Programme Descriptions and Trailers
The Banff Mountain Film Festival NZ Tour presents four programmes of films that suit single and multiple screening venues, and online viewing.
Aoraki
This programme is designed for venues that have a single screening, showing some of the best films from the latest Banff Centre Film Festival.
One Step Ahead;
After losing his leg in an accident, Norwegian skier Bernt Marius gets back to doing what he loves best: skiing big lines in the Sunnmøre Alps.
(2025, Canada, 13:41 min)
Director: Anthony Bonello
Producer: Alexi Godbout Advisory: Coarse language
Advisory: Coarse language
Subtitles: None
Mandala (Tour Edit);
Kilian Bron and his team journey from Kathmandu to Nepal’s remote Dolpo region, navigating dizzying ridgelines and timeless villages. Blending adventure, reflection, and the human connection, their ride captures the raw essence of exploration in one of the world’s most secluded valleys.
(2025, France, 5:38 min)
Director: Kilian Bron, Pierre Henni, Valentin Birant
Producer: Kilian Bron, Valentin Birant
Films Advisory: No advisor
Subtitles: None
Robson;
Two world-class ski mountaineers, Christina Lustenberger and Guillaume Pierrel, attempt a daring first descent of Mount Robson's South Face, retracing the footsteps of alpine pioneers and the weight of a legacy that has challenged generations.
(2025, Canada, 48:54 min)
Director: Philip Forsey
Producer: Malcolm Sangster, Joshua Lavigne, Gabriella Dufour-Léonard
Advisory: Coarse language
Subtitles: None
Arctic Alchemy;
Traveling by packraft and foot through Alaska’s mighty Brooks Range, Roman Dial and his team have a goal of finding the source of a mysterious phenomenon poisoning watersheds in the Arctic. Along the journey, Roman reckons with fatherhood, personal tragedy, and the power of wilderness to both break us and bring us fully alive.
(2024, USA, 29:04 min)
Director: Colin Arisman, Zeppelin Zeerip
Producer: Field Work Creative, Wild Confluence, Zeppelin Zeerip, Colin Arisman
Advisory: Coarse language
Subtitles: None
Reel Rock: Riders on the Storm;
Big wall climber Siebe Vanhee enlists Drew Smith and fellow Belgian countrymen Nico Favresse and Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll to attempt the first free ascent of the elusive Riders on the Storm route on the East Face of Patagonia’s Torre Central.
(2025, USA, 28:08 min)
Director/Producer: Josh Lowell
Producer: Sarah Stewart, Ben Osborne, Lex Hinson
Advisory: Coarse language; Nudity
Subtitles: None
Cold Calls - Japan;
Cold Calls is a ski film pieced together through conversations, memories, and whatever the season decided to offer!
(2025, Canada, 06:09 min)
Director: Alexi Godbout
Producer: Blank Collective Films, Alexi Godbout
Advisory: No Advisory
Subtitles: None
Ruapehu
Ruapehu shows more of the best films from the latest Banff Centre Film Festival programmed at venues that have more than 1 screening. Tasman and Ruapehu programmes offer viewers two different film selections to watch at one venue.
This programme is also a great option for venues that have a single screening.
Emil & Karl – Little Wheels, Big Mountains (Tour Edit);
Jakob and Konne, two adventurous fathers bring their two year old sons, on a six-day mountain bike tour through the Swiss Alps. From rumbling stomachs and croissant crises to unavoidable tantrums – what begins as an ideal plan quickly turns into a test of patience for all four.
(2025, Germany, 22:36)
Director: Holger Wimmer
Production Company: schau ma mal, Holger Wimmer
Advisory: Coarse language
Subtitles: Yes (from German)
My Grandmother’s Sketchbook / UNDER MONT BLANC;
All it took was a few simple sketches from Max Romey’s Grandmother's sketchbook to lead him on a generational scavenger hunt halfway across the world. The goal: to find and sketch from the exact spot where she stood all those years ago under Mont Blanc and make the same sketch in the same spot.
(2025, USA, 13:26 min)
Director: Max Romey
Producer: Jennifer Langille
Advisory: No advisory
Subtitles: None
One Step Ahead;
After losing his leg in an accident, Norwegian skier Bernt Marius gets back to doing what he loves best: skiing big lines in the Sunnmøre Alps.
(2025, Canada, 13:41 min)
Director: Anthony Bonello
Producer: Alexi Godbout Advisory: Coarse language
Advisory: Coarse language
Subtitles: None
Cold Calls - Japan;
Cold Calls is a ski film pieced together through conversations, memories, and whatever the season decided to offer!
(2025, Canada, 06:09 min)
Director: Alexi Godbout
Producer: Blank Collective Films, Alexi Godbout
Advisory: No Advisory
Subtitles: None
Robson;
Two world-class ski mountaineers, Christina Lustenberger and Guillaume Pierrel, attempt a daring first descent of Mount Robson's South Face, retracing the footsteps of alpine pioneers and the weight of a legacy that has challenged generations.
(2025, Canada, 48:54 min)
Director: Philip Forsey
Producer: Malcolm Sangster, Joshua Lavigne, Gabriella Dufour-Léonard
Advisory: Coarse language
Subtitles: None
Reel Rock: Riders on the Storm;
Big wall climber Siebe Vanhee enlists Drew Smith and fellow Belgian countrymen Nico Favresse and Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll to attempt the first free ascent of the elusive Riders on the Storm route on the East Face of Patagonia’s Torre Central.
(2025, USA, 28:08 min)
Director/Producer: Josh Lowell
Producer: Sarah Stewart, Ben Osborne, Lex Hinson
Advisory: Coarse language; Nudity
Subtitles: None
Tasman
Tasman shows more of the best films from the latest Banff Centre Film Festival programmed at venues that have more than 1 screening. Tasman and Rupehu programmes offer viewers two different film selections to watch at one venue.
This programme is also a great option for venues that have a single screening.
Becky Bates, Not a Running Story;
Becky Bates entered the world of ultra running at the age of 50. Famously claiming to not be a runner, in reality, she's one of the fastest in the world. We follow Becky as she trains for her third Hardrock 100 at the age of 62.
(2025, Canada, 12:29 min)
Director: Scot Proudfoot
Producer: Lukas Nemeth
Advisory: Coarse Language
Subtitles: None
Old Man Lightning (Tour Edit);
*** WINNER BEST FILM - CLIMBING***
The best climbing, comedy, comeback ever made, with a conservation plight. It will make you laugh and cry and maybe pee yer pants.
(2025, USA, 45:34 min)
Director: Dawn Kish
Producer: Dawn Kish
Advisory: Coarse language; Mature subject matter; Surgery Scenes
Subtitles: None
A Baffin Vacation, Love on Ice;
Join adventurers Erik and Sarah on yet another outrageous Baffin Vacation as they kiteski north along the remote coastline of Baffin. Over their 69-day holiday, they ski mountains, climb an epic big wall, and cross a glacier in search of new rivers to whitewater kayak.
(2025, Canada, 26:22)
Director: Rush Sturges, Skip Armstrong
Producer: River Roots, Rush Sturges, Sarah McNair-Landry, Erik Boomer Advisory: Coarse language; Nudity
Subtitles: None
Mandala (Tour Edit);
Kilian Bron and his team journey from Kathmandu to Nepal’s remote Dolpo region, navigating dizzying ridgelines and timeless villages. Blending adventure, reflection, and the human connection, their ride captures the raw essence of exploration in one of the world’s most secluded valleys.
(2025, France, 5:38 min)
Director: Kilian Bron, Pierre Henni, Valentin Birant
Producer: Kilian Bron, Valentin Birant
Films Advisory: No advisor
Subtitles: None
Carving Lines;
Carving Lines is a visual diary of a printmaker depicting a popular ski touring zone through her art medium of print making.
(2025, USA, 5:45 min)
Director: Dmitry Surnin
Producer: Fall Line Films, Wongi Kim
Advisory: No advisory
Subtitles: None
Arctic Alchemy;
Traveling by packraft and foot through Alaska’s mighty Brooks Range, Roman Dial and his team have a goal of finding the source of a mysterious phenomenon poisoning watersheds in the Arctic. Along the journey, Roman reckons with fatherhood, personal tragedy, and the power of wilderness to both break us and bring us fully alive.
(2024, USA, 29:04 min)
Director: Colin Arisman, Zeppelin Zeerip
Producer: Field Work Creative, Wild Confluence, Zeppelin Zeerip, Colin Arisman
Advisory: Coarse language
Subtitles: None
Tūtoko - 2026 Programme Coming Soon!
Tūtoko offers more of the best mountain films, unique to the films shown at live screenings (above), for viewing from the comfort of home. Option available to turn on closed captions. The Tūtoko programme will be available for viewing following the NZ live screenings, from 3rd - 31st July. Once you click "Watch now", you'll have unlimited access for 72 hours to watch the full programme. The programme is geo-restricted to NZ so you need to be in NZ to watch the programme. For more details view our FAQS and you can purchase tickets here.
