Excitement is building for the arrival of the Banff Mountain Film Festival to the North Island.
Every year hundreds of adventure film-makers from every corner of the globe gather in Banff, Alberta for a week long festival of film, books, photography, presentations and seminars celebrating mountain culture.
The very best of the films including juried award winners then head out on a world wide tour. Luckily for us some of the very first stops are right here on Vancouver Island.
After which the travelling film show heads across Canada, the United States, and internationally from Scotland to South Africa to China, Japan, New Zealand, Antarctica, and points in between. Each year, the films travel to 32 countries reaching more than 245,000 people at over 635 screenings.
Here, at the edge of the Pacific, in one of the world’s greatest adventure destinations are three opportunities to take in an evening of high action, rich culture and environmental awareness. Local mountaineer and guidebook author Philip Stone hosts two of these shows: at the Quadra Island Community Centre on Saturday and at the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River, on Sunday. Both shows start at 7 p.m.
The tour also plays in Courtenay on Friday, Nov. 29 at the Sid Williams Theatre.
“It’s an incredible opportunity we have between Quadra Island and Campbell River to have two full programs of the Banff Mountain Festival films,” Stone says.
“We get to see a double-dose, covering most of the films available from the festival”.
The main festival in Banff took place in early November and it takes a few weeks for all the licensing and preparation for the road tour, so the full program of films is yet to be finalized but one of the early titles listed catching attention is from renowned British filmmaker Alastair Lee who once again teams up with climbing legend Leo Houlding in The Last Great Climb.
Winner of the Banff Mountain Festivals Best Climbing Film The Last Great Climb follows Houlding and Sean “Stanley” Leary, and Jason Pickles as they team up for an attempt on a bold new line on a remote spire in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.
Tickets for both the Quadra and Tidemark shows are available from the Tidemark Theatre box office between noon and 6 p.m. and at the door if you want to try your luck on the night.
Tickets are $25 for adults $20 for youth, students and seniors. Call 250-287-7465 to reserve.