Yesterday evening and tonight at the Gryphon Theater, the BANFF Mountain Film Festival World Tour hits Laramie for the 17th year in a row. The Festival has been a Laramie institution since 1999 and has a long history stretching back decades.
“It’s cool that this is a free event for the community and students so it kind of bridges that student-community gap.” Jake Ostrow of the Student Activities Council said. “It’s providing some entertainment in a town that enjoys outdoor activities. It’ll open people’s eyes to activities that they’ve never seen before, or a different way of thinking about things.”
In 1933, at Banff in Alberta, Canada the Banff Center was created by the University of Alberta to foster creativity and diversity. It is here in 1976 that the BANFF Mountain Film Festival first began, according to the Banff Centre website.
Since then, the BANFF Festival has been an international hit, travelling to locations in dozens of countries, celebrating mountain life and mountain sports. For years it has held the position of being the top, go-to festival for short films based around the mountain wilderness, according to the Banff Centre website.
Thanks to combined efforts of Dan McCoy, the current assistant director for campus recreation, and the Student Activities Council the BANFF Film Festival finally made it to Laramie in 1999 for free for all who want to attend. “We’re actually one of the only tour locations worldwide that offers it for free,” said McCoy. “I heard the McMurdo Research station in Antarctica also offers it for free.”
The opportunity to see these shorts films, and share in the accomplishments of our mountain-loving brethren across the world, has been continuously offered as a way for the organizers to share their gratitude for the community’s support, according to banffcentre.ca.
“It’s kind of a celebration,” said McCoy, “It’s like saying ‘hey, thanks for all that you guys have done for the outdoor program.’” It has brought hundreds of students and Laramie locals together in the celebration of this lifestyle and those who constantly push themselves in the outdoor arena, McCoy said.
Films like “And Then We Swam,” “Sufferfest 2,” and rock star rock climber Alex Honnold’s “Africa Fusion” are all standout titles from this year’s line-up and have all won major awards at the main ceremony in Banff.
The Festival will continue to remain in Laramie in the years to come, said McCoy.
