Events Calendar
Best of the 35th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival
Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 07:30pm
To Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Program Length – 2 hours, 15 minutes
Best of the 35th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
Tuesday, February 22 / Arlington Theatre / 7:30 p.m.
Life Cycles (Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour edit)
Canada, 2010, 14 minutes / Directed and Produced by Ryan Gibb and Derek Frankowski
Filmed in Ultra HD, Life Cycles provides some of the most visually stunning images the mountain sports world has ever seen. It’s a beautiful celebration of the bicycle, and is sure to amaze anyone who has ever ridden one. www.lifecyclesfilm.com
The Asgard Project
Best Film on Climbing, sponsored by the Canadian Alpine Club
United Kingdom, 2009, 60 minutes / Directed and produced by Alastair Lee
follows Leo Houlding’s ambitious project to make a first free ascent of the North Tower of the incredible Mount Asgard on Baffin Island deep in the Arctic. Houlding teams up with fellow big wall climber Stanley Leary, and the duo hopes to make a wingsuit descent from the summit. Arriving late in the season, the trip soon begins to go wrong. After a spectacular arrival skydiving over Mount Asgard, conditions turn against the team, so that just reaching the base of the climb becomes a massive challenge. http://www.posingproductions.com
intermission
Chimæra
Canada, 2010, 7 minutes / Directed by Dave Mossop / Produced by Malcom Sangster
“Chimæra” refers to a mythological fusion of forms or a foolish fantasy. Shot with a unique camera system capable of shooting over 1000 frames per second, Chimæra slows our perception of reality and offers an unprecedented look at a skier’s life. It is an experience that blurs the borders between the real and the imaginary. www.rockymountainsherpas.com
WildWater
USA, 2010, 25 minutes / Directed and produced by Anson Fogel
is a journey into the mind and soul of white-water and an exploration of places only river-runners can go — places of discovery, solitude, and risk. It’s a visually stunning feast for the senses, and an expedition into new ideas. Includes former UCSB Professor Rod Nash. http://www.forgemotionpictures.com
Still Motion
Canada, 2008, 5 minutes / Directed and produced by Jonathan Schmidt
Compiled from the highlights of a whole year of wildlife research, still images from motion-triggered wildlife cameras create an intricately sequenced movie-like production of Alberta’s amazing wildlife. Playful fawns, stalking cougars, and curious elk take centre stage in Still Motion. The film asks an important question: Just who is looking at whom? www.morninglightgraphics.com
Fly or Die
Special Jury Mention
USA, 2009, 24 minutes / Produced by Nick Rosen and Peter Mortimer
A bold new climbing innovation — Free BASE — is the creation of cutting-edge climber Dean Potter. In Fly or Die Potter combines free solo climbing and BASE jumping, on a quest to master disciplines that will lead to a daring evolution of the sport. www.senderfilms.com
The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is presented by National Geographic, The North Face and Parks Canada and is sponsored by Deuter, OR, Stones into Schools/Three Cups of Tea, PrimaLoft, Tom’s of Maine and ProBar with support from MSR, Fernie Alpine Resort, PETZL, World Expeditions and Mountain Hardwear.
Each night - $14 general admission and $11 UCSB students & youth 18 and under / call 805-893-3535
Day 2
Program Length – 2 hours, 20 minutes
Best of the 35th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
Wednesday, February 23 / Arlington Theatre / 7:30 p.m.
The Longest Way
Best Short Mountain Film, sponsored by Mountain Hardwear
Germany, 2009, 5 minutes / Directed and produced by Christoph Rehage
A highly entertaining time-lapse of a one-year-walk from Beijing to Urumqi. Time and distance travelled are charmingly demonstrated by the growth of a beard in this five-minute short. www.thelongestway.com
Into Darkness
USA, 2010, 15 minutes / Directed and Produced by John Waller
Into Darkness is a short adventure essay about the experience of exploring the secret underworld of caves. Journey along with a group of cavers who push through impossibly small passages to access some of the final frontiers on Earth. The images and sounds of spectacular and remote wilderness caves will reveal a fantastic world unlike anything we experience on the surface. www.uncagethesoul.com
A Life Ascending
Best Film on Mountain Culture, sponsored by Petzl
People’s Choice Award, sponsored by Timex Expedition
USA, 2010, 57 minutes / Directed and produced by Stephen Grynberg
Living with his wife and two young daughters on a remote glacier in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Ruedi Beglinger has built a reputation as one of the top mountaineering guides in the world. A Life Ascending follows his family’s unique life in the mountains and their journey in the years following a massive avalanche that killed seven people. The film ultimately explores the power of nature as both an unforgiving host and profound teacher. www.alifeascending.com
intermission
Rush Hour Dream
Germany, 2009, 5 minutes / Directed and Produced by Kerim Jaspersen and Christian Menn
An office worker in Düsseldorf, Germany, has a Rush Hour Dream in the tramway on his way to work and wakes up on a beautiful mountainside to discover that he is carrying a paraglider in his laptop.
Last Paradise (Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour edit)
New Zealand, 2010, 26 minutes / Directed and Produced by Clive Neeson
In the remote wilderness of New Zealand, when necessity was the mother of invention, a maverick bunch of kids concocted a dream that they would one day share with the world. In Last Paradise, through 45 years of stunning original footage we relive the journey of legendary extreme sports pioneers on the roads less travelled. www.lastparadisefilm.com
Feel the Hill (Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour edit)
Canada, 2009, 12 minutes / Directed and Produced by Jérémy Comte
The sport of long boarding attracts all kinds of people. Feel the Hill demonstrates some of the multiple disciplines of long boarding and the sense of freedom that comes with the sport.
The Swiss Machine
USA, 2010, 20 minutes / Produced by Nick Rosen and Peter Mortimer
Ueli Steck may be the greatest speed alpinist the world has ever seen. In The Swiss Machine, Steck tells of his record-breaking ascents in the Alps, accompanied by stunning aerial footage that captures him racing up 2500-metre alpine faces. When he joins Alex Honnold in Yosemite, Steck sets his ultimate goal: to take his one-man alpine speed game to the largest, highest walls in the world. www.senderfilms.com
(over for Day #1 schedule)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011