An epic insect hatch is followed by a meditation on the passing of time for two elder farmers. A group of Canadian diplomats introduce hockey to a Himalayan village, and within minutes a 79 year-old Polish man is paragliding across the screen.
Mountain life will be the recognizable thread through all the films at the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, coming to Ketchum this Thursday through Saturday. Whether it's an angler or a rancher, a stick-handler or thrill-seeker, this festival touches on the myriad lifestyles borne of high altitude living.
The Banff Mountain Film Festival was launched in 1976 by the Banff Centre and is held annually in early November in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is enormously popular, often fielding 300 entries from film crews ranging from rank amateurs to polished film crews from National Geographic and the BBC.
Once the festival is compete, when the awards have been handed out and the judges and juries go back home, the tour begins. A select group of short and full length films, some of them prize winners, others merely worthy productions, are featured in roughly 25 countries as well as in 185 cities throughout North America. On the continental tour, Banff Centre vans will log approximately 40,000 miles.
The majority of these screenings raise money for a non-profit or community cause. The Wood River Valley is no exception: a portion of the weekend's proceeds will benefit the Friends of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center and also the Sun Valley Ski Patrol, who themselves will be making a donation to the Hospice of the Wood River Valley.
Among six films on Thursday night's program is "The Magic Mountain," the People's Choice Award from the November Festival. The film follows Cynthia Hunt, the founder of HEALTH (Health, Environment and Literacy in the Himalayas), as she strives to empower illiterate women in the economically deprived, naturally magnificent region.
On Friday night, the short film "The Hatch" explores the explosive yearly appearance of millions of stoneflies (also known as salmonflies) along a stretch of western Colorado's Gunnison River. Fly-fisherman scramble down 2,300 vertical feet of rocky canyon to access the pristine stretch of water and the insect infestation.
The payoff for the anglers is river trout, fattened by the yearly insect buffet. It's an annual bonanza for the fish; the trout obtain roughly three-quarters of their year's insect intake during the brief protein parade.
"Every time you're making a cast during the stonefly hatch, you have the possibility of catching the biggest fish you've ever seen," said one obsessed line-caster.
Saturday night saves the best for last as the festival's Grand Prize winner screens as the final film of the Ketchum stop. This year's winner, "Sur le fil des 4000," is a 50 minute profile of Patrick Bernhault and Phillippe Magnin, two mountaineers who endeavored to climb all 82 peaks above 4000 meters (13,200 feet) in the spring of 2004. Nearly two months into their quest, on their 67th ascent, the true drama of their tale begins.
Tickets for the festival are available now at the Elephant's Perch, Chapter One Bookstore and Backwood's Mountain Sports.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
An Avalanche of a Raffle
In addition to a small donation from the proceeds of the ticket sales, the Friends of the Sun Valley National Forest Avalanche Center will conduct their own raffle at the event. Tickets are $5 or 5 for $20 for a total of 30 great prizes. All raffle money goes directly to the Friends of the Avalanche Center, enabling them to make more forecasts and hold more educational seminars about snow safety.
Getting high on film
The nexStage Theatre doors open on the touring Banff Mountain Film Festival each night at 6 p.m. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. and films begin at 7. Tickets are on sale in Ketchum at the Elephant's Perch, Chapter One Bookstore and Backwoods Mountain Sports. Tickets are $15 per night and can be purchased at the door.
Films on Thursday, Feb. 2: "Grand Canyon Dreams," paragliding the gorge; "The People of Mountain Village," an anthropological approach to a mysterious complex of uninhabited structures; "The Magic Mountain;" "Middle Kaweah," a first descent on the treacherous Sierra Nevada river; "Person as Projectile," the psyche of an extreme skier cliff jumper; "Parallelojams," a humorous account of "crack-addicted" rock climbers.
Films on Friday, Feb. 3: "Balancing Point," winner of the festival's special jury award; "Becoming a Man in Siberia," the culture of the region's indigenous peoples; "The Hatch;" "Suspended Time," a quiet portrait of two brothers caring for their high country farm; "High Fly Summits," BASE jumping and other high adrenaline chicanery; "The Tangerine Dream," a Teton Gravity Research production; "Bug Out," 10 year-old climbing phenom Cicada Jenerik's ascent of Lowrider V10 in Bishop, Calif.
Films on Saturday, Feb. 4: "Hockey Night ... in Ladakh," Canadians introduce hockey to a small Himalayan village; "The Khumbu Mighty-Mites," Nepalese children have a powder day on homemade skis; "The Ozarks," an Arkansas first ascent; "Praszczur (Grandpa)," an elder Polish man flies with a younger crowd; "The Retrospective—Red Bull Rampage," the birth of free-ride mountain biking; "Solilochairliftquist," a monologue on time spent riding alone; "Sur le fil des 4000," festival Grand Prize Winner.
Focusing on the indigenous nomadic people of the steppes and tundra of Asia, "Becoming a man in Siberia" will be showcased this weekend as part of the touring Banff Mountain Film Festival. Photo courtesy of The Banff Centre
