“Conflict Tiger”, courtesy of the Banff Centre (click to enlarge).
"L’homme qui revient de haut (Return from the Heights)" courtesy of the Banff Centre (click to enlarge).
"Fatima's Hand", courtesy of the Banff Centre (click to enlarge).
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Banff Mountain Film Festival 2006 prizes: Of tiger and men
Posted: Nov 07, 2006 10:11 am EST
(MountEverest.net) A sign of times perhaps; this year the Banff film festival awarded human interest topics rather than classic climbing tales. Prizes went to films featuring everything from a gay climber to hunted wildlife. The jury included Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban.
Hunted hunters
Among the 60 finalist films screened (out of the 324 entries from 37 countries competing) The Festival’s Grand Prize went to “Conflict Tiger”, a documentary directed and produced by Sasha Snow (UK/Sweden) about the pursuit of a Siberian tiger suspected of killing two men.
Jury members considered the story a masterpiece, a “parable in which man becomes the hunted.” Among the jury were French film producer Emmanuel Priou, Canadian filmmaker Bill Noble, U.K.-based photographer John Beatty, Outside Television’s executive producer Les Guthman, and Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban.
In addition to the grand prize, several other films were awarded:
The Alpine Club of Canada award for Best Film on Climbing: “L’homme qui revient de haut (Return from the Heights)” (France), directed by Gilles Perret. The film records the journey of French alpinist Marc Batard as he comes to terms with his homosexuality.
Best Feature-length Mountain Film: “The Cave of the Yellow Dog” (Germany), a film directed by Byambasuren Davaa that takes viewers into the lives of a Mongolian nomad family.
Best Film on Mountain Sports: “Fatima’s Hand” (Germany). Directed by Jens Hoffmann, it follows an attempt to climb and BASE jump from a mountain spire in Mali.
Best Film on Mountain Culture: “Balapan – Wings of Altai” (France). The film follows Sheik Pawli, a famous eagle master in Mongolia, as he struggles to keep his herds safe from wolves.
Best Short Mountain Film: “Cobra Crack” (Canada), directed by Sonnie Trotter, in which Trotter free climbs Squamish, British Columbia’s forty-metre Cobra Crack.
Best Film on Mountain Environment: “Cherub of the Mist” (India), directed by Naresh Bedi, about the struggle for survival of Himalaya’s red panda.
The People's Choice Award:The festival audience chose “Asiemut” (Canada), about Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier’s 8000-kilometre bike trip from Mongolia to Nepal.
Two other films were also selected for Special Jury Mentions: “Aweberg” (Canada), on Will Gadd’s attempts to climb icebergs, and “The Giant Buddhas” (Switzerland), in which director Christian Frei, documents the destruction of 1,600-year-old Buddhas carved into the cliffs of the Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan).
Next up – Kendal
After Banff, most producers will now hurry to UK, where Kendal Mountain Film Festival starts next week. This festival will hold thematic movie nights devoted to ski/snowboard, whitewaters and biking, as well as a cult and classic feature film program.
Attendants will get a chance to learn adventure movie making at the festival's Extreme Film School; a series of seminars on filming techniques and technology. Festival guest speakers, include Chris Bonington, Stephen Venables, Marko Prezejl, Mick Fowler, Barry Blanchard, Ueli Steck, etc. The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, Nov 19.
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