October 22, 2001 

Film Festival Screens Fiction Films Downtown

For the first time in its 26^th year history, the Banff Mountain Film Festival, in association with Landmark Cinemas, will screen a selection of films in downtown Banff. Films entered in the festival’s Feature-Length Mountain Fiction award category will be screened at the Lux Cinema Centre on Saturday, November, 3 and Sunday, November 4.

Saturday’s films at the Lux include The Cup and Songcatcher. Screening at 1:00 p.m., The Cup revolves around the desperate struggle of two young monks in a Tibetan monastery in Bhutan to catch the World Cup Soccer final on television. The film humorously examines the seep of Western culture into Tibet. At 3:30 p.m., the festival presents Songcatcher, an examination of the Appalachian Mountain roots of rock, bluegrass, folk and country music. Songcatcher tells the fictional story of a woman music professor who in 1907 makes a solo journey into the mountains to research Appalachian music — only to fall in love with a local musician.

Sunday’s mountain films at the Lux include A Time for Drunken Horses and Christmas in the Clouds. Screening at 1:00 p.m., A Time for Drunken Horses is the powerful story of an Iranian family. Set in Iranian Kurdistan, very near the border with Iraq, the film tells the story of five brothers and sisters who struggle to live at subsistence level.

Christmas in the Clouds, screening at 3:30 p.m., offers a complete change of pace. With a nod to the screwball comedies of Howard Hawks and Frank Capra, this is a lighthearted story of mistaken identity, tribal enterprise, and romance. Set during the Christmas holidays at a ski resort that is owned and operated by an American Indian Nation, this film was shot on location at the Sundance Resort, in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. This presentation will be shown in a digital cinema format.

Sunday night at 9:00 p.m., the Lux will screen the winner of the festival’s Feature-length Mountain Fiction Film award, as chosen by the festival’s international jury. The award is sponsored by National Geographic Channel Canada.

Tickets for Banff Mountain Film Festival screenings are the Lux Cinema Centre are $5.50 each and can only be purchased at the Lux. Call 762-8595/762-8612 for details.

All other Banff Mountain Film Festival screenings take place at The Banff Centre. The 26^th annual festival runs from October 29 to November 4. Over the course of the week the festival will screen 44 films—representing the world’s best mountain films and videos. The festival’s 2001 guest speakers include Carlos Carsolio, Tomaž Humar and George Band. In addition to speakers and films, the festival also features seminars on current mountain issues, an adventure trade show, an art and craft sale, and a climbing wall.

Tickets for events at The Banff Centre are available by phone: 1-800-413-8368 or 1-403-762-6301 or online: www.banffmountainfestivals.ca