Banff Mountain Film Festival ... More to Come

Would you believe it... I'm actually giving you some of those promised reviews. Yes my days lately are filled with screening the rest of our list of film submissions for SouthSide Film Festival. We have been a bit overwhelmed more than 100 total hours of film entries, and our deadlines and come and gone and now we're under the pressure of time. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll have finished these decisions. And that's just the tip of the iceberg regarding the jam-packed timeline as we prepare for our Fest, June 19-23.

But in between all my Festival duties and earning a living, I've managed to muster up some time to go out and screen MORE films. Sadistic? Maybe! Hard-core? Without a doubt! Stupid? Some might weigh on this question. In the end, it's all about my hunger to screen films, learn films, and studying the nuances. And it's about getting out with my wife while going on a "date" every now and then. She often humors my thirst for more artistic stimulation. If art forms were food, I'd probably be considered a T-Rex, voraciously feeding on everything in sight. Over-stimulation is NOT a problem for me. Anyway, we've screened a few films at home, at the theater, or at one of our Film Festival year-long schedule of events. Let me expand on that...

One of the BIGGEST events we attended last month was the World Touring Banff Mountain Film Festival. This collection is comprised of action-packed films about "extreme" sports and physical endeavors. It covers the range of biking, hiking, climbing, yakking, and MORE. Annually Banff Mountain hosts a Film Festival at their facilities in British Columbia, featuring the best of sports films from around the World. Once the fest has ended, BANFF "tours" with their film selections, affording each venue the opportunity to hand pick which films will appeal to their local audiences. With that in mind, Wildlands Conservancy hosted our local edition at Parkland H.S..

Our local Banff selections were exciting and often inspiring. Some were obviously "beyond" the limits of the norm and my desires, but were INCREDIBLE just the same. Banff Rep Jamie Carpenter was our host through this exploration. The program began with Peter Mortimer's "First Ascent", a pictorial of climbers in Thailand and their efforts to scale rock spires rising up from the sea. This was no ropes and all balls! The first of our bike themed offerings of the night was "Unchained:New World Disorder VI". Derek Weterlund's feature of the same name is "highlighted" in this action-packed short. Mountain bikers RULE this one kids. Next on the roster was Tom Eldridge's "Beyond Iraq", a bird's-eye view of Disabled soldiers returning from war, and being emerged in "handicap" skiing efforts. We follow a few limbless vets as they struggle with mono-skis, seat-skis, and other contraptions that allow these heroic Americans to enjoy the slopes. What an inspirational story.

The evening's feature film was "Asiemut", by Olivier Higgins and Melanie Carrier. This gritty film followed Higgins and Carrier as they decided to take a bike tour from Mongolia to Calcutta. We follow their struggles, their thoughts of abandonment, and their camaraderie. Beautiful footage gives the audience a glimpse into this unspoiled landscape. Do they make it to the end? You'll have to screen the film to find the answer. The first half of the program ended with "Lego" film "The Best of Jo" by 12 year-old Logan Carlstrom. I must say I was incredibly impressed with this stop-motion animation, showing thought and skill, as we see Jo try his hand at many mountain sports. I was especially impressed with the "water" scenes.

After intermission the rest of the program unfolded. First in the line-up was Steve Furman's "Ride of the Mergansers". This film followed the fast progression of this Great Lake bird, from birth to "bombs". What do I mean by "bombs"? Only 24 hours after birth, these hatchlings are driven my instinct and drop from their nests high in the trees and land in an unknown World of the waters below. Rod Parmenter's "Kids Who Rip" was an edit of a longer film, featuring young skiers, snowboarders, skateboarders, and surfers. This film gives new meaning to "starting young", with amazing results. Trip Jennings' "Mission: Epicocity" featured kayakers who hammer the waters of South America and Africa, to astonishing results. This paddling was not for the weak of heart.

Following that watery tale was Nathan Cando's "The Simplicity Factor", a glimpse at a few of the World's leading female climbers. The film delves into the inspiration behind these activities and how these ladies attempt to conquer various bouldering difficulties. "Hard Rock" had a new definition after this film. Closing the program was "Roam", by Darcy Wittenburg and Jamie Houssian. We were given one more inspirational example of World-Class mountain biking from Moab to Whistler. The auditorium was full and I can only imagine what inspirational activities were whirling through the heads of these adventurous athletes in the audience. I know my wife and I started talking about other adventure vacation ideas, including kayaking and biking.

This film program inspired a more active lifestyle. This blog entry inspired a more reverent attempt to blog more regularly.

Until then... butter up that popcorn, turn down the lights, and crank up that projector.


en filme... jeff