2010 Film Jury — Banff Mountain Film Competition

Jacqueline Florine (USA)

California outdoor adventure athlete Jacqueline Florine is equally at home on the trail and the summit. In 2002 Florine was the first female to solo climb The Nose, the iconic 3,000-foot climb on Yosemite’s El Cap, and in 2006 she became the first woman to climb all of California’s 14,000-foot peaks in a single push. She also excels as a trail runner, and has completed numerous races of 100 miles including the Badwater Ultramarathon. She holds the female record for her 2005 self-contained solo run of the John Muir Trail. Florine directed the instructional DVD series, Guide Tricks for Climbers, making sense of the complex world of transitions and self rescue. Prior to immersing herself in the adventure world, Florine was one of the world’s top fashion models, and for five years was the exclusive face of Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics.

Bruce Glawson (Canada)

Bruce Glawson has been an executive producer of programming at Discovery Channel Canada since June 2005. In this role, he manages many hours of factual programming simultaneously, guiding the content of commissioned specials and series from development through to broadcast. He works closely with independent producers to deliver high-quality, viewer-friendly television shows. Glawson has over 30 years television experience in such diverse positions as the former co-owner and president of the successful indie company Cambium Productions, VP of programming at PrideVision, and a Telefilm Canada TV investment analyst. He has an impressive portfolio of award-winning and highly popular programs with worldwide distribution.

Susan Kelly (Australia)

Australian filmmaker Susan Kelly is an accredited video journalist with an environmental focus. Kelly holds advanced degrees in journalism and interactive multimedia and her project shortlist includes work for various organizations – SkyNews, ABC, CNN, National Geographic, and the United Nations. Filmed over two years, Kelly’s current documentary Koala Hospital is in post production. Set at the world’s only koala hospital, the film presents an unusual wide-angle look at the surprising life of urban koalas.

John Porter (United Kingdom)

Born in Massachusetts, John Porter served his apprenticeship in the Rocky Mountains before moving to Leeds University in the early 1970s, joining a team dedicated to clean ethics in mountaineering, alpine style, and fostering international partnerships. He completed ascents of the north face of Bandaka (1977) and the south face of Changabang (1978) with Polish friends in the middle of the Cold War. Among his many expeditions: lightweight attempts on the west ridge of Everest in winter, south face of Annapurna, and the north-northwest ridge of K2. Porter lives in England’s Lake District, working in economic regeneration. He is the secretary of the Mountain Heritage Trust and directed the Kendal Mountain Festival until 2008.

Eric Valli (France)

Since the early 1980s, Eric Valli has photographed the most remote regions of the highest Himalaya for National Geographic and other magazines, collecting three World Press Awards in the process. As a filmmaker, Valli received his first Academy Award nomination for Shadow Hunters, which won the Grand Prize at the 1991 Banff Mountain Film Festival. In 1999, his debut feature film, Himalaya, was the first Nepalese film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. Valli’s other films include Honey Hunters of Nepal, which won the Banff Mountain Film Festival award for Mountain Environment in 1990, and he is also the author of more than 15 books on Nepal and Tibet. Valli’s most recent publications are the memoir The Sky Will Be My Roof, and Behind the Lens, a reflection on his life in photography.

Orest Sushko
Audio Post Production Scholarship Adjudicator

Re-recording mixer Orest Sushko is here in Banff, adjudicating films with this year’s Film Festival jury for The Banff Centre’s Audio Post Production Scholarship. Sushko began his career in Toronto apprenticing in the film, television, and music industry. In the span of 20 years, he mixed a variety of film and television projects (including several projects for director David Cronenberg), and was nominated for twelve Gemini and three Genie awards. Sushko has also recorded music projects for such artists as Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Cowboy Junkies, The Beautiful South, and James. He is the recipient of the Cinema Audio Society Award, a Genie Award, and an Emmy.