The Banff Mountain Film Festival Is Back For Another Year

The collection of thought-provoking movies challenges our preconceptions of what is possible for humanity while also shining a light on issues of injustice and the natural world.

 

The Banff Mountain Film Festival presents uplifting narratives about individuals who face their own personal challenges while also facing the elements head-on. With films about the first female to kayak down a 30-meter waterfall, a disabled mountain-biking family, and an activist lawyer racing ultramarathons to protect Afghan women, it's clear that ecological and equality issues are at the forefront of the event.

Starting in 1976, the fest has been highlighting and honouring mountain lifestyle, sports, and exploration. Over the course of 2023, it will show in over 40 different nations and over 50 different cities across the UK and Ireland. The event's stated goal is to facilitate the exchange of ideas and encourage people to learn about and respect the natural world.

About this year’s movies

In the magnificent documentary Walking On Clouds, audiences soar almost 2,000 meters above Bridi's native state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

In Free to Run, we learn about the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan through Stephanie Case's point of view. In order to earn money for a women's refuge in Kabul, the UN human rights attorney raced ultramarathons. Conversations with the shelter's female residents, however, revealed that they, too, yearned for the independence to race over the mountains like Case. As a result, she established Free to Run and inspired many other women and girls to exercise their own potential.

The majority of the films in the festival's line-up subvert or challenge common perceptions. Consider Wild Waters, in which, over the course of 45 minutes, we meet Nouria Newman, a French kayaker who pushes the limits in her sport.

The documentary The Nine Wheels follows the Schneebergers through their lifetime. Emric, 10, Raoul, 13, and their parents Toni and Laetitia represent the future of mountain biking. After learning that Laetitia had a neurological condition, the family decided to sell their home and hit the road in search of adventure as mountain bikers. This moving and uplifting footage demonstrates the power of the human spirit in the face of hardship.

Betty Birrell, a resident of North Vancouver, Canada's foggy woods, is yet another breath of fresh air and source of inspiration. North Shore Betty focuses on her. When she was 45 years old, almost 30 years ago, she took up mountain biking after having previously pioneered women's wave sailing.

To find out more, Edinburgh, Galway, Brighton, London, and Brecon are just a few of the stops on the Banff Mountain Film Festival's tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, which runs through November.

 

Source: theguardian.com