Banff Film Festival

Last night I journeyed with my mom to the Banff Film Festival in Ann Arbor. There were approximately 8 short films presented. It was a one night venue that comes through town every year. The Michigan theatre was sold out, and the crowd was really into the event. In every film, regardless the sport, every big trick was met with cheers. Most of the films did a nice job of mixing thought provoking environmental issues and social conscience with adventure sports. The subjects examined were as diverse as rock climbing, telmark skiing, snow kiting, Mtn biking, and wildlife research.

There was just a wealth of new ideas covered in the films that I will explore further. It's going to take weeks for me to wrap my head around all of the people and places I discovered in some of these films.

Here are a couple of the films I really enjoyed:

Entropy
Norway, 2006, 11 minutes
Focus: Snowkiting

Searching for the Coast Wolves, Gudrun Pflueger
Germany, 2006, 52 minutes
Focus: Environment

King Lines: Es Pontas
USA, 2007, 13 minutes
Focus: Climbing

Trial & Error (Peoples Choice Award)
Canada, 2006, 8 minutes
Focus: Mountain Biking

What really made the evening special was the film Searching for the Coast Wolves, Gudrun Pflueger. At the very end of the film she announced that she was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and was in the middle of a long and painful chemo therapy treatment.

This was particularly touching, as my mom was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and has been living successfully the past two years since her invasive surgical procedure to remove the tumor.

We both very much enjoyed the presentation, and spending the time together. We will most definitely do it again together next year.

Intro Video