Culture

Multiple Directors
(4/5)


 
 
This year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival featured 12 adrenaline-pumping short films showcasing a variety of mountain and adventure sports. They might as well call this the “Is he gonna die? Film Festival” because that seemed to be the crux of most of the stories. At times it was like watching YouTube on the big screen as the films ranged from amateur-ish to absurd to awe-inspiring.
In the ‘almost getting yourself killed genre’ there was a kayaker going over a 180-foot waterfall, presumably the first attempt at such a fall. When asked why he takes risks, he said something to the effect of “because it's fun.” Slightly more articulate was the young Alex Honnold who, appearing in the film Alone On The Wall, free-solo climbs the face of Half Dome, in Yosemite, California. In one of the most compelling scenes of the night Honnold, who is calm and confident throughout the rest of the film, finally shows some nerves standing alone on a ledge thousands of feet above the ground.
The highlight was a French climbing film called Azazel, a documentary in which a group of four climbers travels to the Himalayas to pursue some unexplored routes. Their camaraderie is touching and charismatic as they endure snowstorms with a good-natured sense of humour. Perhaps the French just have natural film instincts? One of the team vaults off the side of the mountain, gliding down in a squirrel suit. As his parachute reaches the bottom, we hear his voice over the walkie talkie screaming with joy.