Michael Dillon received on December 16, 2022, in Bilbao, the Grand Prize 2022 of the International Alliance for Mountain Film. The Australian filmmaker was accompanied on stage by Piotr Turkot (Krakow Mountain Festival, Poland) and Jabier Baraiazarra (BBK Mendi Film Bilbao Bizkaia, and president of the alliance). And after a standing ovation from the audience at the Sala BBK, he was grateful through an emotional dedication:
"45 years ago, the great Sir Edmund Hillary took the brave decision to choose me, a young filmmaker who had only made two films, to film a major expedition of his- his Ocean to Sky journey by jetboat and foot up the Ganges. And that brave decision by him led me to having so many other adventures with him and with so many others, and forming so many lifetime friendships along the way.
This award is also very special to me as it is the first time it has been given to someone from the bottom half of our earth, the lands below the equator, so I accept it on behalf of the many wonderful filmmakers who work from the southern hemisphere.
And also, on behalf of all adventure filmmakers, wherever we live,I want to thank the Directors and their teams of all the International Mountain Film Festivals worldwide, and especially Jabi and his wonderful team here, for bringing our films to you, so you can come on our journeys, and be inspired to think up new ones of your own.
When I began my outdoor filming career 50 years ago, filmmaking was a very big, heavy and expensive process. My camera weighed 10kgs, extra items like tripods added another 10kgs and the tape recorder weighed 10kgs. But today, by taking out our phone, or a little video camera we can all be filmmakers, recording wonderful images and sound, not to enter Festivals maybe, but just for the important task of capturing happy memories in the outdoors forever.
Sir Edmund Hillary always liked to say that it is not the size of the adventure that matters. The important thing is that you HAVE them.
So I wish you all the best with your own adventures, big or small, and just as I have, I hope you get added pleasure from recording them as well.
Thank you all so much."
