This was the first year of being able to attend all three days of showings of the Banff Film Festival in Salt Lake City; it allowed me to really experience the varied offerings of the festival. Where day one had an action packed line up, day two felt a bit mellowed with more artistic type films mixed with adventure.
As it Happens
by Renan Ozturk and Corey Richards
USA
The first film of the night, "As it Happens" tells of a journey into the high Himalayas to establish a new route on Everest - Tawoche Himal- which is over 6,000 meters and had yet to be attempted. The video is a conglomeration of the film makers' dispatches from the field then edited together as it happened (hence the title, see?).
The crux of the climb happens along with the crux of the movie- the team runs into a tough decision as they find themselves without water and hence without much in the way of food. The hard decision must be made whether to continue or retreat.
Crossing the Ditch
by Greg Quail, Douglas Howard, and Justin Jones
Australia
Australia
This was by far the most emotional film of the series for our group. I found myself secretly wiping away tears at the end and completely overjoyed for the family and adventurers involved.
James Castrission and Justin Jones, two young (and largely inexperienced) men, decide to set out on a voyage of a lifetime - crossing an expanse of water stretching between their native Australia and neighboring New Zealand known as the Tasman Sea. Nicknamed "The Ditch", the Tasman Sea extends over 1,250 miles of open ocean which holds the claim of being one of the most treacherous in the world.
The voyagers begin their physical training and preparations for the trip amidst the tears of mothers and fears of siblings. Once on the ocean, they find themselves faced with man-hungry sharks, waves and eddies of giant proportions and favorite candy-bars being thrown overboard in moments of spite.
Salt
by Michael Angus and Murray Fredericks
Australia
Winner: The Banff Centre Award for Creative Excellence
This film follows a professional photographer Murray Fredericks as he bikes to the center of Lake Eyre, Australia and sets up camp for days on end. His purpose? To photograph the barren landscape. Surrounded by salt flats, he braves floods and mud, the monotony of brilliantly sunny days and the loneliness of his thoughts.
This film was beautiful visually but by the middle of it I found myself feeling it, too, was monotonous. 28 minutes of a man and his camera in a mostly unchanging, desolate landscape seemed like overkill. But perhaps the point was to drive home Fredericks' own feelings of monotony? If so, mission accomplished.
Rush Hour Dream
This was the only fiction film out of the 19 shown at the film festival. Another mostly creative endeavor, this five-minute German film is mostly visual and very simple in its plot:
A business man starts his routine day like any other. As he boards the train for his office, he falls asleep and discovers as he - supposedly - wakes, he has been transported not to the heart of the city where his office is, but to the heart of a mountain range with a paraglider in his briefcase. Strapping it on, he takes a perfectly executed ride through the air, gliding over beautifully pristine landscapes. He lands and we find out that it was all a dream- except we get a sneak view at the soles of his feet as he walks away from the train.... lo and behold- there's grass stuck on them.
The plot was amateur in nature and while the visuals were okay, I found myself questioning how the film was possibly considered Banff-worthy.
AZADI: Freedom
Directed and produced by Anthony Bonello
Canada
This is where we broke for intermission and a prize drawing. I didn't win anything, so let's move on.
Salt
by Michael Angus and Murray Fredericks
Australia
Winner: The Banff Centre Award for Creative Excellence
This film follows a professional photographer Murray Fredericks as he bikes to the center of Lake Eyre, Australia and sets up camp for days on end. His purpose? To photograph the barren landscape. Surrounded by salt flats, he braves floods and mud, the monotony of brilliantly sunny days and the loneliness of his thoughts.
This film was beautiful visually but by the middle of it I found myself feeling it, too, was monotonous. 28 minutes of a man and his camera in a mostly unchanging, desolate landscape seemed like overkill. But perhaps the point was to drive home Fredericks' own feelings of monotony? If so, mission accomplished.
Rush Hour Dream
by Kerim Jaspersen and Christian Menn
Germany
Germany
This was the only fiction film out of the 19 shown at the film festival. Another mostly creative endeavor, this five-minute German film is mostly visual and very simple in its plot:
A business man starts his routine day like any other. As he boards the train for his office, he falls asleep and discovers as he - supposedly - wakes, he has been transported not to the heart of the city where his office is, but to the heart of a mountain range with a paraglider in his briefcase. Strapping it on, he takes a perfectly executed ride through the air, gliding over beautifully pristine landscapes. He lands and we find out that it was all a dream- except we get a sneak view at the soles of his feet as he walks away from the train.... lo and behold- there's grass stuck on them.
The plot was amateur in nature and while the visuals were okay, I found myself questioning how the film was possibly considered Banff-worthy.
AZADI: Freedom
Directed and produced by Anthony Bonello
Canada
Picking up the pace quite a bit after the previous two films, this video shows the "life" of skiing as it is in war-torn Kashmir. We listen to the story of a local guide as he describes his decision to pick up skis instead of guns; we watch as the locals don skis in their native garb, we see images of pristine powder being tossed high as skilled two-plankers rip into the mountainsides. And finally, we hear pleas for tourists to return to the "now-safe" but war ravaged country... and because of this film, I almost want to.
Great music, beautiful cinematography and a fascinating story combine to make this (hands-down!) my favorite film of the evening.
Life Cycles
by Ryan Gibb and Derek Frankowski
Canada
Wrapping up the evening was a film about "mountain biking"... but not necessarily in the mountains. We see riders ripping through rugged trails as well as through farmer's fields, performing acrobatics while popping above blades of wheat. As they ride through, seasons melt into one another and we experience the different forms riding landscapes take on throughout the year.
This film was shot in "Ultra-HD", producing stunningly crisp and vivid cinematography that almost seemed computer-generated. Fast paced riding mixed with slow motion aerials and frames that showcased a reverence for nature made this film the perfect addition to Banff and a visually stimulating way to end the evening.
Into literature and photography? Banff has that, too. Find out more about the offerings of Banff Mountain Film Festival by visiting their site.
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Reviews
Day Two leaves questions in mind- for example, was that a cowpie on his shoe or just grass? Was the film about cycling or a presentation about the photographic skills? The film that captured me for its true photojournalism with idocycric adventures was the climbers-the sheer drops, the details of effort and chronology - definitely some editing could have been employed - the dramatic tasks were downplayed as you analyzed the water pouring into the can and watched the pipe enhalation...details that distracted from what could have been the emotional touches of sheer survival.
Crossing the Ditch is going at the top of my list of 'to see' movies. The ocean is this vast, powerful being and to try to conquer it with a friend in a kayak is incredible. I've been dying to learn to kayak so I figure watching this will either deter or inspire me entirely.