Banff Mountain Film Festival UPDATE
UCSB Arts & Lectures presents the Best of the 37th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival, featuring the world’s best films on mountain subjects – from nail-biting polar treks to inspiring personal odysseys – at the Arlington Theatre
SUMMARY FACTS:
- Best of the 37th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival
- Two nights, two thrilling different programs
- Featuring 15of the world’s best films and videos on mountain subjects, including Grand Prize and People’s Choice winner Crossing the Ice and the breathtaking desert highlining film Moonwalk
- Wed., Feb. 27 and Thurs., Feb. 28 / 7:30 p.m. (both days) / Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara
- Part of the two-week Arts & Lectures Winter Festival
- General public: $14 / UCSB students and youths 18 & under: $11
(An Arlington facility fee will be added to each ticket price.)
- Tickets/Info.:
(805) 893-3535, www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu or Arlington Theatre at
(805) 963-4408, www.ticketmaster.com/venue/73731
Editors/Reporters: Please include the full name of the program, UCSB Arts & Lectures, in all media coverage, including reviews.
UCSB Arts & Lectures presents the Best of the 37th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival on Wed., Feb. 27 and Thurs., Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St.
A Santa Barbara institution, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is a perennial A&L fan favorite. Featuring the world’s best films and videos on mountain subjects, the tour awes viewers with thrills and grandeur captured in exotic locations the world over. The show’s wide variety of film subjects – from extreme sports to mountain culture and environment – will amaze audiences. An entirely different program screens each evening.
With eight films on Wednesday and seven films on Thursday, this year’s highlights range from risky, adrenaline-filled adventures trekking across vast ice fields in Antarctica and down Class 5 white-water rapids in New Zealand to the first-ever downhill ski racing competition in Afghanistan to a spunky dog who shreds on the bike trails and an inspiring team of amputee climbers who have a go at El Capitan.
The screenings are part of the Arts & Lectures Winter Festival, two phenomenal weeks of back-to-back events celebrating A&L’s diverse programming [rest of sentence embargoed till Feb. 21: , which kicks off the Campaign for Arts & Lectures, the program’s first-ever fundraising initiative].
Festival schedule:
Day 1
WED., FEB. 27
Running time: 122 min. (not including intermission)
Industrial Revolutions
Special Jury Mention
World-renowned trials rider Danny MacAskill is at it again – only this time the cyclist uses an abandoned ironworks as his playground! (U.K., 2011, 5 min. Directed by Stu Thomson.)
Mountains in Motion: The Canadian Rockies (special edit)
This 100 percent human-powered film uses striking time-lapse photography and an original story to bring the landscape center stage and offers a thrilling new perspective that reestablishes the Canadian Rockies among the finest mountains in the world. (U.S., 2012, 10 min. Directed and produced by Paul Zizka and Doug Urquhart.)
On Thin Sea Ice 2
Slide away with simple pleasures: skating, bathing and a little vodka! (Norway, 2011, 2 min. Directed and produced by Tor Eckhoff.)
Crossing the Ice
Australian adventurers James Castrission and Justin Jones dare to tackle the perilous journey across Antarctica to the South Pole and back again, completely unassisted – just two men dragging their food and shelter across 1,140 kilometers of barren ice. Many have tried; all have failed. After much planning and preparation, Cas and Jonesy arrive to tackle one of the last great Antarctic odysseys but discover an eerie similarity to Captain Scott’s race to the South Pole: There’s a Norwegian on the ice. He’s more experienced, he’s tackling the same record, and he has a head start. (Australia, 2012, 44 min. Directed by Justin Jones.)
Recipient of Grand Prize, sponsored by Mountain Equipment Co-op; People’s Choice Award, sponsored by Buff; and Best Film – Exploration and Adventure, sponsored by Nemo
1st Afghan Ski Challenge
In a quiet corner of this conflicted country, gutsy first-time skiers learn to ski through trial by fire! Racing with a true spirit of camaraderie, they take part in the first-ever downhill racing competition in Afghanistan. (Switzerland, 2011, 17 min. Directed by Hans-Urs Bachmann.)
Recipient of Best Film - Mountain Sports, sponsored by Live Out There
Moonwalk
Highlining with a full moon like no other across a desert landscape! (U.S., 2011, 4 min. Directed and produced by Mikey Schaefer.)
Ernest
You’ll fall in love with Ernest Wilkinson, one of the last of a vanishing breed of mountain men, as he explains what your best survival tool is. (U.S., 2012, 5 min. Directed by Samuel Bricker.)
Reel Rock 7: Honnold 3.0
Alex Honnold is a bit of an enigma. He’s become known as the boldest solo climber of his generation. But how does he balance pure ambition with self-preservation? Honnold wrestles with this question in preparation for his biggest adventure yet – the Yosemite Triple. (U.S., 2012, 33 min. Directed and produced by Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen and Alex Lowther.)
Recipient of Best Film – Climbing, sponsored by the Alpine Club of Canada
Day 2
THURS., FEB. 28
Running time: 122 min. (not including intermission)
Unicorn Sashimi
This sweet piece of visual and musical poetry builds to a climax of taiko drumming and swirling snow that will envelope you! (U.S., 2012, 6 min. Directed by Ben Knight.)
One Step Beyond
World-renowned snowboarder and base jumper Géraldine Fasnacht tells a poignant and extremely personal story of friendship, loss, achievement and angst mixed with incredible moments of euphoria. Living life in a whirlwind of adrenaline can take an enormous toll, though – and causes Fasnacht to reconsider her chosen path. (France, 2012, 57 min. Directed and produced by Sébastien Montaz-Rosset.)
Lily Shreds Trailside
Just try to keep up with Lily as she takes on the new trailside bike park. Go ahead, we dare ya! (U.S., 2011, 4 min. Directed and produced by Ross Downard.)
The Denali Experiment
Freeride skier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and big mountain snowboarder Lucas Debari step out of their elements while heading toward their most ambitious goal: to descend Mount Denali. But first they must put everything they have into making it to the summit! (U.S., 2011, 16 min. Directed by Jimmy Chin.)
Last of the Great Unknown
The Grand Canyon is an immense place, almost unfathomable in scale, and one of the last places in the American West to be explored. Deep within this vast wilderness run concealed tributaries, hiding some of the Canyon’s most remarkable features – enchanting slot canyons and the secrets deep within their walls. (U.S., 2012, 23 min. Directed by Dan Ransom.)
Flow Hunters (special edit)
Some of the world’s best paddlers experience adventure and risk as they explore New Zealand’s white water. (New Zealand, 2012, 9 min. Directed and produced by Jon Forder.)
The Gimp Monkeys
What has four legs, five arms and three heads? The Gimp Monkeys. Three friends attempt the first all-disabled ascent of Yosemite’s iconic El Capitan. (U.S., 2012, 8 min. Directed by Mikey Schaefer.)
About the Banff Mountain Film Festival
The Banff Mountain Film Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world. The “mothership” festival has been held at the start of November each year since 1975 in Banff in Alberta, Canada. Hot on the heels of the festival, a selection of the best films goes on tour across Canada, the United States and across the globe, from Scotland to South Africa, China to Antarctica and points in between. Each year, the films reach more than 245,000 people at more than 635 screeningsin 32 countries. To learn more about Banff and watch trailers of the films, visit http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainfestival/worldtour/#2.
About Arts & Lectures Winter Festival
Arts & Lectures Winter Festival features an unprecedented two weeks of daily events. Celebrating A&L’s diverse and exceptional programming, the festival opens with a talk by influential string theorist Brian Greene on Mon., Feb. 25 at UCSB Campbell Hall and culminates with a performance by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with legendary Wynton Marsalis on Sun., March 10 at The Granada Theatre.
TheBest of the 37th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures. The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is presented by National Geographic and The North Face and is sponsored by Deuter, Outdoor Research, PrimaLoft, MSR, Black Diamond and Dolby with support from Therm-a-Rest, Petzl, Kicking Horse Coffee, World Expeditions and Lake Louise Ski Area.
Tickets for each night are $14 for the general public and $11 for UCSB students with a current student ID and youths 18 & under. (An Arlington facility fee will be added to each ticket price.)
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at
(805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu. Tickets are also available through the Arlington box office at
(805) 963-4408 and Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com/venue/73731).
Arts & Lectures thanks lynda.com for its major support of the 2012-2013 season.
