Trailhead Story Hub

Looking back over the past 50 years of the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Festival, I’m amazed by how far we have all travelled. It was a cold, blustery day in 1975 when Chic Scott, Evelyn Moorehouse, Patsy Murphy, and I sat down on Ev’s basement floor to discuss an afternoon of film entertainment to be sponsored by the Banff Section of the Alpine Club of Canada. Both Chic and I were aware of the Trento Festival of Mountaineering and Exploration Films in Italy, the world's oldest event of its type. Given our location in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, it seemed logical to start a similar festival in Banff, which would become the first in North America.

When we organized the first Festival in 1976, none of us envisioned that it would become such an iconic global event that now screens across the world. In 1976, we had to scramble to assemble a program of six films. Now the Festival receives hundreds of submissions each year. In retrospect, unknowingly, at the time we were on the cusp of the rapid expansion of interest in outdoor recreation around the world.

The Festival became competitive in 1977, with a national panel of judges selecting winners from 19 films entered. No one really knows what happened during the fifth year in 1980, but it’s fair to say that the festival exploded. In total, 58 film entries were received from New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Switzerland, the United States, and Canada. The sellout crowds flooded the Eric Harvie Theatre (now the Jenny Belzberg Theatre) and the event was described as “One of Canada's most unique movie events” and “The high point on Banff’s cultural calendar.”

The magnitude grew larger every year with the addition of social events as well as competitions with cash awards, and the “Best of the Fest” screening of award-winning films on the final Sunday for Banff locals who often have to work during the weekend. The Festival continues to offer filmmakers and authors alike exposure and credibility in a competitive event while providing a social, entertaining program.

Over the decades, with the overwhelming response of Festival audiences and independent filmmakers alike, it is still evident that the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival continues as one of the leading adventure film festivals in the world. 

Congratulations to all the dream teams that have contributed to the success of the Festival and World Tour through these years.

—John Amatt, Founding Director

When Joanna Croston, Director of Mountain Culture at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity first visited the Festival in 1997, she never would have predicted the course her life would take. 

Read the full story

Here are some momentous milestones, key dates, and fun adventures we’ve had over the past 50 years during the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival! There are literally mountains of memories, but here are a few to share with you for a little journey down memory lane:

Read the full story

I was broken when I came to Banff Centre for the Mountain and Wilderness Writing program (now called Mountain Writers Intensive) in October 2019. Our son Hayden had died by suicide two years before. I wanted to write a memoir but had no idea of how to approach such a daunting task. All my previous writing had been prosaic, a workmanlike procession of news, editorials, book reviews, and features produced during my twenty-four years as editor of Climbing Magazine. How could I turn a few vague ideas into a book that made sense of the twenty-seven years my wife Julie and I had shared with Hayden, and the devastation his death had wrought?

Read the full story

A few winters ago, I found myself in the charming mountain town of Kimberley, BC. Ski slopes without lift lines replaced the hustle of the Vancouver film industry, where I had worked my way from assistant roles into script development. To stay in Kimberley would require a career shift—and this is precisely when I chanced upon an ad for the Banff Centre Adventure Filmmakers Workshop (AFW).

Read the full story

On any given night somewhere in the world, the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival theme music booms from speakers in a darkened theatre. Audience members lean forward in their seats, eager for an evening of adventure films. Each year, the Festival’s World Tour presents screenings in over 500 locations across 45 countries, reaching annual audiences of over half a million people. But this juggernaut of mountain culture began—as so many great things do— small, with a handful of staff, and a single screening in Banff in 1976. The idea of taking the best films from the Banff competition on the road was launched five years later, in 1981.

Read the full story

The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival celebrates Dr. Alison Criscitiello as the recipient of the 2025 Summit of Excellence Award—which, since 1987, has recognized outstanding individuals who have made a significant contribution to mountain life in Canada.

Read the full story

Find out more about the story behind the stunning photo taken by local photographer Paul Zizka of two climbers under a starry sky which is used to represent both the Festival and World Tour. You'll see throughout the Festival on screen and on banners at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Read the full story

Our Festival staff gave some of their personal picks for what events they were most looking forward to during the 50th Anniversary of the Festival in Banff from November 1-9.

Read the full story

Read more about "the voice" behind the Film Festival trailer! Here's an earlier article we posted a few years ago about Richard Armstrong, featured in the video above.

Read the full story