Knoxville cinephiles indulged their audiovisual senses Monday evening when the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour served patrons of the Bijou Theatre a buffet of short and feature length outdoor-themed flicks.
The Knoxville showing came as an extension of the nine-day Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival that takes place each August. The Canada-based festival showcases an array of works that display the wonder of our natural environment and the adventures that mankind has sought out in it.
I arrived at the theatre just a few minutes after 7 p.m. as an offstage speaker was presenting the first film. The house was packed so finding a seat was a challenge.
I managed to find one in the very back row of the balcony and was disappointed to find that the upper third of the projector screen was out of view due to a low-hanging ceiling at that altitude. In truth, the Bijou is more suited for stage performances.
To see the entire screen, I had to crane my head down for the remainder of 55 Hours In Mexico: a nine minute film chronicling the spontaneous weekend voyage of a group of friends who flew to Veracruz with the goal of climbing and skiing Pico de Orizaba, the third-highest peak in North America.
After enduring the first film, my neck muscles were already beginning to strain, and I decided my seat simply would not do for the remainder. I spied a single seat three rows down from me and snatched it up as the next film was being prepared.
To my relief, at my new spot I could see the whole screen. Now I could thoroughly enjoy the cinematic spectacle provided by the following three films: “Curiosity” (13 mins), “The Last Dragons” (10 mins) and winner of Best Climbing Film award “Reel Rock 10: A Line Across the Sky” (40 mins).
The films featured eye-pleasing cinematography and euphonious sound. The stories were gripping and peppered with wry humor that drew laughter from the audience.
The atmosphere was light and people were not shushed at a mere whisper as sometimes happens at a movie theatre, yet there remained an overwhelming sense of venerability towards the films. The unmistakable sound of tearing aluminum sporadically pierced the air as viewers opened their PBR tall boys, and a baby’s squeals came at inopportune moments. But nobody really seemed to mind these interruptions either.
One scene during “The Last Dragons” hit close to East Tennessee hearts when it showed the devastating consequences that sedimentation due to construction has had on Appalachian stream-dwelling Hellbender Salamanders.
A fifteen-minute intermission wedged itself between the first and second sets and provided the audience with time to stretch their legs and refill their beverages.
The second set consisted of five films: “Denali” (8 mins), “The Important Places” (9 mins), “Eclipse” (31 mins), “Builder” (8 mins) and “Nature RX” (2 mins). A round of applause wrapped up the show, and everyone began slowly filing out of the theatre.
Overhearing conversations during this procession, it seems as though the crowd favorite must have been “Denali,” the touching tale of cancer survivor Ben Moon and his shelter-rescued dog told from the perspective of man’s best friend.
However, my personal favorite was “Reel Rock 10,” with its intense alpine rock climbing sequences and shots of the awe-inspiring Patagonia landscape.
All in all, the tour showing far exceeded my first-time film festival expectations and was a humbling reminder of the important role nature plays in our human experience.
