The Cavern 24-7 Film Festival 2015 Review

The Cavern 24-7 Festival never fails to surprise, shock and entertain, and with it’s fearsome reputation from years gone by, the entries get wilder and bigger every time it come round during the winter season in the Portes Du Soleil. You only have to watch a couple of entries from previous years on Youtube to get a taste of the kind of hilarity that ensues once the challenge begins, and the great storylines and stunts achieved within the final videos.

The appeal of the festival is the film challenge asks for something more than just a cool snowboarding or freeski edit. Each team of two or more people has one week to record their masterpiece, which can be no more than 4 minutes long, and will showcase some good filming, amazing skiing or snowboarding and a storyline. Every shot is required to have a Cavern Bar vest, because that way the judges know that every shot was filmed within the allocated 7 days. Up to 12 teams were allowed to enter this year, to encourage high quality films that would make great viewing entertainment on the night of the screening.

This year the event welcomed the new and game-changing sponsor of EPIC TV, an extreme sports channel devoted to giving their audience the best videos from everything to surfing to BMX to skiing and snowboarding. For the first time The Cavern 24-7 Film Festival, with thanks to EPIC TV, was able to offer cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, a real incentive which was bound to up the quality content from riders and videographers entering. The best five films were also going to be shown exclusively on the EPIC TV channel – great exposure for the ski and snowboard community in the Portes Du Soleil.

The screening was once again held at the Palais du Sport in Morzine this year, which has a capacity of around 800 people. It is a night that ignites a great community spirit every year, bringing together season workers, locals and guests as well as inviting local businesses, shops and cafés to sponsor and help out at the event to raise money for selected charities. This year the event was fundraising for the Morzine Community Skatepark and the Leon Berard Cancer Care Centre, with all proceeds from the bar and food going to the chosen causes. Food was provided by local micro-brewery Bec Jaune, who kept everyone fed and happy with delicious hot dogs and chilli dogs throughout the night and new Ski and Snowboard brand Finest Hour Clothing manned the door while selling their first range of riding hoodies and sweaters.

Needless to say every ticket was sold, proving that the event continues to be one of the biggest on the Morzine calendar every year. As the spectators slowly piled in, films from previous years were shown on the big screen to warm up to the main event. Retro zombies and reinactments of The Big Lebowski were just a few of the films that have been memorable entries in the growing 8-year-old catalogue.

Then it was time to show the twelve films entered for 2015 to be shown, with each being introduced on stage by the teams who made them. Entries included a Fresh Prince themed film, an entry showcasing the pure exhilaration of speedflying, and very witty film offering a comprehensive tour guide of all the best landmarks and places of interest in Morzine. The Retro Rentals gang had turned into pirates for this years escapades, with one of them actually swinging from the Morzine Suspension Bridge, while The Winter Children team welcomed in a foreign friend who liked his booze! Humour is often what snags the prize, although sometimes the sheer production value and idea which takes the top vote. The votes are cast by the audience by putting their vote slip into labelled boxes, which were counted and revealed later on in the evening.

This year the third place went to the swash-buckling Retro Rentals gang for their pirate takeover. The second place went to the deserving Happy Hours Bar team.

The Happy Hours Bar team entries have been known to cause a stir, ad this year was no different. Their film ‘Excess Life 2.0’ was a follow on from last years crazy entry which involved a lot of partying, and started by capturing each member of the team in their day job - the daily grind which allows them to live and work here. They all drop their tools/trays/uniform, and the music transports you to their adrenaline-chasing pastimes that they live for. Gerome Calvez pulls out some monster tricks in the Arare Snowpark on his ski’s, with Victor Pais not far behind in a few shots. They even get a double transfer out of the Stash and onto the piste, a pretty amazing feat. The big freeski tricks are peppered with shots of parapenting over Morzine Town, and at the end they all go off and party in true Happy Hours fashion.

The winning entry came from the dangerous and lethal creatures; The Black Mambas! A group of untamed and hell-bent snowboarders wreak havoc out on the mountain, wielding axes, cross saws, chains and fire torches. The film builds the anticipation with a shot of them screaming up the road in hanging out the windows of an old mini cooper, with one snowboarder being towed along the road on his snowboard. They set the Burton Stash Park in Avoriaz on fire and ride along the logs through the flames! The production and filming was second to none, and along with the thrills and good humoured snowballing of punters and blowing up of garden it won the Black Mambas the top cash prize from EPIC TV.

After the prizes were announced, funk reggae band Zuri Aura took the stage to carry on the partying and dancing into the night, and The Cavern 24-7 Film Festival once again ended with a whole new bunch of stories to show and tell, certainly enough to keep everyone talking until it come around next year. A community event, brought to you by the Morzine community, we think the success of the Cavern 24-7 Festival has got many more memorable years to come yet!

Watch all the best videos here.