Fernie Mountain Film Festival

The 12th Annual Fernie Mountain Film Fest (FMFF) is coming to Fernie this February 23 and 24th. The College of the Rockies and its Mountain Adventure Skills Training (MAST) program successfully presented the first annual Fernie Mountain Film Festival in 2007 and created an event that has become highly anticipated. The second FMFF saw attendance double and now it’s celebrating more than a decade.

The festival is held at the Fernie Community Centre and Films start at 7pm each night. The Festival takes place Friday and Saturday night

“Dedicated to filmmakers who spark awareness of mountain cultures, fragile environments, and the passion and perseverance of global explorers.”

Get your tickets…
1. College of the Rockies – 342 3rd Ave. Fernie
2. At the Door of the Festival
3. Online here: ferniefilmfestival.com

Friday Night $15
Saturday Night $15
All Access Pass $25
Child 15 and under Free!

Overall film Line up coming soon (last week before fest) but special features:

Martina and Tania Halik: Coast Mountain Epic
Coast Mountain Epic is a live multi-media presentation detailing a five and half month long ski traverse of the Coast Mountains of BC and Alaska. Undertaken from January to June of 2017 by a mother and daughter team from BC, this presentation features their challenges, close-calls, failures and successes throughout the Coast mountain Epic.
Over 2300 km and six months through BC’s Coast Range over the largest temperate-latitude icecaps in the world. In the middle of winter. There will be storms. Crazy biblical mountain tempests like you saw in documentaries about Everest as a kid. Our packs will be way too heavy. There will be crevasses, avalanches, sketchy river crossings and bushwhacking through devil’s club and hawthorn when the snowpack gets too low. There will be an almost incomprehensible amount of mountain terrain between Squamish B.C and our goal in Skagway A.K.

The Last Honey Hunter
Director: Ben Knight; Producer: Ben Ayers, Renan Ozturk, Travis Rummel; Production Company: Felt Soul Media 36 Mins 2017
Maule Dhan Rai is the last man in the remote Nepal village of Saadi who’s been visited in a dream by a wrathful forest spirit called Rongkemi. If no one else in the village has the dream, a generations-old tradition of honey gathering may die.
Awards: Best Film: Mountain Culture (2017 Banff Mountain Film Competition)

Riding the Tatshenshini (biking and rafting)
Darren Berrecloth and fellow riders explored the untapped terrain near the Yukon’s Tatshenshini River, Canada. Rafting 260km with bikes in tow, they search for challenging lines by day and camping by night.
Produced by Red Bull Canada, Freeride Entertainment and TELUS, Riding the Tatshenshini documents the journey of local BC talents, ‘The Godfather’ of freeriding Wade Simmons and Darren ‘The Claw’ Berrecloth, as well as slopestyle pioneer Tyler McCaul and rookie Carson Storch of the US, as they set into untapped terrain to trek, camp and bike in the Yukon and BC’s northern wilderness

The 10th Annual Fernie Mountain Film Fest (FMFF) is coming to Fernie this February 19 to 20th. The College of the Rockies and its Mountain Adventure Skills Training (MAST) program successfully presented the first annual Fernie Mountain Film Festival in 2007 and created an event that was to become highly anticipated. The second FMFF saw attendance double and now it’s celebrating a decade.

The festival is held at the Fernie Community Centre. Doors open at 6pm for the popular Fernie Mounain Social – dinner and drinks before the films!!! Films start at 7pm each night. The Festival takes place Friday and Saturday night with a FREE kid’s Saturday matinee.  

Festival Weekend: Friday and Saturday nights will highlight a feature film  and a number of exciting and diverse short films to round out the evening. 

Best of Festival: Each year the festival board and the students of the Mountain Adventure Skills Training Program at the College of the Rockies vote on their favourite film. We tend to choose smaller production films that embody our mission statement… “Dedicated to filmmakers who spark awareness of mountain cultures, fragile environments and the passion and perseverance of global explorers.” The Best of Festival Award being announced on Saturday night.

The Fernie Mountain Culture Award is presented on Saturday night. Nominees have demonstrated a long-term commitment in their contribution to mountain life in the Elk Valley; includes people and groups who contribute to mountain sport, mountain environment, mountain culture, mountain art and mountain science.

Free Kid’s Sat Matinee: 5 pm : Films and popcorn – the perfect winter’s afternoon post-ski entertainment. The Fernie Mountain Film Festival has been snowballing its way to success over the years and continues to build. 

The Fernie Mountain Film Fest is going live this year with two incredible guests speakers.

Barry Blanchard will take the stage on Friday Feb 20 to tell stories and discuss his new book.
The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains by Barry Blanchard: Memoir of a poor kid saved from juvenile delinquency by the mystery and challenge of the Canadian Rockies. A portrait of the power of mountains to lift us physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.

And on Saturday Feb 21 Jon Turk will enthrall all with his talk:
Exploring Deep Wilderness – When Wild Animals Talk To You
If you spend enough time in Deep Wilderness, every once in a while, maybe once in a decade, wild animals will come into close proximity and stay close for a prolonged period of time. Author, Jon Turk, will explore the relevance of these encounters in this internet crazed, oil soaked world.

Feature Film Saturday Feb 21 will be:
NORDFOR SOLA – NORTH OF THE SUN
North of the sun – a documentary about following the dream

Inge Wegge (25) and Jørn Ranum (22) spent nine months of cold, Norwegian winter in the isolated and uninhabited bay of a remote, arctic island by the coast of Northern-Norway, facing nothing but the vast Atlantic Ocean. There they built a cabin out of driftwood and other cast-off materials that washed up on shore, and ate expired food the stores would otherwise have thrown away. But the boys brought with them two items of utmost importance: Their surfboards – perhaps their biggest motivation for the arctic adventure. Because the remote bay holds a well kept secret; Some of the worlds finest surfing waves..

North of the sun – Trailer from weggebros on Vimeo.

Nominate someone or a group for the Fernie Mountain Culture Award. The award will be presented at the Fernie Mountain Film Festival on Saturday, Feb 21, 2015.

Nominees have demonstrated a long-term commitment in their contribution to mountain life in the Elk Valley; includes people and groups who contribute to mountain sport, mountain environment, mountain culture, mountain art and mountain science.

Clearly describe the nominees accomplishments: how they benefit the mountain culture of the Elk Valley, including: level and time line of contributions, impact to the sport/environment/culture/art/science, positive attitude, inspiring others.

David Aitkens, 2013 Mountain Culture Award winner, and Leo Grillmair

Past Mountain Culture award winners: Pat Gilmar, Heiko Socher, Lee Anne Walker, Dave Aikens and Ian Stokie

Make your submission online here.

With the rave reviews of last year’s Fernie Mountain Social the FMFF crew is excited to once again open the community centre doors each night at 6pm for you to socialize and enjoy food from local restaurants before films start at 7pm. Gourmet Grilled Cheese from Le Grand Fromage, Pulled Pork on a bun from Bridge Bistro are among the tasty selections of Tapas style treats available.

The three day event will be structured similar to years past. Thursday night is local’s night where we hope to showcase as much local talent as possible and give away cash prizes for audience favourites. We encourage all Go Pro Heros to get busy editing their favourite footage and submit a great short film. All ages and abilities are welcome and all submitted films will be screened.

Guest speaker, Bernice Nottenboom, will speak on Friday Feb 21rd of her work on Climate ‘Tipping Points’. Bernice is a part time Fernie resident, a climate journalist, and professional adventurer. In 2008 she became the first woman on ski’s to reach the North, South, and Cold Pole in Siberia and traversed Greenland’s icecap in one year. In 2009 she reached the top of the Mount Everest and this year she kayaked 1000 km on the Niger River in the Sahara. Her extreme expeditions focus on the world’s climate change tipping points.

Bernice is on a mission: she is a climate chaser to the world’s extreme regions, bringing our climate crisis to the attention of world political leaders, business executives, but also to school children. She wants to show you that everyone can make a change. Why not lead that change?

On Saturday Feb 22, in addition to a phenomenal selection of feature and short films, the Fernie Mountain Culture Award will be presented. This award enables our community to recognize and celebrate a local individual or group who has contributed greatly to Fernie’s mountain culture. Past recipients have devoted themselves to our trails systems, our environment, our avalanche safety programs and helped shape our community.

David Aitkens, 2013 Mountain Culture Award winner, and Leo Grillmair

Please participate in your mountain culture. Help choose a group or individual this year by going to the nomination page on the FMFF web site.

Don’t forget the Free Kids Matinee on Saturday at 4pm.

All events are at the Community Centre. Tickets are available online and at the door.
www.ferniefilmfestival.com.

The Fernie Mountain Film Fest(FMFF) was once again a great success. All three evenings entertained packed crowds and the new ‘Fernie Mountain Social’ on Friday and Saturday nights saw sushi, pulled pork, salads, vegetable curry, and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches being washed down with BC wine and cold beer.

The films were exceptional and fit the vision of the event “dedicated to filmmakers who spark awareness of mountain cultures, fragile environments, and the passion and perseverance of global explorers”.

For me the event highlights were the presentations of the Annual Fernie Mountain Culture Award and a presentation by one of Canada’s founding mountaineers.

Thee FMFF board created the Fernie Mountain Culture Award to celebrate the accomplishments of an inspiring individual and recognize their contributions to Fernie’s local mountain culture. This years winner was David Aikens, a snow safety specialist who has lived in Fernie and has taught avalanche awareness courses at the College for over 30 years. Dave was Fernie Snow Valley’s first Snow Safety Analyst and Pro Patrol Director, a position he held for over 20 years. David pioneered the development and implementation of snow safety practices at the ski-hill and continues today in the role of avalanche forecasting. In 2011 David received the Canadian Avalanche Association Service Award for his many years of service and endless contributions as a founding director.

Following the award presentation and a short intermission the event moved on to Leo Grillmair’s storytelling and photographs in his presentation “The Bugaboos: A Celebration in Story and Image”. Leo Grillmair is credited with developing mountaineering with his companion Hans Gmoser, and the development of heli-skiing in Canada.

David Aitkens and Leo Grillmair

Grillmair and Gmoser (both being Austrians) came to Canada in 1951, hoping to find work and spend more time in the mountains. Both men found jobs in Alberta (Grillmair was a trained plumber) and it was just a matter of time before hiking, climbing and skiing became their passions. In 1952, Grillmair and friends drove to Yamnuska (west of Calgary) and did what some consider ‘the first modern climb in western Canada’. Grillmair Chimneys at Yamnuska was named in honor of the climb. Grillmair and Gmoser, throughout much of the 1950s, called Stanley Mitchell hut in Yoho home, and they led many ski trips in the winter in the mountainous region.

Grillmair earned his mountain guiding license in 1957 from Walter Perren, and this official certificate enhanced his guiding possibilities. Grillmair was front and centre in the growth and development of mountaineering in the 1960s. He attempted in 1963, with Gmoser and others, McKinley’s imposing Wickersham Wall, but blindness turned him back. It was in 1963, also, that Grillmair became a founding member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.

Downhill skiing on groomed slopes was common in the 1960s, but Gmoser and Grillmair had more creative ideas about what could be done on skis in the backcountry. In 1965, both men initiated a two week experimental helicopter skiing trip in the Bugaboos in BC. The skiing was superb, the reviews were exceptional, and in 1966 a six week helicopter ski touring program took place in the Bugaboos. The sheer success of heli-skiing made it clear that something permanent had to be established, so in 1968 Bugaboo Lodge was built, and Grillmair was manager of the Lodge from 1968-1990. The Lodge was the first built as part of Gmoser and Grillmair’s Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) ’10-Lodge helicopter skiing empire, which changed the face of backcountry recreation in the western hemisphere’. The transition from the more primitive and simple Stanley Mitchell hut of the 1950s to the more elaborate CMH lodges of the 1960s-1970s-1980s ushered in a new phase of off piste skiing, and Grillmair was at the centre of this transition. Grillmair’s second wife, Lynne (who he married in 1975), was essential to the success of the Bugaboo Lodge and Grillmair’s mountaineering work in the areas of both heli-hiking and heli-skiing. Grillmair was always a softer, gentler, less driven and more diplomatic version of Hans Gmoser, but both worked (at times clashing) together to redefine what can be done in the mountains with creativity, and hard work.

“The Bugaboos: A Celebration in Story & Image” that was co-assembled and presented by Pat Morrow is showing at the Fernie Museum until March 3.

This event is possible because of the effort of Brian Bell and support from the Colleges MAST program. A mountain of thanks to the presenting sponsors: Teck, BC Hydro, College of the Rockies, Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine and Savage Marketing, and a huge thanks to all of you who attended and I am looking forward to next years event.

The Fernie Mountain Film Festival is “dedicated to filmmakers who spark awareness of mountain cultures, fragile environments, and the passion and perseverance of global explorers”. Here are the selected feature films for this years event:

The Friday Night Feature Film is Congo: The Grand Inga Project. The Grand Ingo Project is the epic first decent of the world’s biggest rapids. Watch legendary kayaker Steve Fisher and his team battle the Congo River in their attempt to be the first explorers to survive the Inga Rapids. Hold on to your seat as they navigate Central Africa’s maddening politics and face their worst fears while accomplishing the greatest challenge of their lives.

The Friday night feature film will be followed by a mix of short films jam packed with adventure and inspiration. Watch new school free-ride skiers prove they have what it takes on the highest mountain in North America. Then become inspired by a group of rock climbers who are developing new ways of climbing unthinkable routes. Cozy up with your neighbor as you go out in the Arctic Ocean and discover the beauty of icebergs. Feel for a young traveler as he dreams big to ski a 60 degree line in a foreign country. Then follow friends who drop into canyons never explored before right here in BC.

The Saturday night feature film is Where the Trail Ends. Click here for the official trailer. Where the Trail Ends is the story the world’s top free-ride mountain bikers as they trek around the world in search of the biggest and most insane terrain. This cast of colourful characters attempt the most progressive and ambitious mountain biking while learning about new cultures and pushing themselves to their limit.

The Saturday night feature film will be followed by a mix of short films, but first guest speaker Leo Grillmair will entertain you through storytelling and photographs in his presentation “The Bugaboos: A Celebration in Story and Image”. Then watch three BC brothers find their passion in skiing big lines. Provoke thoughts when you see one of the greatest ice climbers in the world question his decisions. Laugh and follow the jaw dropping story of a new sport that goes to new heights.

The 7th annual Fernie Mountain Film Festival continues to be “dedicated to filmmakers who spark awareness of mountain cultures, fragile environments, and the passion and perseverance of global explorers”.

Thursday the 21st is our locals night – where we showcase as much local films as we can get – submissions are being accepting right up to Wednesday the 20th to give everyone a chance to have their Spielburg moment.

On Friday and Saturday evening we will be showing a feature film and a selection of short films. Feature films this year are ‘Where the Trail Ends’ by Freeride Entertainment and Red Bull Media House which is a film following the worlds’ top freeride mountain bikers as they search for un-ridden terrain around the globe. This is the most progressive and ambitious mountain biking ever attempted resulting in an entertainment adventure unlike anything experienced before. Our other feature will be ‘The Grand Inga Project’ by Steve Fisher and Red Bull Media House. A historic first descent of the biggest set of rapids in the world and a look into the minds of the kayakers crazy enough to paddle it.

Leo Grillmair will join the Fernie Mountain Film Festival, Saturday February 23, as he tells of his time working with Hans Gmoser to invent heliskiing and create Canadian Mountain Holidays in his presentation: THE BUGABOOS – A CELEBRATION IN STORY AND IMAGE.

Join us for dinner on on Friday and Saturday nights as we introduce our first ‘Fernie Mountain Social’. Doors open at 6pm so you can come to the community center and devour delicious delectables from some of Fernie’s finest restaurant’s and then enjoy an evening of Mountain films focusing on a wide variety of adventure sports.

Tickets available on line at www.ferniefilmfestival.com, at College of the Rockies, Fernie Campus or at the door… – doors open at 6 all nights – films start at 7.

A mountain of thanks to our presenting sponsors: Teck, BC Hydro, College of the Rockies, Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine and Savage Marketing

After months of festival planning, receiving exciting film submissions and searching out the best of the best, the sixth annual Fernie Mountain Film Festival (FMFF), proved to be another successful film filled February fest. The festival saw an amazing turnout by locals and visitors, a diverse and entertaining mix of films and yet again fantastic support by many sponsors.

With three nights of epic film watching, whilst still remaining true to its original festival mandate, “Dedicated to filmmakers who spark awareness of mountain cultures, fragile environments and the passion and perseverance of global explorers”, that was created back in 2007 by Festival Directors, Jon Turk, Brian Bell and his fellow MAST students, the sixth annual FMFF was a roaring success.

As ever, Locals Film Night was a popular evening, with The Power of Powder winning the locals award of $500. And whilst putting the Festival to bed for another year, the Festival Committee voted on their Best of Fest – a tough task, picking from the wide array of submitted films in this year’s festival. However, this year the award goes to Ice Vikings – an entertaining film submitted by Don Wargowski, detailing an expedition taken in May 2010 by a team of six to L’Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland in an attempt to climb an iceberg. A feat that no-one else has perhaps considered, yet when combined with some dry-humoured novice climbers travelling all the way from Pittsburgh to Newfoundland in a dilapidated school bus, it’s an adventure worth watching – and a worthy festival winner indeed. Congratulations.

The Festival also gave out their third annual Fernie Mountain Culture Award on the Saturday night, this year going to Leanne Walker, whose great passion for all things wild, as well as her endless environmental education and entrepreneurship made her a very deserving and popular recipient. Nominations for the 2013 award are being taken online at www.ferniefilmfestival.com. This year the non-profit FMFF Festival also made generous donations to The Fernie Trails Alliance and The Fernie Nordic Society – both of which are valuable collaborations in Fernie, utilized by many a resident and visitor.

The Festival Committee would also like to thank everyone who yet again made the festival happen, in particular the 2012 sponsors: Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine, College of the Rockies, BC Hydro and Teck; City of Fernie, Savage Marketing, Claris Media, Park Place Lodge, Tera Environmental, Evolution Health & Fitness and Columbia Basin Trust. Fernie Brewing Company, Midge’s Mags, Red Tree Lodge, Fernie Wilderness Adventures, Fernie Alpine Resort and Fernie Physio; Straightline, Ascent Helicopters, Dave Couse Photography and Giv’er Shirtworks. Without these generous supporters this annual festival would not be possible.

Want to be a part of the action? Submissions are already being accepted for 2013! Or if you’d like to join the Festival Committee and help put this Festival together, go to www.ferniefilmfestival.com for more information and contact details.

After months of festival planning, receiving exciting film submissions and searching out the best of the best, the Sixth Annual Fernie Mountain Film Festival (FMFF) is ready to roll. With the Festival kicking off this coming Thursday 23rd Feb with the Third Annual Local’s Film Night, closely followed by the much loved free kids’ fest on Saturday and then two outstanding nights of films from around the globe on Fri 24th & Sat 25th, this year’s Fernie Mountain Film Festival looks every bit as good as the last.

Still remaining true to its festival mandate, “Dedicated to filmmakers who spark awareness of mountain cultures, fragile environments and the passion and perseverance of global explorers”, that was created back in 2007 by Festival Directors, Jon Turk, Brian Bell and his fellow MAST students, the FMFF is well known and much loved by many – both in town and further afield. Renowned for an eclectic mix of films – exciting, adventurous, thought provoking, enlightening and most importantly entertaining – reeling in large crowds throughout the entire three night festival. So to help get excited, here’s this year’s lineup…

Thursday 23rd Feb, 2012: 7pm @ The Fernie Community Centre – Local’s Night, $5 entry
Kicking off the festival is the popular Local’s Film Night. The Line Up will be revealed on the night, but with a talk by Paul Attalla on his personal experiences biking in the 2011 Tour Divide Adventure last summer and a great selection of local filmmakers work, it’s guaranteed to be a fantastic Fernie feel good night not to be missed.

Friday 24th Feb, 2012: 7pm @ The Fernie Community Centre – $10 entry
Encordades: 52mins (Feature Film, climbing)
Woo!: 5mins (skiing)
Intermission
Ice Vikings: 15mins (ice climbing)
Chasing Water: 18mins (environmental)
Wildwater: 14mins (kayaking)
Industrial Revolution: 5mins (biking)
Darkside of the Lens: 6mins (cinematography)

Saturday 25th Feb, 2012: 5pm @ The Fernie Community Centre, Kid’s Fest – free entry
Kid’s Film Fest: 5-6pm is perfect for the whole family. With free popcorn & juice!

Saturday 25th Feb, 2012: 7pm @ The Fernie Community Centre – $10 entry
Slope Flying: 2mins (paragliding)
Solitaire: 52mins (Feature Film, climbing/skiing)
Cheese Rolling: 3mins (for those who love cheese)
Intermission & Presentation of the Fernie Mountain Culture Award
Deep Runs the Canyon: 17mins (kayaking/environmental)
Clear Sky: 6mins (yak herding)
10 Things I love about Biking: 3mins (biking)
Linea Continua: 17mins (climbing)
Mt Ruapehu Timelapse: 3mins (cinematography)

Tickets are available at www.ferniefilmfestival.com, at Midge’s Mags & Straightline in town or at the door. Buy all three nights for just $20 for the full festival experience! All three evenings start at 7pm, at The Fernie Community Centre.