February 2007: Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour comes to UAA

Series of short independent films and documentaries feature outdoor activities

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) presents the Banff Mountain Film Festival on Friday, March 9 and Saturday, March 10 at 7 p.m. in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium. The festival features short independent films and documentaries that are sure to amaze the audience. From mountaineering to climbing, and bike races to sky diving, this film festival displays the strength and beauty of mountain sports, life and culture.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.uaatix.com. Admission is:

UAA Students - $5 advance / $10 at the door
Youth (12 yrs and under) - $5 advance / $10 at the door
General Admission - $10 advance / $15 at the door
 
Advance ticket sales end at 4:00pm the day of each showing.

For more information on the festival visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/campuslife/activities/banff/cfm. For additional information about Banff visit www.banffmountainfestivals.ca.

The following films will be presented:
March 9, 2007

Yes to the No
Canada, 2006, 10 minutes
Directed by David Mossop
Produced by Spencer Francey
Web site: www.rockymountainsherpas.com; www.biglines.com
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Noboarding/Snowboarding

A look into the sport of noboarding, which is snowboarding without the use of bindings. The sport of snowboarding was essentially started by skateboarders and surfers looking for a winter alternative to the two summer sports. Now that snowboarding has reached its peak, there is only one way to change the way snowboarding is done, and that is to take the bindings off the board and really surf the mountain.

The Simplicity Factor
Canada, 2006, 7 minutes
Directed and produced by Nathan Cando
Web site: www.fanaticalfilms.com, www.top20classics.com
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Climbing/Bouldering

The Simplicity Factor is a segment from The Top 20 Classic Boulder Problems of North America. Featuring an all-female cast of athletes, it looks at bouldering's overall appeal while showcasing ascents of several famous boulder problems.

Asiemut
People's Choice Award & Special Jury Mention
Canada, 2006, 56 minutes
Directed and produced by Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier
Web site: www.asiemut.mine.nu
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Cycling/Culture

In 2005, Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier went on their first cycling expedition - 8000 kilometers across Asia. In six months they pedaled from Mongolia to Calcutta, India, traveling through Xinjiang, the Taklimakan Desert, the high Tibetan plateau and the jungle of Nepal. Why? Not only to discover the world, but also to discover themselves.

Cayesh - The Calling
USA, 2006, 17 minutes
Directed and produced by Steve House
Rating: Parental Guidance-Coarse Language
Focus: Climbing/Mountaineering

A one-day ascent of a new route on the west face of Cayesh, in Peru, filmed entirely by the two climbers. They wish to present a real taste of modern lightweight alpinism as practiced by two of today's best alpinists.

Mission: Epicocity (Custom Edit)
USA, 2006, 15 minutes
Directed and produced by Trip Jennings/ The Epicocity Project
Web site: www.epicocity.com
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Kayaking

This film features some of the world's best kayakers running mind-bending waterfalls and rapids in South America and Africa, with a section that highlights native African paddlers.

Beyond Iraq
USA, 2005, 8 minutes
Directed by Tom Eldridge
Produced by Annalisa Hodgkins
Web site: www.ikandimedia.co.uk
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Snowboarding/Skiing/Inspirational

Five newly disabled Iraqi veterans travel to the Rocky Mountains to participate in an adaptive winter sports program. The soldiers are at first skeptical, not wanting to cause more harm to their bodies. However, they are soon experiencing the freedom and adventure of skiing and snowboarding.

Roam (Custom Edit)
Canada, 2006, 18 minutes
Directed and produced by Darcy Wittenburg, Jamie Houssian/ The Collective
Web site: www.thecollectivefilm.com
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Mountain Biking

Roam is a mountain-bike film that follows the travels of the world's top riders as they explore new places to ride, and visit some of the notorious meccas of mountain biking such as, Moab, UT and Whistler, BC.

March 10, 2007

Anomaly (Custom Edit)
USA, 2006, 16 minutes
Directed and produced by Todd Jones, Dirk Collins, Steve Jones, Corey Gavitt
Web site: www.tetongravity.com
Rating: General-Coarse Language
Focus: Ski/Snowboard

ANOMALY n. (a·nom·a·ly) 1. Deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule 2. One that is peculiar, irregular, abnormal, or difficult to classify. Hard to define, never easy to apply. Yet, this has come to embody a year of extraordinary feats, tribulation and continued progression within the ski and snowboard arena. Anomaly, TGR's newest 16mm and HD ski and snowboard release, showcases the freakish and abnormal abilities of today's top athletes as they push the boundary of what is humanly possible.

The Best of Jo
Canada, 2006, 3 minutes
Directed and produced by Logan Carlstrom
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Sport/Animation/Humor

The Best of Jo is a stop-action Lego film about a coffee-addicted guy named Jo. He is eager to try all the mountain sports available to him, such as climbing, skiing and fishing.

Exploring the Mother of Waters
Australia, 2006, 45 minutes
Directed and produced by Mick O'Shea/ Exploremore Productions
Web site: www.mekongfirstdescent.org
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Environment/Kayaking

Australian filmmaker and extreme kayaker Mick O'Shea completed the first-ever complete navigation of the Mekong River from its source in Tibet to the South China Sea in 2004. With this cutting-edge expedition, the film explores and celebrates the diverse cultures and environments of the Mekong valley while exposing some of the most pressing human rights and resource rights issues facing the region's subsistence peoples.

Ride of the Mergansers
USA, 2004, 11 minutes
Directed and produced by Steve Furman/ Furman Technologies
Web site: www.rideofthemergansers.com
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Environment

The hooded merganser is a rare and reclusive duck found only in North America. Every spring, in the Great Lakes region, the wary hen lays and incubates her eggs in a nest high in the trees. Just 24 hours after hatching, the tiny ducklings must make the perilous leap to the ground below. Ride of the Mergansers brings this hidden drama to the screen.

Patagonia - A Travel to the End of the World
Norway, 2006, 40 minutes
Directed and produced by Vebjørn Hagen / TV 2 AS
Web site: www.ousland.no
Rating: General-No Advisory
Focus: Adventure/Kayaking

Attempting the first unsupported traverse of the Southern Patagonia Icecap, Børge Ousland and Thomas Ulrich start from the small village of Tortel in August 2003. After three days of paddling into the Patagonian fjords with two kayaks each, they reach the bottom of the Jorge Montt Glacier; from here they carry their equipment up and start skiing across the ice cap. This film is most of all about the spirit of adventure. Few expeditions have had to master so many different skills to reach their goal.

The Thrill Seekers (Extreme Film School)
UK, 2005, 3 minutes
Directed by Roland Arnison, George Arnison
Web site: www.nakedsledge.co.uk
Rating: General-Nudity
Focus: 'Extreme' Sport/Humor

This film is one of the 12 productions from the Kendal Mountain Film Festival Extreme Film School "48-hour Film Marathon". Two brothers try their hand at mountain biking, climbing and another extreme sport on a camping weekend with hilarious results.

First Ascent: Didier Vs. The Cobra (Custom Edit)
USA, 2006, 25 minutes
Directed by Peter Mortimer
Produced by Peter Mortimer, Timmy O'Neill, Nick Rosen, Pascal Bronnimann
Web site: www.senderfilms.com
Rating: Parental Guidance-Coarse Language
Focus: Climbing

The elegant, granite Cobra crack in Squamish, British Columbia is perhaps the hardest crack climb in the world and the Swiss climber Didier Berthod is among the world's best crack climbers. Far from the spotlight, Didier spends months in his epic quest to snag the first ascent.