By KIRSTEN BOLTON
For ArtSpring
Back for a second year at ArtSpring is the The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour, a collection of short films that capture the essence of human passion, persistence, and adrenaline in the mountain and adventure sporting worlds.
Featuring soaring cinematography and death-defying feats, last year’s presentation was a smash sell-out with expectations this year will be the same. This year, the films showing Thursday, Oct. 10 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. also include stories that touch on diverse vistas, topical environmental issues, and slices of culture and lifestyle.
ArtSpring’s executive and artistic director Howard Jang, who formerly oversaw the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival as part of his role as the Banff Centre’s executive director, has selected a curated package of top films and audience favourites to connect with the Salt Spring community.
The line-up consists of nine short films ranging from three to 35 minutes, including three award-winners and three from Canada. From a gritty female freerider pushing herself on some of B.C.’s most striking terrains to a team of Québecers documenting one of the longest wilderness expeditions ever — a 6,000-km canoe and cycle journey across the Arctic — the program offers audiences spectacular scenery and perseverance.
Other stories involve an avid Black skier, who after bumping into a jazz musician in L.A., contemplates the correlation between jazz and skiing, as an expression of art, skiing and his Black culture. In another film, a global adventure athlete who is fully blind climbs a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada using new technology. Both were award winners.
Lifestyle stories include taking us to the tourist town of Livingstone, Zambia where a group of men who make their living portering kayaks, with aspirations to become safety kayakers, face the proposed threat of a hydroelectric corporation flooding the famous rapids of the Zambezi River. Winning “Best Film: Mountain Culture,” a rock star turns his back on the industry to pursue life on the land with a herd of buffalo.
Since 1979, Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival has been one of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world. Hot on the heels of the festival, held every fall in Banff, the Festival World Tour hits the road with stops in more than 40 countries to celebrate achievements in outdoor storytelling and filmmaking worldwide.
ArtSpring is presenting in support of Salt Spring Island Search and Rescue, who will be in attendance at the screening with news and information. All tickets cost $15.