We’ve all heard of film festivals and wanted to attend one of these prestigious events, whether Cannes or Tribeca. However, these are somewhat out of reach for the average humble UoN student. What is not out of our reach is the Banff Mountain Film Festival, being broadcast next Wednesday 2nd May at 7.30pm at the Nottingham Playhouse.
Banff in Alberta, Canada is one of Canada’s most visited tourist attractions, and with its mountain scenery and glacial lakes, it is clear to see why it has inspired a film festival revolving around mountain culture and extreme sports.
“The top twenty-five films of a potential three hundred [are] being taken on tour worldwide”
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is a competition, with the top twenty-five films of a potential three hundred being taken on tour worldwide to a variety of communities (including Nottingham). Audience members for the entire tour are predicted to be at over 200,000 people.
Nottingham is lucky enough to be viewing the Red programme of films, which includes short features on Yvonne Dowlen, a ninety year old figure skater, skier Sam Favret, who treats the Mer de Glace as his own private skatepark and Mikayla Gatto, a painter and cyclist whose work embodies both her two loves.
“The film promises spectacular scenery, endurance of human nature, and ‘a large amount of suffering’”
The longest film that will be presented at Nottingham’s Banff Mountain Film Festival is the 52 minute, Into Twin Galaxies. Following three adventurers in Greenland as they attempt to reach the country’s northernmost river and paddle it in their white-water kayaks, the film promises spectacular scenery, endurance of human nature, and ‘a large amount of suffering’ – three prime ingredients I look for in every film I watch.
If you are interested in films that inspire and show humanity pushed to the brink, alongside extreme sports and incredible mountain ranges, then this is the film festival for you. An added incentive are the promised free prize giveaways on offer!
So check out the trailer and head along to the Nottingham Playhouse to get your cultural fill during this dark time of exam prep and coursework.
Amy Wilcockson
Image credit: John Price
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is running on Wednesday 2nd May 2018 at 7.30pm at the Nottingham Playhouse. Ticket link here.
