Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
Experience an extraordinary collection of short films from the world's most prestigious mountain film festival.
Follow the expeditions of some of today's most incredible adventurers, see amazing footage of adrenaline packed action sports and be inspired by thought-provoking pieces shot from the far flung corners of the globe.
This year there are two evenings that will ignite your passion for adventure, action and travel. For double the adventure come along both nights for two entirely different film programmes. Two night discounts are available.
Exciting events not to be missed with free prize giveaways! Visit www.banff-uk.com for more details
Image: Larry Shiu, Cascade Mountain, Banff National Park © John Price
Age Guidance: 12A (TBC)
Films showing on the BLUE film programme
2.5 Million
American skier Aaron Rice sets out to ski 2.5 million human-powered vertical feet in the backcountry in a calendar year. If he succeeds, it will be a new world-record for this self-confessed ski bum.
Filmmaker: Tyler Wilkinson-Ray, T-Bar Films, 22 minutes
Ace and the Desert Dog
For his 60th birthday, adventure photographer Ace Kvale and his dog, Genghis Khan, set out on a 60-day trek in Utah’s canyon country. This film celebrates the special bond between the pair, and shows the beauty of canine friendships.
Filmmaker: Brendan Leonard, Semi-Rad Media, 9 minutes
DugOut
Mankind has been using dugout canoes for over 8,000 years. But this doesn’t mean that building one from scratch is easy, as film-maker Benjamin Sadd and artist James Trundle, both from the south of England, discover on a journey to the Ecuadorian Amazon, where they live with an indigenous community, learn how to build a canoe and then take it on a journey through the rainforest. What could go wrong?
Filmmaker: Benjamin Sadd, 41 minutes
Safety Third
For most climbers, it's safety first. But Brad Gobright is definitely not most climbers. Fuelled by day-old doughnuts and unhindered by a fear of falling, this young talent is pushing the limits in his backyard playground of Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. Having survived a few big scares, Brad is determined to make his boldest ascent yet – a first-ever free solo of one of Eldo’s most exposed and difficult routes.
Filmmaker: Cedar Wright & Taylor Keating, 29 minutes
Surf the Line
The Flying Frenchies are a group of multi-talented friends who like BASE-jumping and mountaineering, but who are also clowns, acrobats and musicians. Their latest film sees them playing in the Vercors mountain range, where they slice through the air on a 600m-high highline, reaching speeds of up to 75kph zipline-style, before using their BASE-jumping skills to dismount.
For The Flying Frenchies, thinking out of the box isn’t a choice – it’s a way of life.
Filmmaker: Hello Emotion, 3 minutes
Johanna
Finnish freediver Johanna Nordblad holds the world record for a 50-metre dive under ice, but she only discovered the sport during recovery from a biking accident. For Johanna, diving under the ice provides a surreal, calming environment – although it can be unsettling to watch. “What she does is so close to the edge, but she does it in such a comfortable way,” says the filmmaker Ian Derry.
Filmmaker: Ian Derry, Archer’s Mark, 4 minutes
Where the Wild Things Play
There’s ongoing discussion about why there aren’t more females in the outdoor industry and in adventure films. Featuring four minutes of gnarly wingsuit flying, whitewater kayaking, climbing and big mountain skiing, Where the Wild Things Play suggests that perhaps women are just too busy having fun in the backcountry. An inspirational and funny response to a question we need to keep asking.
Filmmaker: Krystle Wright, 4 minutes
Pedal
Coming from the Netherlands, Hera van Willick grew up on a bicycle, and cycling across continents, solo and self-supported, has become her way of life. Forty-three countries down, via deserts, mountains, rainforest and the Arctic, this is her story so far…
Filmmaker: Scott Hardesty, Ultralite Films, 8 minutes
Why
Iceland. A cold, rugged and forbidding landscape where powerful rivers plunge through bedrock gorges, over massive waterfalls towards the sea. A crew of French kayakers travel here to ask the question we have all asked ourselves in the outdoors at some point: “Why? Why do we do this?”
Filmmaker: Hugo Clouzeau, We Are Hungry, 7 minutes
Films showing on the RED film programme
Edges
Yvonne Dowlen has been ice skating for as long as she can remember – and she insists that, at 90, it’s easier to skate than it is to walk! Her elegance on ice reflects the decades she spent travelling the world as a performer, and then as a teacher. Skating helped her recover from the most challenging times of her life, and the message here is simple: keep doing what you love.
Filmmaker: Katie Stjernholm, Balcony Nine Media, 9 minutes
The Frozen Road
Yorkshireman Ben Page sought an adventure of perfect solitude in the Canadian Arctic. But the harsh truths of travelling in such a formidable environment are a long way from the romanticisms of a Jack London book.
On a wild bikepacking journey, as the latitude increases and the mercury falls below -30C, Ben discovers what it truly means to travel alone in this great emptiness.
Filmmaker: Ben Page, 24 minutes
Ice Call – Backyards Project
Freeride skier Sam Favret offers a new perspective on the mythical Mer de Glace, a valley glacier at the heart of the Mont Blanc massif – he treats it as if it were a skatepark! With natural features including halfpipes, impressive jumps, ice tunnels and more, Ice Call combines gnarly skiing with magical scenery. All we have to do is keep up!
Filmmaker: PVS Company, 3 minutes
Imagination: Tom Wallisch
Imagination taps into the beauty of a child’s daydreams. Sitting in the back of his parents’ car, he imagines being a skier doing all sorts of crazy tricks down the snow-filled urban landscape drifting past the car, when suddenly, his imagination comes to life!
A beautiful, heart-warming and nostalgic film with some mind-blowing skiing, made in memory of Canadian freeskier JP Auclair.
Filmmaker: Sherpas Cinema, 5 minutes
Intersection: Micayla Gatto
Mountain biker Micayla Gatto takes the viewer into her world as a painter and as an athlete, riding through beautifully created masterpieces where colours come to life and reality blends with art.
“I feel that athletics and creativity mesh really well together, and yet it’s not something we shine light on too often,” she says.
With hardcore mountain biking and incredible artwork, this film celebrates anyone who doesn’t fit into a single category.
Filmmaker: Lacy Kemp, Juicy Studios, 5 minutes
Into Twin Galaxies
Top adventurers Ben Stookesberry, Sarah McNair-Landry and Erik Boomer are on an extreme mission in Greenland. Using kite skis, the trio tow their white-water kayaks 1,000km over the Greenland Ice Cap to reach the northernmost river ever paddled – and then the challenge gets even tougher. With spectacular cinematography, remote wilderness and a large amount of suffering, this film shows what it’s like to be far out of your comfort zone.
Filmmaker: Jochen Small, Drehxtrem, Red Bull Media House, 52 minutes
Stumped
Climber Maureen Beck may have been born missing her lower left arm, but that hasn't stopped her from going hard. She pushes her ‘stump’ to the limit, tackling the tough grade of 5.12, while sinking the occasional early morning beer. She isn’t making excuses for herself though. “I don’t want to just be a good one-armed climber,” says Maureen. “I want to be a good climber.”
Filmmaker: Cedar Wright & Taylor Keating, 25 minutes