Tonight and tomorrow night Boulder locals are transported to the heart of the Canadian Rockies and no newly legalized marijuana is needed for this magical trip, although some may be enjoyed. The world tour of The Banff Mountain Film Festival lands at the Boulder Theater tonight bringing a slew of movie shorts, features and characters along for the ride. The world tour is an off shoot of the thirty nine year old Film and Book Festival put on the The Banff Centre the arts, cultural and educational institution located in Alberta, Canada.
The world tour will visit forty states in the US and forty-nine countries spanning the globe. During its tour it will touch down in such exotic locals at Antarctica, Bangladesh and Uganda but for the next two nights it is Boulder’s. What makes the tour unique is they partner with local hosts to determine which films to show at each stop, every night is different. The Boulder host is The Access Fund whose vision states “Access Fund is the national advocacy organization that keeps U.S climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment”. You would think the slate would be climber heavy but the line up is surprisingly diverse.
The first night has several interesting shorts built around three longer feature films. A few stimulating offerings are Poor Mans Hell about a group of skiers trying to paraglide across a valley in search of fresh runs, Sensory Overload about blind Everest summiteer Erik Weihenmayer attempting to white water kayak and Ready to Fly a chronicle of female ski jumpers and their fifteen year fight to get their sport into the Olympics. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the closing film of the night Valhalla where a group of naked skiers schuss down a mountain.
Night two arrives seeming more introspective with movies that find folks pushing their boundaries. Two offerings that grab your eye are Sufferfest a chronicle of novice cyclists/pro climbers Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright attempt to link all of California’s 14,000-foot peaks by bikes. North of the Sun follows two young Norwegians on a remote, arctic island skiing and surfing through winter. They also will be reshowing Valhalla seems they know their demographic well.
Both nights are sold out so hopefully you got yours early if not well…bribe someone with a great beer or plan on hitting it Thursday and Friday at The Paramount Theater in Denver.
