Three-day film festival featuring outdoor adventure films coming to Idaho Falls
Published atIDAHO FALLS — A popular film festival dedicated to celebrating achievements in outdoor storytelling and filmmaking worldwide is returning to Idaho Falls.
The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour will take place Jan. 23 to 25 at the Colonial Theater, located at 498 A Street in Idaho Falls. Each night the lobby will open at 6 p.m., seating begins at 6:30 p.m. and an introduction gets underway at 7 p.m.
“Every year in Banff, Canada, they do the Banff’s Mountain Film Festival, where amateur and some semi-professional outdoor filmers, photographers and artists, film adventures and different things outdoors and submit them to this festival,” Rick Williams, spokesman for the Idaho Falls Nordic Ski Patrol, explained.
The traveling film festival is a fundraiser for the Idaho Falls Nordic Ski Patrol, an organization that has sponsored the event for 27 years. The ski patrol serves communities within a 110-mile radius around Idaho Falls from places such as West Yellowstone to Mink Creek in Pocatello and the Teton Valley.
It patrols Harriman State Park, Kelly Canyon Ski Resort, the East Fork Mink Creek Nordic Center and Craters of the Moon. The organization also grooms and maintains the Rexburg Ski Trails at Teton Lakes & Legacy Golf Course, in partnership with the city of Rexburg, according to its website.
“We have a pretty big grant program where we’ll grant funds for schools for skis and training,” Williams mentioned.
He said this film festival is the ski patrol’s only fundraiser of the year. The funds raised will go towards making sure those who want to enjoy Nordic skiing, are able to.
Over 400 entries are submitted into the festival each year. Williams said that festival winners are chosen, then they take those films and go on tour and play them in theaters around the world.
The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival has stops planned in over 600 communities and more than 40 countries across the globe.
“We pick a group of films for each night, and they’re different films each night,” Williams said about the three-night event in Idaho Falls. “It’s a compilation of … little short feature films about outdoor adventure, skiing, climbing, biking (and) some feel good stories.”
Williams encourages community members to attend the event and see what it’s all about.
“If you love the outdoors, this is the best film event of the year, by far,” Williams stated. “It’s really the social event of the year for the outdoor community.”
To view a description of the films that will be playing and to purchase tickets, click here.
