Best of Banff

“I was very disappointed with the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.

I don't know if it is the same selection of films everywhere, but the one that played in Montreal was a waste of money.

There was one really good film that was fifty-five minutes long. It's in French and is about a young Quebec couple who bicycled from Mongolia and through Xinkyang, China, Tibet, Nepal to Kalkota, India. If it shows down there it will surely have sub-titles.

All in all, 18$ and an hour's drive each way is a lot for 55 minutes and another 2+ hours of boredom hoping to see something good.

Mindless action is, after all, mindless action. Why can't they film kayak runs in real time? If it's so exciting, why do they have to slow and speed up the action?

Why do you have to see the same bicycle jump over and over again?

Extreme (?) skiing was the best done film, but these guys go pretty slowly and they cut to some jumps that had been made.

No mountains.

As in no mountaineering or culture.

Last year we saw Patrick Berhard attempt an enchaînement of the Alps and dying with only a few to go. Surely, somewhere on the planet a mountaineering movie was shot during the last year or two.

The one thing that used to stay with me long after the festival was the Mountain Culture category. There was the film about smuggling Tibetan children across Nepal and into India to study their own cutlure in freedom.

The people of Yunan transforming from a nomadic lifestyle to a sedentary one on land parcelled out by the central government and the young man hustling however he can trying to raise enough money to send his sister to study in the city.

The silly stuff is fun for the youngsters, but Banff is supposed to offer quality too, IMHO.
last edited: 1/30/07 10:24:20 AM”

“argh.



"If it's so exciting, why do they have to slow and speed up the action?"

uh oh. Bad flashback to "Straw Dogs".”

“From what I understand each location picks what films are to be shown from the group of films that they tour with.”

“I hope so. They called it the 'World Tour' and I thought it might be a standardised version.”

“I was researching this for my university and an organization I am involved with. My understanding is that each venue can choose different films. The show is put on by a crew that is on tour...their people, not that of the venue.”

“Igues I'll change cities next year.”

“Banff's film fest is something I look forward to every year...I hope there's more to it this year than the empty clips you describe, Gremmypoo. I also love the mountain culture clips (that's supposed to be what this is about anyway, hence the name "mountain film festival" ahem!)...
the tibetan smugglers bit was incredible and I also loved one of the previous years when they had a trek into the remote mountain wilderness where they encountered natives who had never seen a white man...
they spent time in the village and made friends...even ended up wearing gourds on their peepees whilest danving around the fire! That was cool.
:)”

“I always enjoy some good danving.”

“As far as the film festival goes, I still think "aimee gee Does Philly" was the best film I've ever seen. Alas, that was back when she still had some youthful vitality.”

“I remember that one, Amy. It was great. I remember the #&%!$ sheaths too and one of the Brits was too endowed and they used a bamboo tobacco tube.”

“I'll bet those guys where sayin', "where da white women at?", when they saw those white men for the first time.”