The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival takes place each fall in Banff, Alberta, Canada. At the conclusion of each year’s festival, the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour begins, bringing the best of its 87 films on the road, with 550 viewing locations in 40 countries around the world. On Tuesday, Feb. 12, the tour made a stop in Hamilton’s own Bradford Auditorium.
The theme tying all of these films together is an undying passion for adventure paired with beautiful cinematography. The first film of the night showcased both. Imagine aerial shots of a freeskier weaving through trees, speeding down impressively steep mountains, and jumping over menacing cliffs. Now imagine an 11-year old doing all that and you’ll have Kai Jones in
Far Out
. My favorite quote of the entire night was from Jones, who said: “I always say to myself, ‘How far can I push it and not make my mom scared?’”
The next film,
FAST HORSE
, is a beautiful look into the world of bareback horse racing seen through one Siksika horseman’s journey towards the Calgary Stampede. The tradition of Indian Relay has been passed down through generations and remains an important component of Siksika culture today.
Surface
, the next film, looks at the mountains from a whole new angle — underwater. Ben Thouard moved to Tahiti, French
Polynesia, to nurture his love for the ocean. Thouard had been capturing underwater photos for years, endlessly exploring below the surface of Tahiti’s waters. One day, he realized he could capture photos of landscapes through the translucent waves. Four years later, he compiled his best photography into a book titled Surface.
REEL ROCK 12:
Break On Through tells the story of 19-year-old Margo Hayes and her journey to become the first woman to conquer two of the most iconic climbs in France and Spain. After graduating from high school, Hayes moved to Spain to train and climb with the best, but little did her contemporaries know that she was on her way to climbing higher than any of them. Hayes’s extreme determination to accomplish anything she puts her mind to is inspiring — so inspiring, in fact, that even women have conquered the famous 5.15 climb since she broke the barrier. “75% of British Columbia is mountains. Few people truly experience them.” This quote starts off the longest and most perilous film of the night. This Mountain Life sees a mother-daughter team complete the 2300-kilometer ski trek from Canada to Alaska through the treacherous Coast Mountains. Relying only on what was on their back and the freeze-dried food that they had prepared and dropped at points along their route, this duo was invincible.
What happens when an Olympic bronze medalist alpine skier races against a world class drone flyer?
Skier Vs. Drone
has the answer. Racing down a dual slalom slope in Snowbird, Utah, is Victor Muffat-Jeandet, 2018 PyeongChang Olympic alpine combined bronze medalist. Alongside of him is
a drone flown by two-time Drone Racing World Champion Jordan “Jet” Tamkin. To find out who wins this thrilling race, you’ll have to watch this film yourself.
Rajesh Magar, 21, from
RJ Ripper
came from a humble background and a deep fascination with bicycles. Magar, the son of a construction worker and a housemaid, grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, without access to a mountain bike. Undeterred, he drew up plans and built his own. This first rickety, noisy mountain bike is what got him noticed and landed him a job as a mountain bike guide. Eventually, he became a professional racer and, ultimately, Nepal’s national champion. Magar is living proof that it is worth sticking to your dreams, no matter who may tell you that they’re unachievable.
The final and funniest film of the night,
The Frenchy
, features an 82-year old man, or, as he puts it, “I am 41 years old, each leg.” Jacques Houot refuses to let his age stop him from living life his way. He is a cyclist and ski racer living in Carbondale, Colorado. After 23 close calls with death — from surviving cancer and a heart attack to nearly drowning — he says that everything he now does is a bonus. To any new challenge presented to him, Houot simply says, “No problem!”
All of the films featured at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour were full of adventurous, driven people who refused to concede their dreams in the face of adversity. These inspiring mountaineers, horseback riders, photographers, and adventurers encourage us all to step outside of our comfort zones and chase after our passions.
