By Marie-Renee Goulet The festival stopped rolling this past Sunday. We’ll now have to wait another year for the next tales of distant journeys, ground-breaking expeditions, and remarkable achievements, told by adventurers, photographers, authors, and filmmakers from around the world. Here are this year’s competition winners. I watched films on this list and did not write…
By Marie-Renee Goulet BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL World Premiere **Awarded Best Film – Mountain Environment & Natural History 58 minutes, United Kingdom – Mountain Environment & Natural History I had the chance to visit Scotland a few years ago. I remember making the following comment to a friend: “The Highlands are so beautiful that it…
By Marie-Renee Goulet North American Premiere (At the request of the filmmaker, this film is available only in Canada) 47 minutes, UK – Adventure & Exploration This film is an interesting study of the darker side of risky pursuits and their impact on loved ones when things don’t go as planned. This is the story…
By Marie-Renee Goulet 2 hours, 26 minutes – 8 Mixed Films – Mountain Sports For 20 years, these have been some of my favourites. I remember going to the festival for the first time not fully grasping that it was about celebrating Mountain life and/or alternative lifestyles. Like most of us, I came from a…
By Marie-Renee Goulet EBB AND FLOW – Short Films 57 minutes – 3 films “This mixed film program is all about water. Meet conservationists, marine biologists, photographers, and adventurers as we visit some of the planet’s most remote oceans and rivers. Enjoy the ebb and flow of nature as we float along by boat.” FROM…
By Marie-Renee Goulet OUT THE BACK DOORS – Short Films 55 minutes – 4 films – Mountain Sports, Adventure & Exploration, Snow Sports “Leave your passport at home because sometimes the best journeys are those taken right out the back door. Running, fly fishing, bike-packing, and skiing adventures close to home – wherever that may be…
By Marie-Renee Goulet (****) Directed by Dani Menkin and Yonatan Niro With Amos Nachoum, Adam Ravetch, Howard Rosenstein 74 minutes, USA – Documentary, Adventure & Exploration Banff Mountain Film Festival Ten years in the making, this film explores a man and his quest. Amos Nachoum who is a world-renowned wildlife photographer, having captured some of…
By Marie-Renee Goulet (***) I woke up Saturday feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. Grabbed my phone, and sure enough, the Banff Film Festival email was in and it read: “Good news, it’s release day!” Followed by the button to “start watching now”. Well, don’t mind if I do. The 10-second commute was appreciated. Using…
By Marie-Renee Goulet A true COVID Silver Lining Each year, I have tried to attend the Banff Centre Mountain Film & Book Festival. If you are on a budget, it is not easy. Banff hotel rates tend to jump to high season, and eating out a few times a day adds up quickly. I would…
By John H. Foote At the end of it all, I would be lying if I said I had the slightest enjoyment of TIFF this year. I missed the energy of the cavernous, crowded Scotiabank Theatre or the spacious, still new Lightbox, the many busy conversations in the audiences before each film, other critics picking…