The Banff Film Festival and Ice Climbing in the Canadian Rockies
When I finally finished editing the film, “Gone Tomorrow, the Story of Kentucky Ice Climbing,” I walked away content with a film that I enjoyed not only making, but watching with friends. And I was satisfied to leave it at that. The thought of submitting it to film festivals had of course occurred long ago, but it wasn’t really the driving force behind making the film. As the project came together though, it really exceeded my expectations for how funny, compelling, and interesting the film was. And with that, I started the submission process, not really having any preconceived notions of success, save for a few smaller, local festivals.
I applied to about 6-7 festivals, and was blown away when the first one to get back to me also happened to be one of the more highly regarded adventure film festivals: the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. Is this real life? This was unexpected, and after some back and forth to make it fit into my schedule, I decided to go all in and commit to attending in person, and really trying to take in the experience.
I was hot off a week-long shoot in California, with just one day of downtime in Kentucky to do laundry and re-pack my bags for Alberta, Canada. I arrived the same day that Gone Tomorrow was going to premiere, at the Radical Reels portion of the fest. A few friends were in town for climbing and for the fest, so it was great to see some familiar faces!
I grabbed a bottle of kentucky bourbon from the local liquor store and made my way to the theater. It was sold out, plus they sold out another theater down the street that was providing a simulcast of the show and all the films. I was going to be presenting my film to the audience, no pressure right?
Seeing the film on a big screen was cool and all, but the really surreal experience was turning around and seeing the faces of an engaged audience hanging on every word and visual. Lots of laughs and gasps at all the right moments, the crowd really seemed to dig it! What an honor to share the screen and stage with all of these talented folks.
Still buzzing from the screening, the next few days of the fest didn’t have too many events I was keen on, so I headed up into the canadian rockies with Dave and Jon. Of course I had to get some ice climbing in!
The relatively modest 90-minute approach before dawn.
They had their sights set on climbing "Virtual Reality” a 2-3 pitch WI6. I hadn’t done any ice climbing yet this year, so it would be a tough start to my season for sure. The guys were great though and let me simply follow and take pictures rather than drive the struggle bus and attempt to lead any of the pitches.
The rest of the festival I tried to get my networking on, watch other films, and just enjoy the experience. It was clear that the festival organizers knew what they were doing– with so many people and so many events happening around town, it was quite the show. I also got to hike around a little bit, meet lots of amazing people, and hopefully had some conversations that will lead to new projects and connections down the road.
We’ve submitted the film to some other festivals, so who knows where we might end up later in 2020!