Banff Mountain Film Festival Brighton: a quick review
What did the Red Film Programme have to offer? Thrills, dangers — and meditations on mental health and community.
It's been some months since I allowed myself to have an evening out. As part of the counselling I've been going through, I've been focusing on giving myself permission to have experiences that aren't purely about work or family obligations. And one thing I love, and have loved since I discovered it during the pandemic, is the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival Tour.
I've been to a couple of the physical tours — the Ocean Film Festival a couple of years ago, and the Red Films of the Mountain Film Tour last year. So, before Christmas, in a burst of determination, I booked myself into both of this year's Mountain film sessions. And last night, as soon as I was finished with my students, rushed from Islington to Brighton to catch the show.
Was it worth it?
Risk and reward
The first half was definitely the most nerve-wracking. Dolomites took us behind the scenes of Kilian Bron and his team's film-making. It was intriguing to see how much effort and repetition goes into creating the “free and easy adventuring” you get from many outdoors movie. And some of the cycle stunts were breathtakingly scary, even when you see them from the behind-the-scenes perspective. And so too was Soul Flyers: The Longest Line, with three wing suit fliers traveling 7.5km in a flight. You could feel the nervous energy in the theatre, as the skim past the mountains. Of course, the sheer fact that they show these films at festivals mean you know everybody is going to be OK.
Except…
Dropping Molly, the final film before the intermission was intense in a whole different way. It's a deeply moving piece, as the eponymous Molly falls from a rock, and breaks her back. And you see it happen. But then, you follow her through recovery, and in exploring the mental heath diagnosis that came from her trauma counselling afterwards, an issue that clearly pre-dated the fall.
A great first half, but very much in the “I enjoyed watching all that, but I have no desire to do any of it…” category.
Courage and Community
After a snatched coffee, and a decision that I didn't actually need the loo, given the length of the queues, we were back for the second half. The Streif was a fun little opener, with a cyclist going down a ski jump run. Fun to watch, but very much an amuse-bousch before the main course.
Ice Waterfalls was awesome, in the most literal sense of the word. Watching a group of kayakers take a boat to a glacier, to experience paddling through an ice channel and down an ice waterfall was my favourite movie of the night. The scenery was stunning, untouched, ever-changing. The adventure felt more human-level. Sure, amazing skill needed, but much less of a sense that their lives were repeatedly on the line. And the cinematography was just amazing. I've added “learn to kayak” to my bucket list, but I'm not expecting to be going down any waterfalls. Too old for that now.
And finally, Welcome to the Pit was just lovely. A community-centric tale of how one Canadian town has adopted a disused quarry and turned it into a skiing and snowboarding park, that gives them a reason to get out of the house during the long, frozen winter days that close to the arctic circle. Seeing three generations using the park together, and finding community, exercise and fun in the process sent us out on a high.
Was it worth the desperate rush to Brighton, and the nervous checking of the time so I didn't miss the last train back to where my car was parked? Abos-bloody-lutely.
Looking forward to being back there in April for the Blue Film Programme.
The trailer
Booking information
