I recently had the chance to attend an International screening of the 2016 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.

Each year a pre-selection committee shortlist from the approx. 375 entries to about 80 finalists which screen at the Banff Mountain Film Festival each October in Banff, Canada. The Banff Mountain Film Festival started in 1976 by The Banff Centre.

This year’s world tour selection showcased over 2 hours of touching films from scenic backgrounds to enthralling sports including 2 of the festival’s award winning films, Eclipse, Best Snow Sports Film and Unbranded, winner of People’s Choice Award.

The screening kicked off the highly entertaining 55 Hours in Mexico, an ode to the weekend warrior to pack as much in a weekend as possible. A group of four mates travel to Veracruz, hire a car, ascend the third-highest peak in North America, ski down the slopes and head back to work Monday morning.

Following last year’s world tour film Sun Dog, about a man’s best friend, we get to experience Denali, a film about the special bond between Denali the dog and adventure photographer Ben Moon. A very touching story.

UnReal featured widely renowned as the top slope style mountain biker in the world, Brandon Semenuk as he attempts to become the first mountain biker to film a full segment in a single continuous shot. A custom built trail which took 3 weeks was built in preparation for the film. An amazing sight to watch!

Freeskier Tim Durtschi drops tram laps at Jackson Hole and great mountain skier Angel Collinson tears up some Alaskan lines in a sample look at the feature length film Paradise Waits, which shares an entire season of the vibrant characters who are some of the best snowboarders and skiers in the world.

Builder showcased the love construction with the creation of some amazing dirt tracks and jumps for some of the best riders to enjoy.

Women’s Speed Ascent was Mayan Smith-Gobat and Libby Sauter’s goal. They were after the women’s speed record for the climb of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California. An ascent of fast proportions!

The main feature film from this year’s international screening was Unbranded, People’s Choice Award Winner at the festival. The film documented four young Texas horseman hatch an extreme idea to adopt, train and ride a group of wild horses 5,000 kilometres from the Mexican border to Canada through some of the American West’s wildest terrain. Their aim is to prove the worth of wild horses and raise awareness about their plight.

Nature Rx was a clever satirised commercial focusing on prescription medication with witty humour and a hit of the outdoors.

My favourite film from this year’s Banff Film Festival World Tour was the final film of the night Eclipse, with photographer Reuben Krabbe’s unparalleled determination to capture an incredible photo of a skier in front of the 2015 solar eclipse in Norway. The challenge of dealing with weather elements high up in the artic and pressure to find the right spot to capture the shot added to the complexity of the project.

The World Tour screenings provide a bit sized sample of the films chosen for the festival each year and I enjoyed yet another great night of adventures from the outdoors. However, I would love if there was a 2nd night of screenings so we get a chance to see a wider range of films including a few more of the award winning films which I imagine don’t get presented due to being feature length or maybe there could be a Banff Film Festival movie marathon!

Find out more about the Banff Mountain Film Festival and the International World Tour.

10 Must Watch Trail Running Films

Image Source: By Enricokamasa (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons