Film Review – 2016 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour

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.

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

Film Review - Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour

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

A pre-selection committee shortlist the over 360 entries to almost 80 finalists to 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 moving films from picturesque landscapes to action-packed sports and included 2 of the festival’s award winning films, Delta Dawn, Best Short Mountain Film and Cerro Torre, winner of Best Climbing Film.

The films ranged from the thought provoking with Delta Dawn telling the story of one man’s adventure on his stand-up board and travelled to the Colorado River Delta to explore use of Western water and the possible for environmental restoration to the joy and cheeky story of flight with Touch, a paragliding film over the Santorini, Greece and the French Alps, to the love of a man’s best friend in Sun Dog.

Return of the Tepuis, follows a 71 year old scientist search for a rare frog in the deep crevices in remote South America.

The most controversial film was the award winning, Cerro Torre, set against the backdrop of breathtaking Patagonia. David Lama, a climbing prodigy, plans to climb the infamous south-east face of Cerro Torre. No one has ever free climbed this section known as the Compressor Route. In 2009, he declared to the world his intent to free climb Cerro Torre, an accomplishment widely considered impossible. In 2010, Lama, now a sponsored climber, naively permitted his film crew to drill and fix 30 or so new bolts into the rock face, even though they planned to remove them and they were to facilitate filming only. This caused much controversy in climbers' circles, as his actions are unethical according to climbing traditionalists.

My favourite film at this year’s screening was a simple tale, Sculptured in Time: The Wise Man. The story of Eddie Hunter, an 88 year old who has skied over 2,500 days during the past 79 years and his love of skiing and sharing the enjoyment with future generations.

The World Tour screenings provide a great sample of the films selected each year and I walked away with a sense of wonder, inspired, challenged to improve and with a smile on my face from the joy the film makers shared in their individual adventures.

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

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