For the first time since before the pandemic, S and I ventured to The Sheldon for two nights of the traveling edition of the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Here's what we saw:
Day 1
Never in the Way (full film) gave me all kinds of crazy ideas for things to do on my bike. It follows a Chicago bike messenger as he takes a break from the city and ventures on his bike from Flagstaff to Phoenix. Beautifully shot, but as a story, there's not much there.
Always Higher profiles a Canadian high diver -- and when I say "high," I mean high -- who leaves competition to focus on some recreational dives. The diving piece was interesting. I really could have done without all the bits about her kids.
A Foreign Native was a bit different. Fabian is a ski pro in Austria. He wants a change of pace, including the ability to explore and ski off the beaten path, so he decides to spend some time in Iran. When the pandemic breaks out and it turns out he's stuck there, he really dives in.
The Ultimate Run (full film) was another ski movie. There's not much plot, but some incredible footage of even more stunning ski moves.
Izembek (full film) was beautiful, but also a slow-motion train wreck in the making. The filmmaker paints a picture of the necessary and productive Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This includes the current people and practices that are threatening its existence, as well as the wildlife that rely on it. A tragedy in the making.
Reel Rock 15: Deep Roots closed out the first night. I had mixed feelings about this one. There was certainly some incredible rock climbing, which is always cool to see. It was also refreshing to see young people embracing their native heritage. But for whatever reason I just wasn't into the story and didn't care about what motivated (or didn't motivate) our lead climber.
Day 2
The opening with Follow the Light (full film) mirrored the prior night. It's an adventure bike riding movie, this time through Turkey rather than Arizona. Again, the scenery was beautiful and the lighting amazing, but there's not much in the way of story to care about.
For some more wild skiing, we then had FINALLY (full film). Ben Buratti is a lifelong skier. After a few months of being closed in as a consequence of the pandemic, he seeks a different type of solitude, and purpose, on the mountain he grew up on.
In the grand tradition of Grizzly Man (but thankfully not as tragic ... yet), was Bear-Like. Set in Alaska, it is of course beautiful, but also nuts. People make strange choices in life.
If You Give a Beach a Bottle was a colorful deviation from most of the films in the festival. Except it was also set in Alaska, but other than that, it was different. Our main character heads off to Kayak Island to participate in some beach clean-up operations. Shocked by the amount of debris he sees, he takes to making surprisingly interesting paintings about it. The activism continues.
Dream Mountain is a better attempt at a mother-who-loves-wild-adventures than Always Higher was. The lead is Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita, a high mountain guide who grew up in alpine country but still struggles with all the normal dilemmas of a working mom.
Because we can't have a night without a climbing movie, Day 2 brought us Em. Emelie Pellerin is an amazingly skilled climber. If you like climbing, the attempt profiled in this short is totally worth watching.
My Midsummer Morning (full film) was another deviation from the norm, but a totally fun way to end the festival. Alastair Humphreys (how perfectly British!) has built a career on wild outdoor adventures. Wanting to do something a bit different, he takes inspiration from an earlier Brit and, despite not knowing how to play the violin, decides to walk across Spain, earning the money he needs to live by -- you guessed it -- playing his violin.
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