This past November, over 16,000 geocachers joined in the fun of the Geocaching International Film Festival. They celebrated the 17 GIFF Finalist films from living room couches, movie theater seats, and outdoor locations across the world. Overall, it was another great reminder of what we love about geocaching and how geocaching connects us all.

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 we announce the Signal Award winner, 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.

This year’s Signal Award winner is…

First hide – Geocaching Documentary from Finland

Congratulations to the filmmakers Harjus, laalaa, and weellu!

Braija returns with “First hide – Geocaching Documentary from Finland.” This year, he’s a Community Volunteer Reviewer here to help a cacher with his first geocache hide. He shares tips and tricks which can help every new cache hider!

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

“This video is entertaining and may give the community some more helpful tips”

“I just can’t get enough of Braija! Hilarious, as always!”

For the third time, the geocaching community voted for their favorite film in a global vote for the 2021 People’s Choice Award. For the first time, geocachers could vote on their favorite film after watching the reel from home. Thank you for participating!

This year’s People’s Choice winner is…

Signal Academy – Froggy’s Dream

Congratulations to the filmmaker Rassis on Tour!

“Signal Academy – Froggy’s Dream” shows a day in the life at Signal Academy – a school for cute miniature Signal the Frogs! From Dr. Professor Signalus’ lessons to Outdoor Recreation class, there’s lots going on at Signal Academy.

Here’s what some People’s Choice voters had to say about this film:

“I simply loved the creativity and the love of this film. Absolutely marvelous and inspiring for all the geocachers.”

“This film was sooo cute! It really captured the fun spirit of geocaching. It looked like the filmmaker worked really hard on it and it was such a unique idea.”

“A film that in a sweet and funny way shows what Geocaching is. And then it’s great that Signal is the main character in the movie. Who does not love him?”

See the winners for yourself and watch the GIFF 2021 finalist films here.

It wouldn’t be a GIFF wrap-up without numbers!

Here are some GIFF 2021 numbers:

• More than 25,000 YouTube views and counting
• Over 11 days, geocachers logged over 10,000 Attended logs on registered GIFF Events.
• 61 film submissions from 15 different countries
• 17 finalist clips from 9 different countries
• 425 total Events in 40 different countries, including 366 regular Events, 58 Community Celebration Events, and one Mega-Event
• 7,000+ votes for the People’s Choice Award

With GIFF 2021 behind us, it’s time to talk about the future of GIFF – “after GIFF is before GIFF,” as they say.

With all the exciting things we are planning in 2022 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of geocaching, GIFF will take a brief ‘intermission’ until the credits roll on the festivities. The next GIFF will take place in two years (in 2023), giving the community plenty of time to dream up their next videos!

We truly appreciate your support and appreciation for GIFF over the years. Thanks to the geocaching community, a small amateur film festival was able to grow into a global phenomenon with dozens of film submissions, hundreds of Events, and thousands of attendees year after year.

The GIFF gnomes still have a lot in store for future festivals. Stay tuned for when it’s time for something a little GIFF-erent again!