Red Programme

Launching their world premiere showcase ahead of an extensive tour, taking the collection of films to over forty countries, it’s an exciting time once again for Edinburgh audiences as the 15th edition of the UK and Ireland Banff Mountain Film Festival has its double-bill showcase of cinematic programming at the Festival Theatre, giving us another reminder of the venues exceptional capabilities as a film space.

The Red Programme dusts itself off from the snowy antics of the Blue (for now), kicking things off with a full-scale adrenaline rush as mountain biker Kilian Bron whisks us from the busy streets of New York to the red rocks of Moab in Pierre Henni’s Cross Countries, which places humour side-to-side with action is this fast-edited piece which emulates Bron’s spirited and signature artistic manner. The second half of the Red Programme follows a more personal note to the stories, with a decidedly warm and inspirational film, Sheri, from James ‘Q’ Martin. A touching and intimately made film concerning the tremendous Sheri Tingey, who started a company – aged 50 – that revolutionised paddle sports in the wilderness, demonstrated a wonderfully continuing theme of encouraging wilderness exploration and sports for everyone. 

Nowhere best demonstrated in one of the more innovative pieces of the film comes from the Red Programme’s opening half, as Timmy O’Neill’s short fifteen-minute film Soundscape conveys the world through the experiences of blind adventurer and author Erik Weihenmayer, through a mixture of on-site footage as they ascend a rock face in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, with animation to emulate the use of echolocation and ‘feel’ of the landscape. Intimate, Weihenmayer has a more natural conversational manner with friend and trainer O’Neill, which aids in the film flow, broken up with a richly illustrative use of animations to demonstrate how Weihenmayer feels their way across the landscape.

Banff is never one to forget the mesmeric (and frankly, envious) talents and limits of the human condition – particularly in the realms of athletics and enormous feats of skill and prowess. Slotting itself in the second half of the Red Programme, Reel Rock’s DNA follows the world’s very own Spiderman in Seb Bouin as they ascent the titularly named ‘DNA’ in the Verdon Gorge, ranking among the most difficult climbs recognised. A more personable documentary style, with plenty of input and interview footage from Bouin’s mother, it’s an easy-to-watch film with some clever editing to convey the exhausting efforts and physical limitations of Bouins’ ascent. But if audiences are looking for the film, across both programmes, with the most ‘person’ in the narrative, Chris Parr’s Pioneers is what they are searching for. Alongside friend Joe Dunbay, Parr’s film propels comedy and the natural chemistry between the two to the front of all things in their long-distance cross-country skiing. 

An undisputed highlight, Guillaume Broust’s Chronoception is the most traditionally cinematic of the films, capturing an intensive sense of ‘epic’ in all domains – from the exquisite use of locally sourced musicians and performers to the filmography’s heavy use of drone footage and point-of-vie action. Scale is bottled in tremendous detail in this (mildly over-narrated) film, which follows three skiers and one snowboarder as they embark on an expedition to reach one of the most remote areas of Asia: the Tien Shan mountains near the Kyrgyzstan-China border. A real triumphant fusion of on-site filmmaking, which captures the momentum of adventure, and the more tranquil appreciation of the surrounding landscape and culture – one not to miss for both cinephiles and those looking to give their hearts a kick-start.

A unique evening of collective minds, the Banff Mountain Film Festival offers audiences the opportunity to experience sites they may never see – and brings a selection of worldly-quality short films to audiences from all over the world at an accessible level. Whether audiences catch one or both programmes, they will all leave with a refreshed sense of appreciation for the world – and the complexities involved with filmmaking – a magnificent start to the year. We’re already calming our pulses over the next instalment. 

The festival can still be caught when it tours to many other Scottish locations: Stirling, Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Pitlochry. And don’t forget that after scaling the highest peaks as part of the Mountain festival, audiences can return to the Festival Theatre in October with some scuba gear to catch The World Ocean Festival. 

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