The Banff Mountain Film Festival starts on October 26 and features filmmakers, authors, and adventurers worldwide.
Two films by up-and-coming Canadian filmmaker Trixie Pacis will have their world premieres at this year’s festival.
Wildflowers is a co-production with Banff-based writer and mountain historian Meghan J. Ward. The film explores the life and legacy of early 20th-century explorer and author Mary Schäffer Warren.
Also hitting the big screen in Banff for the first time is a film featuring “adventure aerialist” Sasha Galitzki.
Pacis and Galitzki met while out ski touring in the Rockies with mutual friend and photographer Paul Zizka.
“They were scouting photography locations for a collaboration, and I was along for a day out. Sasha and I got to talking about mountains and creativity and hit it off,” Pacis told The Rockies Life. “I was fascinated by the way her work combines mountain adventure with circus arts to highlight the fragility of cold places.”
They decided to collaborate on a project. Wild Aerial is a 16-minute documentary showing Galitzki’s unique artistry as she performs gravity-defying routines among glaciers and mountains in Banff and Jasper national parks.
Adrenaline-Charged Films
The Banff Centre hosts the festival, which marks its 49th anniversary in 2024. It is a world-renowned gathering of outdoor pioneers and creatives.
This year’s festival features 90 films, from adrenaline-charged films about skiing, climbing, mountain biking, and other adventure sports to deeper documentaries about mountain environments and cultures.
This year’s big screen selection takes viewers to the snowy slopes of abandoned ski hills in Japan, the ancient forests of Australia, and the traditional territory of the Stoney Nakoda people, among many other fascinating places close to home and far away.
The festival also celebrates mountain books and authors. Guest speakers this year include award-winning author of The Golden Spruce and Fire Weather John Vaillant and acclaimed American alpinist and photographer Cory Richards, who will read from his new book The Colour of Everything.
For a full schedule of events and ticket information, click here.
