Eugeneians lined up around the block outside of the McDonald Theatre in the rain on April 18 and 19, anticipating the start of the Banff Mountain World Tour. The 47th installment of the world tour showcased a series of short films celebrating remote landscapes, action-packed sports and mountain culture, exciting those with a passion for the outdoors.
The film festival made its return in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. With its second year back in person after virtual viewings in 2020 and 2021, there was much excitement and anticipation for the event.
“I think generally people are happy to be back, which is heartwarming,” said Sabina Litherland, program coordinator of the Banff Mountain World Tour, said..
This year’s lineup of films included several stories that were impacted by COVIDovid-19, with the pandemic bringing moments of setback for the different athletes who were featured that night. For example, in films such as “The Fastest Girl in the Village,” the pandemic put a pause on the ability to compete, halting the careers of many.
Yet the pandemic didn’t stop these stories from being told in their full capacity, with many of the films sharing stories of success in the outdoor sports world on the back end of the pandemic. Through the isolation of the pandemic came lots of growth, which was seen in films like “Wild Waters.”
Eugene hosted the two-day film festival with the help of the University of Oregon’s Outdoor Program, along with several local businesses that were tabling at the event. These groups, along with the Outdoor Program’s sponsors Columbia and Mountain Hardware, helped put together a raffle for multiple lucky winners each night.
This event has been popular with Eugene residents for years on end, with this city fostering a population of individuals who are lovers of the outdoors. “Eugene’s been hosting this event for 25 years or so. I would hazard a guess that there are some people who have been coming for 20+ years,” Litherland said.
Eugene’s engagement with the festival has been noteworthy to Litherland, who saidsays she’s always interested to see how the audiences in different regions react to the films featured in the festival. “Something I noticed about Eugene’s audience is that everyone’s very responsive to the female-forward films,” she said.
Of the films that were shown on the first night of the event, “Wild Waters,” “The Fastest Girl in the Village” and “Free to Run” all prompted a very supportive response from the crowd, with audience members cheering and whooping throughout the films in moments of triumph, some giving standing ovations after the films.
Wesley Johnson, a fourth-year English major at the University of Oregon who attended the festival on April 18, said that she was particularly fond of “Free to Run” for its themes of female empowerment and political narratives. The film follows UN Human Rights Attorney Stephanie Case through the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan as she navigates supporting women in Kabul through her organization, Free to Run.
“You really got a sense of who the people were and there was a really strong storyline and messaging there,” Johnson said, “It was the most engaging for me because it’s a cause that I think should be talked about a lot more.” Intersectional issues such as gender and politics deserve a place in the conversation when it comes to the outdoors, according to Johnson.
The festival is a unique opportunity for outdoor aficionados to connect, according to Litherland. She said that it’s Banff’s goal to create a safe environment for lovers of the outdoors, and it’s always rewarding to see the fruits of the labor of her team when the audience gets to engage with the films.
“It’s a really supportive outdoor community,” Johnson said, “It was just the opening night, and I’m pretty sure there wasn’t an open seat in the house.”
