Oscars of ski and snowboard movies. Since 2007, the festival has strived to "recognize and celebrate the excellence in freeskiing & freeriding."

Recognitions include titles like "Best Cinematography," "Film Of The Year," and "Standout Female Skier Of The Year." To facilitate the inclusion of film crews with lesser funding and experience, iF3 considers two types of films: "Amateur" and "Pro." However, there are more titles to win in the latter category.

The 2023 iF3 Awards Gala will occur in Whistler, British Columbia, on October 21st.

As for this season's selections, there are far too many to list in this article, so here are three films that have us stoked at Powder. If you want to know precisely what the iF3 jury is taking into consideration this year, click here.

(Keep in mind many of these films haven't been officially announced with a trailer, so details are limited.)

Headspace, The Journey of Hedvig Wessel

Hedvig Wessel is a lot of things, including being a skier, Olympian, and Freeride World Tour competitor. Her story can be defined in one word: impressive.

She successfully pivoted across disparate skiing niches, from competitive moguls to freeride skiing, a shift that few other riders could handle with the same level of grace. And she didn't just pivot; she dominated, nabbing multiple podium finishes across her multi-year tenure, continually reminding the judges that she has a mean backflip.

Headspace tells Wessel's story, drawing insight from "sports experts, psychologists, and people important to Hedvig's career." The film seems to prioritize storytelling alongside rad skiing, which, when executed well, is a winning combination.

Instead of a teaser, here's one of Wessel's killer Freeride World Tour runs.

Magma 3

Magma 3 is a joint effort from skiers Hunter Hess and Alex Hall, with filmmaker Owen Dahlberg behind the camera.

As you can probably tell from its title, the film's a sequel to the stellar Magma and Magma II. These prequels were lauded by diehard fans of freeskiing for their blend of pro-level riding with home-video-esque filmmaking from the ever-talented Dahlberg.

The team behind the Magma movies tends to keep things light, injecting an off-the-cuff brand of humor rarely seen in contemporary "blockbuster" ski films (the intro to Magma II is a perfect callback skit).

All-in-all, I anticipate Magma 3 to be equal parts goofiness and mind-blowing skiing. Sign me up. If it comes close to delivering on the thrill that was the ending segment of Magma, I'll be more than satisfied.

Destination: Moon

Full disclosure: details on Destination: Moon are scant. All we know is that it's produced by CK9 Studios, who've proven time and time again that they can put together a killer ski movie.

But I'm not excited about Destination: Moon just because of CK9's involvement; I suspect this film will star Sam Kuch, one of Canada's finest backcountry freestyles. This hunch comes from an Instagram post shared by Kuch earlier this summer, which featured his skiing alongside a clip of a rocket liftoff. Get it? Rockets? Destination: Moon?

Anyway, the promise of another possible CK9 collaboration with Kuch looms large. The partnership's previous product, Here Goes, delivered and then some.

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