Blue Mountains armchair adventure junkies have just one week to prepare for this year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival.
Over 130 minutes, viewers can see eight films showing the best outdoor and adventure sports at Katoomba’s The Edge Cinema, curated from a long list of films from the popular Canadian snow town’s film event.
The movies screen at 22 Australian towns but Katoomba has only one night to see them. This is Banff’s 10th year.
One of the highlights is sure to be a story about a blogging adventure dog from the desert. It’s a dog’s eye view of what happens when Ace Kvale takes his greying blue heeler, Genghis Khan, for 60 days and 600 kilometres of wilderness trekking through Utah’s Canyon Country.
Doing it Scared follows veteran rock climber Paul Pritchard as he returns to Tasmania’s iconic Totem Pole – facing unfinished business on a rock pillar that radically changed his life.
The British climber – now a resident of Tasmania – was one of the leading climbers and mountaineers of the 1980s and 1990s, renowned for his hard and extremely bold first ascents. But he nearly died trying to climb the Totem Pole in 1998. Audiences may be familiar with his incredible story as he was profiled on ABC’s Australian Story.
This is a film about an extraordinary man on an inspiring life journey, his continuing recovery from a crushing injury and the never waning desire for adventure. It’s a film about determination and acceptance, a reminder that disabled never means unable.
There are a range of other films too. For a dose of daring: Meet the Flying Frenchies, a madcap troupe of musicians and aerial daredevils taking their saxophones and snares to the slacklining heights of a French river canyon. This troupe has been popular in previous adventure films so will be familiar to regular Banff audiences.
And for the unique delight of watching other people suffer, viewers can go deep into the mossy hot jungles of French Polynesia with climbers Mike Libecki and Angie Payne. “He calls this ‘pre-joy’,” Payne says. “I call this hell.”
Organisers say it’s a guaranteed feel good experience.
“This year the Banff Mountain Film Festival is offering the perfect escape for those with global tension fatigue: the ultimate adventure escape,” spokeswoman Jemima Robinson said.
“Side-effects include improved mood, reduced stress, and aggravated travel itch. For maximum effect, take a mate.”
Tickets at www.banffaustralia.com.au.
