Film Festival Brings Winners To Spokane
Buckle your climbing harness, cinch your your life jacket and hold on to your rip-cord - here comes the Best of the Banff Films road tour.
Six action-packed films will be shown Friday, beginning at 7 p.m., at The Met in downtown Spokane.
The Banff Festival of Mountain Films began in 1976 as a modest showing of 10 adventure films for about 250 viewers. In November, nearly 6,000 people came to the Alberta hamlet to see the judges’ picks from 115 films entered from 26 countries.
“The demand for a road tour continues to grow,” said Becky Scott, festival spokeswoman, noting that the cream of the festival’s film crop is on a tour of 140 locations in North American, Europe and Japan.
Each location can chose from 11 films ranging from 8 to 56 minutes long featuring climbing, kayaking, skiing, culture, documentaries and mountain humor.
The lineup for this year’s showing in Spokane includes:
“Yakleberry Jam” - A relaxing, humorous musical journey into the minds and hearts of kayakers.
“Loco Motion” - The history of exploration of British Columbia’s Rogers Pass, including the building of the railway and the ongoing struggle with mountains of snow is imaginatively combined with modern footage of skiers and snowboarders floating through the remarkable terrain of the Canadian Selkirk Mountains.
“La Maitresse du vide” - A French film featuring American rock climbing sensation Lynn Hill in an agonizing effort to become the first woman to free-climb the Nose route on Yosemite’s El Capitan.
“Lalibela” - Voted the best film on mountain culture, this French production explores an extraordinary hidden religious sanctuary on the Ethiopian high plains.
“Child of the Wind” - A documentary based on the wilderness adventure of Canadian Coast Mountains explorer John Clarke. In 30 years, Clarke logged 600 first ascents and traversed thousands of miles on foot and skis.
“Supersonic Skysurfer” - A short feature about two Swiss sky divers who pull off a wacky and difficult stunt.
Cost for the Spokane show is $9 with advance tickets from Mountain Gear or $10 at the door. Info: 325-9000.
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