Every year, mountain film festivals around the world show films that are difficult to see any other way, in formats that are very popular with audiences. The films Pretty Strong (2020) and Cholitas (2019), both award-winning films shown at mountain film festivals around the world, could be seen as evidence of better representation of women and Indigenous people on the film festival circuit. However, both films demonstrate that the politics and expectations of film festivals themselves can work to limit the power of films featuring women to portray and facilitate lasting social change in climbing.