The NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival’s (NZMFF) 20th anniversary speakers’ lineup features some of New Zealand and Australia’s most adventurous sportspeople.

The festival, taking place in Wānaka next month, include talks, films, art displays, live music and readings, and festival director Mark Sedon said he was excited to release this year’s speaker lineup, which includes Kiwi mountaineer Alistair McDowell, Lake Hāwea women’s empowerment advocate Tanya Bottomley, and cutting-edge rock climber and mountaineer Paul Pritchard.

Mark said he loved the “buzz” in the audience during speaker events, when the speakers take the whole room on a journey with them.

“In my mind there’s no doubt our speakers make our event,” he said.

There are some impressive journeys this year: Alastair will speak about his mission to enchain New Zealand’s 24 highest mountains above 3,000 metres in a continuous, human-powered, 31-day transalpine journey.

Paul Pritchard will talk about the effects of a life changing accident while climbing a slender sea stack known as The Totem Pole, in Tasmania.

Tanya’s talk will cover her traverse of the 45th Parallel, an extraordinary, self-supported 600km journey following the circle of latitude that is 45 degrees south of the earth’s equator.

Paul spent a year in hospital and his doctors thought that he might never walk or speak again following a life-changing accident while climbing a slender sea stack known as The Totem Pole, in Tasmania. He will share how the lessons learned in the mountains got him through a harrowing injury and the painfully slow recovery process has engendered a life lived in the moment.

Speakers for the book festival include Shaun Barnett, who co-wrote the Montana Award-winning Classic Tramping in New Zealand (with Rob Brown) and whose book Tramping, A New Zealand History (with Chris Maclean) was long listed for the 2016 Ockham Book Awards.

He will be joined by journalist Hazel Phillips; photographer Peter Laurensen; Mark Sedon (who will speak about his recently published book What Could Possibly Go Wrong?); as well as Chris Long, the son of the bestselling authors of A Life on Gorge River and A Wife on Gorge River, who will speak about his book A Boy from Gorge River.

See also: The boy from Gorge River

The NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival will take place in Wānaka from June 24 to 29, in Queenstown June 30 to July 2, and online in NZ and Australia from June 24 to July 24.

Find more information on the speaker events here.

PHOTOS: Supplied