Once again the Banff Mountain Film Festival has left me feeling inspired and motivated and ready for the next trip/adventure.
Katie and I went on Friday night, the first of a three-night run at the Bloor Cinema.
Most years, there is a feature-length film and half a dozen shorter offerings. But this year that wasn’t the case. There were several films around the 30-minute mark and another four or five 10-minute or less films.
I’m not sure which format I prefer. This way you get to see more films, but you miss out on the longer films, which are often the most memorable.
Either way, it was still a great show this year. Two films in particular stand out in my mind.
"Committed 2: Walk of Life" was a fantastic rock climbing film. It focuses on James Pearson’s attempt to climb a massive, blank, near-featureless chunk of rock on the ocean coast of Devon, in the U.K.
He becomes obsessed with climbing this wall, and won’t rest until his goal is
accomplished.
He begins by knocking out all the old bolts left behind by other climbers over the years. “It looks like it has a new lease on life,” he says, once the hardware is all removed and lying in a huge pile at the base.
There’s a definite sense of attachment between Pearson and the cliff.
He also seems serious and determined and capable, but also humble and low-key. There is none of the death-defying heart-stopping showboating of Chris Sharma, none of the jokey charisma and character of Didier. Pearson just climbs. Even his style is humble and understated and often not all that pretty to watch.
But what he accomplishes is spectactular.
And the film itself (check out the trailer here) is shot in a way that suggests the story, the reality of this challenge, is enough. It’s simplistic in its style and grandiose in its content, which is a really rare and cool combination. It works really well.
It’s one of those films where the audience is so behind the subject, that at times spontaneous applause is irresistible.
The second film that has really stuck in my mind is “Signatures: Canvas of Snow.” It’s a snowboarding, skiing and “noboarding” (more about that later) film that feels more like a moving painting or a filmic graphic novel set in the snow mountainous forests of Japan with a wicked soundtrack.
I’m usually disappointed with the snowboarding films at the BMFF. They’re usually high on shocking jumps and cliff drops and spectacular crashes and straight-lines, but low on creativity and artistic direction in terms of the look and feel of the films.
This was different. The film, edited down from a full-length (which I. Will. Own.) is just stunning to watch.
It focuses on skiers and riders whose connection to winter goes beyond what they can do on snow but encompasses their whole lifestyle.
The film’s website describes it like this: “In Japan there is a cultural connection to the different Signatures of our terrestrial home – a sense that the rhythm of fall, winter, spring, summer, influences the rhythm of the person, their energy, their riding style, and the lines they choose.
That’s no exaggeration. The riders seem to belong in the dense forests, heavy laden with fresh snow, mind-numbing powder and winter storms that make up the canvas of this film.
One of the riders is Atsushi Gomyo, who says traditional snowboards are too restrictive, cutting off the connection to the snow. Therefore, he cuts and shapes his own binding-less snowboards, and has perfected an effortless style of carving through deep powder that looks like a dream.
It’s just beautiful to watch and reminds me of how much I miss snowboarding in real mountains.
A soundtrack featuring the mellow tones of Jon Swift makes this film that much better.
Inspired…
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