Banff is a Canadian home to all manner of adventurous activities and the largest arts and activities incubator on the planet: The Banff Centre. And it’s from here the Banff Mountain Film Festival originates.
The festival is touring the world, showing a selection of the best adventure sports films to drop each year – it’s a regular event and one that you should add in your diary.
It’s the sixth time it’s come to UK and this tour is the largest to date. There are 83 screenings in more than 50 locations, from January 24th to June 6th and we were lucky enough to get tickets; here’s what’s on the bill, and which films really did it for us.
INTO THE EMPTY QUARTER
Alastair Humphreys and Leon McCarron attempt what looks like a bumbling, flawed desert journey across the Empty Quarter. Tough from the start, the pair battle the boredom to be rewarded with lunar calm and the repeated friendly offerings of sometimes bemused locals. More than 1,000 miles across the desert dragging a cart was never going to be easy!
Highlight: No bullshit honesty about how adventures can, and often do turn out.
DRAWN
The most creative of the films on show mixes epic adventures with graphic art in the memory of a fallen friend. Acclaimed climber and artist Jeremy Collins takes the ashes of his friend to four points on the compass to scatter them in his honour. A celebration of life and adventure.
Highlight: All of it! First time I’ve seen a story told this way. One to watch and not forget.
THE RIDGE
Danny MacAskill returns to his native home on the Isle of Skye to ride the notoriously ragged Cuillin Ridgeline. You’ve probably already seen this on YouTube as it was huge, but still impressive on the big screen.
Highlight: Off the mountain, it’s the trick with the fence. Cheeky.
TOUCH
Opened the show with the tip-toe paragliding stunts of Jean-Baptiste Chandelier. He cuts in sooo low over Mont Blanc and the Col du Galibier, drawing gasps from the audience. A seat-of-your-pants start to the night.
Highlight: Grabbing a high five by the pool in Santorini.
SUFFERFEST 2
Alex Honnold and sidekick Cedar Wright set another seemingly impossible schedule, this time to tackle 45 of America’s iconic desert towers. Mountainbiking between them the pair rejoice in the struggle; chattering, laughing and yes definitely struggling their way through Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
Highlight: Cedar’s celebration each time they crack a tower.
Also rans:
SUN DOG
Fun from the start. Short at 5 mins it’s about a dog that prefers life outside the Patagonian ski hut. More than that he’ll follow skiers through the deepest powder.
AFTERGLOW
Big mountain skiing in suits covered in light bulbs. Spectacular but short at just 3 minutes.
MENDING THE LINE
Very emotional story that cleverly follows a World War II veteran as he return to fish in the river he passed in battle many years before. Wonderful and sensitive, but as it was about fishing it felt slightly out of place in the line-up.
Star of the show: Sufferpup from Sufferfest 2
Downside: No female explorers/ adventurers represented in the RED programme – disappointing: Let’s see more stories about women out there on inspiring adventures.
The World Tour travels the globe every year, reaches more than 400,000 viewers in more than 45 different countries. And we’ll be there next year, for sure!
Feature Image: Louise Falls – Banff National Park © Keenan Harvey
