It’s Friday, September 25, and the the 2015 iF3 Film Festival is officially underway, here in Montreal, Quebec. The action kicked off yesterday afternoon with a free web screening of 20-plus freeski-based short-films; viewers enjoyed projects from the likes of Nipwitz, The Faction Collective, Emma Dahlström, Freeski-Crew, BRS, KGB Productions, Switchback Entertainment, Level 1 Productions, DPS Cinematic, Line Traveling Circus, Nimbus Independent, Lexi Dupont and loads more. The short-film screenings marked only the beginning of what was a memorable, thrilling evening, culminating in the presentation of the highly anticipated iF3 Movie Awards.

The iF3 Movie Awards were hosted, as usual, at Cinema L’Imperial, where fans, filmmakers, athletes and a who’s who of industry folk gathered to celebrate yet another year’s worth of blood, sweat and tears poured into filmmaking endeavors, and to reward those whose work shined above the rest. Films were judged by an international jury panel; this collection of individuals reviewed all of the movies prior to the festival. The awards show streamed live online, as well, providing a front row seat to viewers from all corners of the globe.

“The pressure was on to deliver a tight show with the widest audience iF3 has ever had via redbull.com,” said iF3’s David Zorko. “Our tech crew, awards director and hosts held it together for a spectacular ceremony.”

Having enjoyed the show in-person myself, I can attest to the event’s success. We enjoyed many heartfelt acceptance speeches that delivered both on-stage, and via video by those who were unable to attend. Hearing from the filmmakers and the athletes is always a wonderful reminder that ski movies don’t appear out of thin air; the films that we all enjoy are the product of tremendous hard work, not to be taken for granted.

The evening’s big winners were as follows:

Pro Category

Film of the Year
And the winner is… Small World, by Level 1 Productions

Best Cinematography
And the winner is… The Masquerade, by Super Proof

Best Editing
And the winner is… Passenger, by Legs of Steel

Best Short Movie
And the winner is… Two, by Good Company

Open Category

Best Big Mountain Film
And the winner is… The Masquerade, by Super Proof

Best Urban Movie
And the winner is… Houligan: A Ski Story, by JF Houle

Best Storytelling
And the winner is… For Lack of Better, by Clayton Vila Studios

Best Single Shot
And the winner is… Passenger, by Legs of Steel

Best Crash
And the winner is… Tom Leitner, Passenger, by Legs of Steel

Best Web Series
And the winner is… Salomon Freeski TV, by Switchback Entertainment

Best Short
And the winner is… Fast Forward, by Vecom Video

Best Female Short
And the winner is… Tatum Monod, Small World, Level 1 Productions

Jury’s Pick
And the winner is… Houligan: A Ski Story, by JF Houle

Am Category

Film of the Year
And the winner is… PROFILE – Characters on Skis, by Mediafilm

Best Editing
And the winner is… Dead End, by Not So Local

Best Cinematography
And the winner is… Somnium, by The Ridge Films

Athlete Category

Best Female Park Performance
And the winner is… Lisa Zimmerman, 2015 Season Edit

Best Female Freeride Performance
And the winner is… Angel Collinson, Paradise Waits, by TGR

Best Male Street Segment
And the winner is… JF Houle, Houligan: A Ski Story

Best Male Freeride Segment
And the winner is… Sean Pettit, The Masquerade, Super Proof

Rookie of the Year
And the winner is… Josh Daiek, Blank.TheMovie

Discovery of the Year
And the winner is… Jacob Hyllengren Larsson, BRS crew

Note: See a listing of all the nominees, here.

In summation, while there were some notable absences in the film department—including the likes of Fade To Winter, by MSP Films and also the Sammy C Project, world-premiere-ing in October and November, respectively—Houligan, The Masquerade, Passenger, Good Company’s Two and Level 1’s Small World stole the show. The buzz surrounding Houligan, in particular, is quite astonishing; local-boy JF Houle, after having remained quiet for the past few seasons, is set to unveil his urban skiing-centric two-year project here at iF3. The film will be free for viewing online, as well.

“The [film] that captured our hearts and made us want to watch it again was Houligan: A Ski Story” said Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, pro skier and iF3 judge. That’s quite the endorsement, coming from one of skiing’s top talents

On the ladies’ side of things, both Tatum Monod and Angel Collinson have fully established themselves as two of the most rippin’, most positive women in the game; their performances on-hill and off are inspiring. If you haven’t yet seen ’em in action, be sure to pick up Small World and Paradise Waits.

Films will continue to screen here in MTL for the next two days; a complete events schedule can be found, here. If you’re unsure of which films to purchase this season (as much as we know you’d like to buy ’em all), we’ll be providing insight into the various films throughout the course of the weekend, which we hope will help to steer you in the right direction.

Follow along this weekend…

Learn more about this weekend’s happenings via the iF3 Facebook page, here.

Enjoy regular updates via social media: Snapchat, Twitter

Related: Trailer Time: Watch 2015’s best ski film trailers all in one place