Mountain highs
Mountain culture, humor, life and sport are the stars of the show when the Banff Mountain Film Festival returns next week to Coeur d’Alene.
The festival offers 23 films over three nights - Friday, Jan. 26 through Sunday, Jan. 28 - at the Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Road.
This is the 20th year the world tour — an outreach of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, an international, mountain-centric film competition held each year in Banff, Alberta — has been presented in Coeur d’Alene.
This year’s films include “The Last Honey Hunter,” about Maule Dhan Rai, the last man in the remote Nepal village of Saadi to dangle off a 300-foot bamboo rope ladder to harvest “mad honey” that provides provides him and his village the economic means to survive.
“Denali’s Raven” features the story of Leighan Falley, who learned to fly in the Alaska wilderness to balance her adventurous spirit with the demands of being a parent.
The Flying Frenchies are featured in the film “Surf the Line.” Described as an immersive documentary, the film tells the behind the scenes story of a project by the Frenchies, a group of aerial adventurers. They will slice through the air on a highline in the Vercors Mountains, reaching high speeds, zipline-style, before using their BASE jumping skills to dismount.
The original Banff Film Festival began in 1976 in Alberta. The outreach program was initiated in 1986, bringing the festival to other communities, offering the film experience in local venues for those unable to make the trek to Banff. The world tour now visits hundreds of cities worldwide.
A portion of the proceeds from the Coeur d’Alene event will go to support the Satipo Kids Project, an ongoing education program for children in Satipo, Peru. Funds will also support the Kroc Center’s Third Grade Swim Program, an effort to teach children in Kootenai County how to swim.
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What: Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26 and Saturday, Jan. 27
6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28
Doors open one hour before films begin
Where: Kroc Center, Coeur d’Alene
Tickets: $17
Available at Tri State Outfitters, the Camera Corral and Vertical Earth in Coeur d’Alene; Two Wheeler Dealer in Hayden or by visiting kroccda.org.
Film list - Jan. 26
WHERE THE WILD THINGS PLAY – U.S.
WATERS OF THE GREENSTONE -- New Zealand
DENALI’S RAVEN – U.S.
DUGOUT – UK
WHY – France
ASCEND – U.S.
SAFETY THIRD – U.S.
IMAGINATION: TOM WALLISCH – Canada
Film list - Jan. 27
SURF THE LINE – France
KILIAN – Canada
SKY MIGRATIONS – U.S.
THE LAST HONEY HUNTER – Canada
LA CASITA WIP – Ecuador
EDGES – U.S.
ABOVE THE SEA – U.S.
THE FROZEN ROAD – UK
Film list Jan. 28
PLANET EARTH II – MOUNTAIN IBEX — UK
LOVED BY ALL: THE STORY OF APA SHERPA – Canada
INTO TWIN GALAXIES – A GREENLAND EPIC – Germany
DREAMRIDE 2 – U.S.
DREAMWALKERS – THE FAROES PROJECT – Australia
THE SPACE WITHIN – U.S.
STUMPED – U.S.