UCSB Arts & Lectures Presents the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour – Two Nights! Two Programs! – on Tuesday, Feb. 27 and Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre

SUMMARY

“This festival of exhilarating documentaries expands our notions of human possibility.” The Guardian (U.K.)

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) presents the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour – two nights, two programs – on Tuesday, Feb. 27 and Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre. The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour returns for two nights of exhilarating mountain adventures at larger-than-life scale. Featuring the world’s best films on subjects ranging from base jumping in Pakistan to freediving the Mara Islands of South Korea, the tour delivers adrenaline-packed thrills alongside profound messages about human potential and the natural world. Curated and hosted by Roman Baratiak, A&L Associate Director Emeritus, an entirely different program of films screens each night.

2024 Banff Mountain Film Festival Trailer

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 (running time: 124 min.)

PART 1

FUEGO

(2023, France, 7 minutes)

Director: Pierre Henni; Producer: Kilian Bron

Film Synopsis: An ode to escape and adventure travel, Fuego is a new mountain biking masterpiece. From Guatemala to Peru via Bolivia, the team scoured the most beautiful spots for two months to bring back breathtaking images. Kilian Bron rides from the foot of the Fuego volcano the day before its historic eruption, to the colorful facades of Barrio Chualluma in La Paz, through the geological formations of the Valle de las Animas to an unforgettable meeting with the Cholitas Escaladoras.

Two Point Four

(2023, United Kingdom, 20 minutes)

Director: Natasha Brooks; Producer: Leo Houlding

Film Synopsis: Not your typical family holiday, but this is not your typical family. Leo Houlding, his wife Jess, their two children Freya (9yrs) and Jackson (5yrs) climb Norway’s national mountain via a 2000ft big wall.

Canada Vertical

(2023, Canada, 35 minutes)

Director: Laurent Polinquin; Producer: Nicolas Roulx

Film Synopsis: After years of preparation, a team of highly motivated Quebeckers set out on one of the longest wilderness expeditions ever documented. Stage one involves skiing in relentless polar conditions from Ellesmere Island to the Northwest Passage where the challenge was reaching the mainland. Cue canoes for a 2,000 km journey across Nunavut and Northwest Territories until they reach the first dirt road available where bikes are waiting to be pedaled 4,000 km to Point Pelee in Ontario.

No Way

(2023, France, 4 minutes)

Director: Jean-Baptiste Chandelier, Producer: Jean-Baptiste Chandelier, Marine Pascal; Production Company: EURL JB Chandelier

Film Synopsis: Jean-Baptiste Chandelier takes his unique low-flying, ground-skimming art combining paragliding and filmmaking to a whole new level.

PART 2

Pioneers

(2023, United States, 20 minutes)

Director: Chris Parr; Producer: Chris Parr; Production Company: Flutter Brothers Productions

Film Synopsis: After winning the American Birkebeiner – the largest cross country ski race in North America – Joe Dubay was disqualified for wearing the wrong bib. Now, 11 years later, Joe and his former roommate who lent him the bib – Chris – document their return to the Birkebeiner to pioneer a new sport: tandem cross country skiing.

The Blackcountry Journal

(2023, United States, 10 minutes)

Director: Mallory Duncan, Patrick Elmore; Producer: Mallory Duncan; Production Company: Uhuru Mountain Collective

Film Synopsis: A skier contemplates his connection to skiing and the mountains. As he hurries through the streets of L.A., his path takes a turn after bumping into a jazz musician who helps him discover the correlation between jazz and skiing – an expression of art, skiing, and black culture.

The Ascension Series: Morag Skelton

(2023, United Kingdom, 5 minutes)

Director: Matt Pycroft, Matt Harmer; Producer: Harriet Skyes; Production Company: Coldhouse Collective

Film Synopsis: Part 2 of the Ascension Series – features Morag Skelton, who doesn’t let being deaf limit what’s possible on the mountainside. Morag believes that nothing should come between anyone and getting out there in nature. As a deaf climber constantly pushing the limits of possible, she lives that belief.

Reel Rock: DNA

(2023, United States, 23 minutes)

Director: Josh Lowell, Producer: Zachary Barr; Production Company: REEL ROCK

Film Synopsis: 29-year-old French sport climber Seb Bouin has been quietly working his way through the elite grades, culminating in his attempt to establish a long pitch through an overhanging cave in the Verdon Gorge of France. His proposed line is so futuristic, the moves so improbable, that if Seb can put it all together it may be the most difficult route ever climbed.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024. (running time: 123 min.)

PART 1

Cross Countries

(2023, France, 8 minutes)

Director: Kilian Bron, Pierre Henni; Producer: Kilian Bron

Film Synopsis: Kilian Bron embarks on a cross-country tour across some of the most breathtaking North American trails. From the steep chutes of Sedona, to the streets of NYC, to the Pemberton train gap and the slick rock in Moab, all the way to the dense forests of Canada, Bron rides through visually stunning vistas in this immersive adventure.

Soundscape

(2023, United States, 14 minutes)

Director: Timmy O’Neill; Producer: Sarah Steele; Production Company: Well Travelled Collective

Film Synopsis: Soundscape shares the sightless experience of climbing a mountain via echo location, touch and imagination. Soundscape features Erik Weihenmayer, a global adventure athlete and author who is fully blind, as he ascends a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada. Using expert camera work from Mikey Schaefer and emotive, novel animation from Scott Hassell and Mitch Pond to bring to life a concept by adaptive climbing pioneer Timmy O’Neill, the film is a surprising and soulful adventure.

Chronoception

(2023, France, 40 minutes)

Director: Guillaume Broust; Production Company: Picture Organic Clothing

Film Synopsis: On the trail of nomadic peoples and the ancient Silk Roads, Thomas Delfino, accompanied by Léa Klaue and Aurélien Lardy, embark on an expedition to reach one of the most remote places on the continent. The Kakshaal Too range is located in the Tian Shan mountain range, on the border of Kyrgyzstan and China, and harbors unexplored mountains and faces. This skilled team, accompanied by renowned guides Hélias Millerioux and Jean-Yves Fredriksen, finds themselves propelled into a Space where Time seems to have suddenly come to a halt.

Desert Wings

(2023, United States, 4 minutes)

Director: Nathan McBride; Producer: Nathan McBride; Production Company: NVisualMedia

Film Synopsis: Paramotoring is a niche, largely undocumented, and little-known flying sport. This piece brings it to light in a rightfully epic way. Shot over 6 days, with multiple paramotor pilots, Desert Wings highlights some of the most dramatic desert landscapes in the American Southwest.

PART 2

Daughter of the Sea

(2023, United States, 18 minutes)

Director: Nicole Gormley, Nancy Kwon; Producer: Nicole Gormley, Jaeha “Thomas” Kim, Alex Lowther, Monika McClure, Min Chul Shin, Peter Goetz, Sooyoung “Suzy” Kim, Kevin Hoban; Production Company: Backroads Pictures

Film Synopsis: After Jaeyoun Kim, a native of Mara Island in South Korea, moves to Seoul to pursue corporate work, she struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts. She decides to return home where generations of women in her family have worked as haenyeo, free-diving “mermaids” who harvest seafood from the ocean floor for a living. Weaving Kim’s narrative with pensive, deeply immersive dive cinematography, directors Nicole Gormley and Nancy Kwon tell a story of homecoming, and how nature can bring us back to self when we’ve lost our center.

Sea to Sky Trail Series: Progression

(2022, Canada, 12 minutes)

Director: Joel Fuller; Producer: Michael Overbeck, Joel Fuller

Film Synopsis: One step at a time, the trail-running community is constantly moving upward. In recent years progression has vaulted forward, with runners blending inspiration from the world of alpinism, rock climbing, and running and tackling technical terrain in a way we’ve never seen. Follow along as Emma Cook-Clarke and Jesse McAuley dig deep on the west peak of Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn, the Twin Sisters (or the Lions), an iconic Sea to Sky trail.

Eternal Flame

(2023, Switzerland, 26 minutes)

Director: Nicolas Bossard; Producer: Nicolas Bossard; Production Company: MS PROD

Film Synopsis: After having climbed the Eternal Flame route on Nameless Tower in Pakistan (6200m), French BASE jumpers Eric Jamet and Antoine Pecher combine the ascent with one of the most beautiful BASE jumps imaginable. Following in the footsteps of pioneer jumpers from 1990, the duo of friends devour adventure and all it offers, beauty, power and anxiety all contribute to the experience.

ABOUT THE BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL WORLD TOUR

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour was born from Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival which began in Banff, Alberta. In 1976 a tight-knit group of climbers and outdoor enthusiasts conceived The Banff Festival of Mountaineering Films. This was a one-day gathering that became the renowned international Festival it is today. Over 30 years ago, Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival began an outreach program to bring the Festival to other communities. This has become known as Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour. Like the first festival in Banff, the tour began small, in three cities across Canada. Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour now reaches over 40 countries and brings mountain films to an audience of over 550,000 worldwide in approximately 550 locations.

ABOUT BANFF CENTRE FOR ARTS AND CREATIVITY

Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus – artists, leaders, and thinkers – to unleash their creative potential.

ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES

Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures.

Tickets are $22.50 General Public and $15 UCSB Students and Youth. (Current student ID required) (Includes facility fee)

Major Sponsor: Justin Brooks Fisher Foundation

The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour is presented by Banff & Lake Louise Tourism and Rab, and is sponsored by BUFF®, Oboz Footwear, YETI, Kicking Horse Coffee, World Expeditions, The Lake Louise Ski Resort & Summer Gondola, Lowe Alpine and Happy Yak.

Special Thanks: Noozhawk, Voice Magazine, the Santa Barbara Independent and KCSB

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 AXS (https://www.axs.com/venues/2330/arlington-theatre-santa-barbara-tickets).

UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2023-2024 season.