Banff Better Than Ever! – The Joy Trip Project

Banff Better Than Ever! – The Joy Trip Project

 
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With a fresh dusting of new snow in the Canadian Rockies the 2014 Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival came to an exciting conclusion Sunday after #NineEpicDays of adventure. The awards ceremony before a sold-out audience at the Eric Harvey Theater in the Banff Centre ushered in a season of inspiration with Vally Uprising taking in the Grand Prize once again for Sender Films and Uncaged Soul drawing the People’s Choice Award win for Mending The Line.
“This really means a lot,” said producer John Waller. “Banff has a such smart and discriminating audience. Their opinion carries a lot of weight, which makes this award so much more important.”
A festival favorite year after year Sender Films’ Peter Mortimer typically takes the stage to receive multiple best-in-category awards. With several climbing and mountaineering titles featured in the company’s flagship series the Reel Rock Film Tour it’s not uncommon to see the producer walk away with three trophies. But with only one entry this year Mortimer went all in to create with fellow directors Nick Rosen and Josh Lowell a sweeping documentary that tells the story of Yosemite Valley rock climbers spanning more than 30 years. The jury awarded top honors to arguably deem Uprising the best adventure film of 2014.
Noticeably absent from the stage were several highly acclaimed and popular films. The river restoration documentary Damnation by Travis Rummel, Ben Knight and Matt Stoecker as well as the film Jeff Lowe’s Metanoia by director Jim Aikman pulled in huge crowds left spellbound by compelling themes of environmental activism and unwavering perseverance. Appearances by Jeff Lowe himself and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard inspired audiences to rousing ovations. But neither received awards.
In a highly competitive field this year’s jury faced the nearly impossible task of selecting winners from among a presentation of more than 80 excellent films. But those titles which took awards clearly illustrate the growing complexity and sophistication of the modern era of adventure inspired media. Banff was better than ever. This incredibly rich assortment of films that will be in the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, which starts this weekend in Great Falls Montana, will likely deliver more fun and excitement than in any pervious season of its 39-year run.

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Here is a list of the 2014 Banff Mountain Film Festival Award Winners
Creative Excellence Award
El Sendero Luminoso
Director: Renan Ozturk
Producer: Aimee Tetreault
Production Company: Camp4 Collective
Best Film – Exploration and Adventure
And Then We Swam
Director: Ben Finney
Producer: Robb Ellender
Best Film – Mountain Culture
Tashi & the Monk 

Director:Andrew Hinton, Johnny Burke
Production Company: Pilgrim Films


Best Film – Climbing
Cerro Torre: A Snowball’s Chance in Hell
Director: Thomas Dirnhofer
Producer: Philipp Manderla
Production Company: Red Bull Media House
Best Film – Mountain Sports
Little Red Bus (Petit Bus Rouge)
Director and Producer: Sébastien Montaz-Rosset
Production Company: Montaz-Rosset Film
Best Film: Snow Sports
The Crash Reel

Director: Lucy  Walker
Producer: Julian Cautherley
Production Company: KP Rides Again LLC


Best Film – Mountain Environment and Natural History
NATURE: Touching the Wild
Director and Producer: David Allen
Production Company: Passion Planet, THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET
Best Short Mountain Film
Delta Dawn
Director and Producer: Peter McBride
Production Company: Peter McBride Productions
Best Feature Length Mountain Film
Marmato
Director: Mark Grieco
Producer: Stuart Reid
Production Company: Calle Films
Special Jury Mention
Jungwa: The Broken Balance
Director: Stanzin Dorjai Gya, Christiane Mordelet
Producer: Barra Muriel
Production Company: Lato Sensu Productions
People’s Choice Award for Radical Reels
Sufferfest 2: Desert Alpine
Director and Producer: Cedar Wright

The Joy Trip Project was made possible thanks to the support of fans on Patreon.com and the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival

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