Banff Mountain Film Festival THIS WEEKEND In Bozeman

Join The MOOSE and the Bridger Ski Foundation as the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour brings the spirit of outdoor adventure to Bozeman in the Willson Auditorium Friday and Saturday, January 21st & 22nd at 7 pm.

This Festival is the largest, and one of the most prestigious mountain festivals in the world. This year’s tour features a collection of the most inspiring action, environmental, and adventure films from the festival. Traveling to exotic landscapes and remote cultures, and bringing audiences up-close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports, the 2010 / 2011 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world. From approximately 260 films entered in the annual festival, award-winning films and audience favorites are among those chosen to travel the globe.

Tickets are $12 per night ($22 for both nights) in advance, or $14 at the door, available at REI, Bangtail Bike and Ski, Northern Lights, and Mountain Hot Tub. Don’t miss the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for some incredible prizes donated by REI. Raffle tickets will be available before the show and during intermission both nights. Winners will be announced and fabulous prizes awarded after the films both evenings.

Friday’s films include: WildWater, US - When ordinary people share a singular passion, the extraordinary emerges. WildWater is a journey into the mind and soul of white-water and an exploration of places only river-runners can go — places of discovery, solitude, and risk. It’s a visually stunning feast for the senses, and an expedition into new ideas; The Longest Way, Germany - A highly entertaining time-lapse of a one-year-walk from Beijing to Urumqi.

Time and distance travelled are charmingly demonstrated by the growth of a beard in this five-minute short; A Life Ascending, US - Living with his wife and two young daughters on a remote glacier in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Ruedi Beglinger has built a reputation as one of the top mountaineering guides in the world. The film follows his family’s unique life in the mountains and their journey in the years following a massive avalanche that killed seven people. It ultimately explores the power of nature as both an unforgiving host and profound teacher; The Swiss Machine, US - Ueli Steck may be the greatest speed alpinist the world has ever seen. In The Swiss Machine, Steck tells of his record-breaking ascents in the Alps, accompanied by stunning aerial footage that captures him racing up 2500-metre alpine faces. When he joins Alex Honnold in Yosemite, Steck sets his ultimate goal: to take his one-man alpine speed game to the largest, highest walls in the world;

Parking Garage: Beyond the Limit, US - A spoof of the Discovery Channel Show, ‘Everest: Beyond the Limit.’; Stones into Schools, US - A behind-the-scenes look at Greg Mortenson’s inspiring work to build schools in war-torn Afghanistan, Stones into Schools depicts some of the history, challenges, and successes of this remarkable project; Into Darkness, US - A short adventure essay about the experience of exploring the secret underworld of caves. Journey along with a group of cavers who push through impossibly small passages to access some of the final frontiers on Earth. The images and sounds of spectacular and remote wilderness caves will reveal a fantastic world unlike anything we experience on the surface; Still Motion, Canada - Compiled from the highlights of a whole year of wildlife research, still images from motion-triggered wildlife cameras create an intricately sequenced movie-like production of Alberta’s amazing wildlife. Playful fawns, stalking cougars, and curious elk take centre stage in Still Motion. The film asks an important question: Just who is looking at whom;

The Fall Line, US - After losing his legs in a grenade blast in Iraq, 101st Airborne Ranger Heath Calhoun endures a tortuous recovery. Years later, the Virginia native finds freedom in an unlikely location: on the ski slopes of Aspen, Colorado. Calhoun discovers a talent for ski racing and earns a chance to represent his country again — as an athlete on the 2010 Paralympics ski team. With a gold medal in the balance, Calhoun commits everything to the challenge.

Saturday’s films include: Life Cycles, Canada - Filmed in Ultra HD, Life Cycles provides some of the most visually stunning images the mountain sports world has ever seen. It’s a beautiful celebration of the bicycle, and is sure to amaze anyone who has ever ridden one; Kranked Kids – Just down the Road, Canada - A delightful four-minute coming-of-age mountain bike parody; Crossing the Ditch, Australia - Spanning 2200 kilometres between Australia and New Zealand, the Tasman Sea is one of the world’s deadliest and most treacherous oceans. No one had ever successfully navigated the Tasman by kayak, although many had tried. Crossing the Ditch tells the story of two young Australians, James Castrission and Justin Jones, who battle ten-metre towering waves, massive storms, shark-filled seas, and strong currents to conquer the Tasman Sea; Rush Hour Dream - An office worker in Düsseldorf, Germany, has a Rush Hour Dream in the tramway on his way to work and wakes up on a beautiful mountainside to discover that he is carrying a paraglider in his laptop; Dream Result - A group of top athletes and friends are driven by passion to explore the limits of possibility. Expeditions to Norway and a quest for waterfalls throughout Argentina and the US are all part of the program in Dream Result — so hang on for the ride;

Chimæra, Canada - “Chimæra” refers to a mythological fusion of forms or a foolish fantasy. Shot with a unique camera system capable of shooting over 1000 frames per second, Chimæra slows our perception of reality and offers an unprecedented look at a skier’s life. It is an experience that blurs the borders between real and imaginary; Eastern Rises, US - The Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East may as well be the end of the earth. Its enormously wild landscape is swarming with bugs and bears and threaded with rivers full of massive mouse-eating trout. In this stunning film, fishing is poetry, Bigfoot lurks in the fog, and fishermen risk life and limb in decommissioned Cold War helicopters to explore rivers that have never been fished before.

For details about the Banff Mountain Film Festival and general information about the World Tour and The Banff Centre, please visit banffmountainfestivals.ca.