Friday, March 05, 2010

Banff Film Festival

I went to the Banff Film Festival at the Paramount theatre. The film festival is held internationally, each location shows various entries. Basically they are short videos highlighting anything having to do with the mountains - sports, culture, or environment.

I saw the following films:
The Ultimate Skiing Showdown (WATCH THIS ONE. 3 min video showing cross-country tricks on the Vancouver Olympic course - cool soundtrack)

Africa Revolutions Tour (kayakers in Africa including Madagascar - I think these guys are a bit crazy)

Deep/Shinsetsu (skiing, snowboarding and noboarding in Japan in waist deep powder through back-country - the noboarding was like surfing in snow)

Hunlen (ice-climbing on a partially frozen waterfall in Canada, not a good idea)

Revolution One (unicycler that goes on mountain biking trails and various other rugged landscape)

The longest film and winner of the festival was Finding Farley. This couple traveled across Canada by kayak with their 2 yr old son and dog to visit Farley Mowat. It also won the people's choice awards - I think because of the cute kid and dog. My favorite part was when after several MONTHS of kayaking they had to take a train across part of the country. The 2 yr old was trying to coax the dog into his carrier but the dog walked off. So the 2 yr old proceeded to get on his belly and shimmy himself back into the crate to demonstrate to the dog what to do. The dog watching this...then joins the 2 yr old in the crate. All you can see is fur then a hand reaches out to close the gate. Also, I couldn't help thinking when I was watching this adventure that the parents are a little nuts - they did end up going through some rapids and that seemed a little dangerous with a 2 yr old. Really? Camping for 4 months with a 2 yr old in diapers? That couldn't have been pleasant. Unfortunately the kid probably won't remember any of it - he did get to see some fantastic scenery. I guess he can always watch the video when he is older.