Banff Fest Dhaka | 2024
Like every year, Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour will be in Dhaka soon. 2 hours of adventure movie marathon will be on the screen on (Date to be announced) at Bishwo Shahitto Kendro (বিশ্বসাহিত্য কেন্দ্র)
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is the most prestigious international film competition and an annual presentation of short films and documentaries about mountain culture, sports, and environment. It was launched in 1976 as The Banff Festival of Mountain Films by The Banff Centre and is held every October in Banff, Canada.
Since 1976, the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, a flagship program of Banff Centre, has been an industry leader in the celebration of Mountain Culture. We promote understanding and appreciation of the world’s mountain places by creating opportunities for people to share and find inspiration in mountain experiences, ideas, and visions. Following the festival each fall, our annual World Tour reaches more than 40 countries on 7 continents, making us the largest adventure film tour on the planet.
Approximately 375 films are entered into the film festival annually, and the top 80 films are selected by a pre-screening committee to be shown at the week-long festival in Canada. During the festival, the international film festival jury chooses the best films and presents awards in various categories including: Best Film on Mountain Sport, Best Film on Mountain Environment, Best Film on Mountain Culture, Best Film on Exploration and Adventure and more.
From this selection a program of over 2 hours of thought-provoking films, with subject matter ranging from remote landscapes and cultures to adrenaline-packed action sports are selected to tour Bangladesh this May.
Register for free
Films
Fuego 7
(2023, France, 7:09 min)
Director: Pierre Henni
Producer: Kilian Bron
Advisory: None
Focus: Mountain biking
Adrenaline Factor: Medium-high
Sponsor Recognition: COMMENCAL (presented by); many (16) listed in the end
Film Synopsis: An ode to escape and adventure travel, Fuego is a new mountain biking masterpiece. From Guatemala to Peru via Bolivia, the team scoured the most beautiful spots for two months bring back breathtaking images. Kilian Bron rides from the foot of the Fuego volcano the day before its historic eruption, to the colourful facades of Barrio Chualluma in La Paz, through the geological formations of the Valle de las Animas to an unforgettable meeting with the Cholitas Escaladoras.
Eternal Flame
2023 Banff Mountain Film Competition: ***BEST FILM: MOUNTAIN SPORTS***
(2023, Switzerland, 26:38 min)
Director: Nicolas Bossard
Producer: Nicolas Bossard
Production Company: MS PROD
Advisory: Coarse language
Focus: Climbing, BASE jumping, adventure
Adrenaline Factor: Medium to high
Subtitles: Yes – from French
Sponsor Recognition: Alpine Athletic Medicine Institute & Phoenix Fly
Film Synopsis: After having climbed the Eternal Flame route on Nameless Tower in Pakistan (6,200m), French BASE jumpers Eric Jamet and Antoine Pecher combine the ascent with one of the most beautiful BASE jumps imaginable. Following in the footsteps of pioneer jumpers from 1990, the duo of friends devour adventure and all it offers, beauty, power and anxiety all contribute to the experience.
How Did We Get Here
HOW DID WE GET HERE? (TOUR EDIT) (2023, Canada, 9:00 min)
Director: Clay Mitchell
Producer: Simon Shave
Production Company: CK9 Studios
Advisory: Coarse Language
Focus: Skiing, female subjects
Adrenaline Factor: Medium-high
Sponsor Recognition: The North Face
Film Synopsis: The Blondes, three strange animals. Who are they? What are they thinking? Are they naturally Blonde? A film highlighting the ski crew the Blondes through their friendship and adventures in skiing and in life.
No Way
NO WAY (2023, France, 4:09 minutes)
Director: Jean-Baptiste Chandelier
Producer: Jean-Baptiste Chandelier, Marine Pascal
Production Company: EURL JB Chandelier
Advisory: Coarse language
Focus: Paragliding
Adrenaline Factor: Medium-high
Subtitles: Almost no dialog; few during the credits from French
Sponsor Recognition: (In YouTube posting:) Salewa, Porcher Sport, skywalk paragliders, Blacksheep van, Serre Chevalier Vallée Briançon
Film Synopsis: Jean-Baptiste Chandelier takes his unique low-flying, ground-skimming art combining paragliding and filmmaking to a whole new level.
RR DNA
REEL ROCK: DNA (2023, USA, 23:34 min)
Director: Josh Lowell
Producer: Zachary Barr
Production Company: Reel Rock
Advisory: Coarse language
Focus: Climbing
Adrenaline Factor: Medium
Subtitles: Some – from French
Sponsor Recognition: Presented by: The North Face, Black Diamond & YETI
Film Synopsis: 29-year-old French sport climber Seb Bouin has been quietly working his way through the elite grades, culminating in his attempt to establish a long pitch through an overhanging cave in the Verdon Gorge of France. His proposed line is so futuristic, the moves so improbable, that if Seb can put it all together it may be the most difficult route ever climbed.
Two Point Four
TWO POINT FOUR (2023, United Kingdom, 20:02 min)
Director: Natasha Brooks
Producer: Leo Houlding
Advisory: Coarse language
Focus: Family, adventure, climbing
Adrenaline Factor: Low
Subtitles: None
Sponsor Recognition: Berghaus
Film Synopsis: Not your typical family holiday, but this is not your typical family. Leo Houlding, his wife Jess, their two children Freya (9yrs) and Jackson (5yrs) climb Norway’s national mountain via a 2,000ft big wall.
Soundscape
2023 Banff Mountain Film Competition: ***CREATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD*** (2023, USA, 14:12 min)
Director: Timmy O’Neill
Producer: Sarah Lee Steele
Production Company: Well Travelled Collective
Advisory: None
Focus: Climbing; adaptive (blind), animation
Adrenaline Factor: Medium
Subtitles: None
Film Synopsis: Soundscape shares the sightless experience of climbing a mountain via echo location, touch and imagination. Soundscape features Erik Weihenmayer, a globaladventure athlete and author who is fully blind, as he ascends a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada. Using expert camera work from Mikey Schaefer and emotive, novel animation from Scott Hassell and Mitch Pond to bring to life a concept by adaptive climbing pioneer Timmy ONeill, the film is a surprising and soulful adventure.
The Ascension Series: Morag Skelton
THE ASCENSION SERIES: MORAG SKELTON (2023, United Kingdom, 5:16 min)
Director: Matt Pycroft, Matt Harmer
Producer: Harriet Sykes
Production Company: Coldhouse Collective
Advisory: None
Focus: Ice climbing; adaptive (hearing loss, deaf)
Adrenaline Factor: Low
Subtitles: None
Sponsor Recognition: Presented by: Berghaus
Film Synopsis: Morag, who doesn’t let being deaf limit what’s possible on the mountainside, believes that nothing should come between anyone and getting out there in nature. As a deaf climber constantly pushing the limits of possible, she lives that belief.
Driving Sweep
DRIVING SWEEP (2023, USA, 9:54 min)
Director: Greg Cairns
Producer: Greg Cairns
Production Company: Cairns Film
Advisory: Coarse language
Focus: Sweep driving, female subject
Adrenaline Factor: Medium
Subtitles: None
Sponsor Recognition: Idaho River Adventures, 5Point Adventure Film Festival Film Fund, NRS & The River Radius Podcast
Film Synopsis: Few river guides ever get the chance to drive Idaho’s iconic sweep boat. Driving Sweep follows Katie Veteto as she learns how to “drive sweep” down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. She’s learned the rapids and the river. Now she learns to drive 4,000lbs down steep rocky rapids.
