Yellowstone Film Takes Top Prize at Banff Mountain Film
Festival
A
film that explores the value of wilderness in a modern world takes top
honours at this year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival.
Yellowstone — America's Sacred Wilderness is the Grand Prize winner
at the 26th annual festival. The film portrays both the
exquisite beauty and the savage brutality of the natural world in
Yellowstone National Park.
Film festival jury member Sharon Wood says Yellowstone
"tells the story of an ever-balancing ecosystem beautifully. This
film is a very direct and intimate story about wildness." Fellow jury
member Antonio Cembran calls the film "all-encompassing" and
notes that it examines all aspects of the value of wilderness—ecological,
economical, philosophical and political.
Yellowstone was directed and produced by Hugh Miles
and Shane Moore for ABC/Kane Productions (U.S.A.).
The Grand Prize award of $4,000 is co-sponsored by Leadership
Development at The Banff Centre and Eagle Creek Travel Gear.
The film festival’s 2001 jury included: George Band
(U.K.), Gauthier Flauder (France), Antonio Cembran (Italy), Harish Kapadia
(India) and Sharon Wood (Canada). Two hundred and fifty films from 27
countries were entered in this year’s competition.
Other 2001 Banff Mountain Film Festival winners include:
Alpine Club of Canada Award for Best Film on Climbing:
$2000 – sponsored by the Alpine Club of Canada
Desert Friction (South Africa)
Director: Nic Good, Producer: Brian Valentine, Production Company: Fresh
Air Crew
Desert Friction follows two leading South African sport climbers as
they attempt to reach the summit of a 500-metre-high granite slab set in
the desolate landscape of the Namibian desert.
Jury member George Band comments: "Beautifully filmed in the Namibian
desert, this film conveys the sense of fun and excitement of a serious
climb."
Best Film on Mountain Culture: $2000 – sponsored by
Petzl
Mustang (Slovakia)
Director/Producer: Pavol Barabas, Production Company: K2 Studio
Mustang follows two friends who travel along an ancient trade route
over the main ridge of the Himalayas in order to reach Lo Manthang, the
capital of Mustang, and secretly shoot a film.
Jury member Antonia Cembran comments: "This film lovingly rendered in
images and words the living conditions of a mountain people who have
maintained their identity."
Best Film on Mountain Sports: $2000 – sponsored by
Yamnuska Inc. and Mountain Equipment Co-op
Jump! (U.S.A.)
Directors /Producers: Allen Hill/John Catto, Production Company: Alpenglow
Film & Video
Jump! profiles the remarkable sport of tower jumping in the
fairytale-like countryside known as the Czech Paradise.
Best Film on Mountain Environment: $2000 – sponsored by
Canadian Mountain Holidays
Wild Asia: At the Edge (Japan/New Zealand)
Director: Alan D'acrcy Erson
Producer: Shinichi Murata, Michael Stedman, Production Companies: 
NHK/Natural History
New
Zealand Ltd./Discovery Channel/NDR Naturefilm Studios Hamburg Fernseh
Allianz
Set in Ladakh in northern India, Wild Asia is a rich
portrait of life and death at the vertical limit of mammalian life on
Earth.
Jury member Gauthier Flauder praises Wild Asia as "a rare
documentary on an unknown region".
Best Short Mountain Film (15 minutes or less): $2000 –
sponsored by Microcell Solutions, owner of the Fido Brand
Will Gadd — This is Your Life (Canada)
Directors: Melissa Forman, Pat Morrow, Producer: Melissa Forman,
Production Company: Sun Bear Productions
This is Your Life is a quick, humorous introduction to multi-talented
athlete and adventurer Will Gadd of Canmore, Alberta.
Best Feature-length Mountain Fiction Film: $2000 –
sponsored by National Geographic Channel Canada
A Time for Drunken Horses (Iran)
Director/Producer: Bahmar Ghobadi, Production Company: Mongrel Media Inc.
A Time for Drunken Horses tells the moving story of five orphaned
siblings struggling to survive in Iranian Kurdistan, very close to the
border with Iraq.
Jury member Harish Kapadia commends the young actors in this film for
"their strong performances in conveying a very human story".
Special Jury Award
Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2 (U.K.)
Director/Producer: Mick Conefrey, Production Company: BBC/TLC
Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2 chronicles the pioneer climbers of K2,
Fritz Wiessener and Charles Houston, and their battle with the
second-highest mountain in the world.
People’s Choice Award: $2000 – sponsored by The Hostel
Shop, Calgary, Alberta
Berserk in the Antarctic (Norway)
Director/Producer: Kaare Skard, Production Company: TV2 Norway
Berserk is the incredible story of a 19-year-old from Norway who, with
no prior experience at sea, sets sail for Antarctica in a small yacht
named Berserk. The result is an adventure film like no other.
