16 films became finalists in the 2019 Geocaching International Film Festival. The votes have been counted and we are excited to present this year’s film festival awards, The Signal Award and the People’s Choice Award. 

First, The Signal Award, selected by a panel of Community Volunteer Reviewers from around the world. The Signal Award winner was chosen for its overall excellence as a geocaching short film. The judges considered production quality, content, creativity, and contribution to the global geocaching community. 

Wait, the winner? It should be winners! Yes, that’s right, for the first time in GIFF history there was a draw between two films in the Signal Award voting. Instead of a tie breaker, we decided to crown two winners as further evidence of the continued increase in film quality.

This year’s Signal Award winners are…

Congratulations to the filmmakers weellu & Harjus!

Braija is back in “Geocaching Documentary from Finland – Being Stealth” and he is now even more experienced than last year. He has learned new tricks on how to be stealthy while geocaching and shares his experiences in this new documentary from Finland. Watch and learn!

Here is what some Community Volunteer Reviewers had to say about this film: 

“We appreciate that in part two of the series, the protagonist lets us participate in his experienced Geocaching efforts. With the expert knowledge of meanwhile 129 Geocaches he is able to give valuable advice to all of us. And he does! Confronted with the adverse weather conditions during the long Finnish winter and the intricacies of life, he doesn’t tire of showing us brilliant stealth techniques – a true master of making himself invisible. 😉 A very humorous and entertaining film.”

“This film impressed me the most in all categories. The main reason was its presentation of the biggest issue while searching for caches in a funny way.”

and…

Congratulations to the filmmakers AlboGIFF_Team!

In “A normal GEOday” two friends search a pirate themed geocache when their imagination takes over and they find themselves in the pirate tavern where the adventure starts. Three acts follow them throughout the search, arriving at GZ, and making the find. The film ends with the next storyline – a trip to… watch it to find it, no spoilers!

Here is what some Community Volunteer Reviewers had to say about this film: 

“I loved the effort that went into developing this film and thought it highlighted the adventure that is Geocaching.”

“Geocaches have many themes and stories they tell. If you go find them, you dive into the story. While switching between reality and story, this video shows in a perfect creative way that you can have many different adventures while geocaching.”

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For the second time, GIFF Event attendees were invited to vote for their favorite film in a global vote for the 2019 People’s Choice Award. We received an incredible response with over 11,000 geocachers voting for their favorite film. Thank you for participating! 

This year’s People’s Choice winner is…

Congratulations to the filmmakers harogs & geocachingclown! 

“Looking for a New Love ” begins with a quarrel between the muggle protagonist and his wife. After he is forced to leave the house, he sits on a bench and browses a dating app – looking for a new love. He notices a woman also checking her smartphone. Suddenly, a geocacher appears and jumps into a bush. The woman follows him. After a moment they come out of the bush and smile at each other. What is going on here? Will the protagonist find out?

Here’s what some GIFF Event attendees had to say about this film: 

“I chose Looking for Love because I thought it was original, entertaining, and very well made. Everyone at our group laughed heartily at the concept, and many mentions of how much time we spent in the bushes continued all evening. Lots of fun!”

“Really a great movie that managed to do a lot with very little. The laughter in the theater showed that it hit the sweet spot. Thanks for sharing!”

“Funny story, decent acting, and an interesting new way of looking at geocaching 😉 Met a lot of great people via geocaching so it does bring people together :)”

“The video was soo funny and it is so true for how people see us going into the bush and coming back out. They then wonder what you are doing in the bush. I really enjoyed the video!”

See for yourself and watch the GIFF 2019 finalist films here.