The Great Alone takes the Grand Prize at the 2015 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival

BANFF, AB, November 8, 2015 - The Great Alone, which captured the inspiring comeback story of champion sled dog racer, Lance Mackey, has won the Grand Prize at the 2015 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.

From his sunniest days as a boy to his darkest hours trapped in the arms of substance abuse, dog sledding just may be Lance Mackey’s road to salvation as he embarks on the Iditarod, one of the hardest sled dog races in the world.

Good films are hard to make…but great films are nearly impossible…and often times they sneak up on you without warning,” said Cory Richards, a member of the 2015 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival film jury. “Our grand prize winner this year subtly weaves threads of family, unexpected friendship, raw vulnerability and extreme perseverance.  The tapestry created is a powerful and deeply emotional human portrait, illuminating our innate shortcomings and vulnerabilities…and our ultimate drive to connect with ourselves and the wilderness…..and overcome.”

Category winners for the 2015 Banff Mountain Film Competition include:<

Grand Prize – Sponsored by MEC

The Great Alone            

(USA, 2014, 84 min)

Director/Producer: Greg Kohs

Creative Excellence Award- Sponsored by Mountain Life Media

Cailleach

Director: Rosie Reed Hillman

Producer: Carole Cooke

Production Company: Scrumptious Productions Ltd.

Best Film – Exploration and Adventure - Sponsored by MSR

The Great Alone

(USA, 2014, 84 min)Director/Producer: Greg Kohs

Best Film – Mountain Culture-  Sponsored by Helly Hansen

Sherpa

(Australia, 2015, 96 min)

Director: Jennifer Peedom

Best Film – Climbing - Sponsored by Alpine Club of Canada

A Line Across the Sky

(USA, 2015, 40 min)

Director/Producer: Peter Mortimer, Josh Lowell

Best Film – Mountain Sports- Sponsored by Sea &Summit

Chasing Niagara

(USA, 2015, 76 min)

Director: Rush Sturges

Producer: Red Bull Media House 

Best Film: Snow Sports - Sponsored by Bergans of Norway

Eclipse

(Canada, 2015, 31 min)

Director: Anthony Bonello

Producer: Anthony Bonello, Mike Douglas

Best Film – Mountain Environment and Natural History - Sponsored by Vasque

Hadwin’s Judgement

(Canada, 2015, 88 min)

Director: Sasha Snow

Producer: Elizabeth Yake, David Allen, David Christensen, Yves Ma

Production Company: True West Films, Passion Pictures and The National Film Board of Canada

Best Short Mountain Film - Sponsored by The North Face

The Important Places

(USA, 2015, 9 min)

Director/Producer: Gnarly Bay, Forest Woodward

Best Feature Length Mountain Film-Sponsored by Town of Banff

K2: Touching the Sky

(Poland, 2015, 72 min)

Director: Eliza Kubarska

Special Jury Mention

Operation Moffat

(UK, 2015, 20 min)

Director: Jen Randall, Claire Carter

Producer: Alex Messengerp

Overburden

(USA, 2015, 65 min)

Director: Chad A. Stevens*

Producer: Elena Rue, Catherine Orr

Production Company: milesfrommaybe Productions

People’s Choice Award for Radical Reels - Sponsored by Oboz Footwear

Showdown at Horseshoe Hell

(USA, 2015, 20 min)

Director/Producer: Pete Mortimer, Josh Lowell

Producer Zachary Barr

Production Company: Sender Films, Big Up Productions

People’s Choice Award – Sponsored by Osprey

Unbranded

(USA, 2015,105 min)

Director: Phillip Baribeau

Producer: Denis Aig

Jury members in 2015 included climber, photographer and filmmaker, Cory Richards; professional Canadian climber Sarah Hueniken; British documentary director Dina Mufti; Vice President of Petzl, Peter Popall.

The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, established 40 years ago, is presented by National Geographic and The North Face, and sponsored by Deuter, Clif Bar, Bergans of Norway, Icebreaker, Banff Lake Louise Tourism and Treksta, with support from PETZL, World Expeditions, Kicking Horse Coffee, The Lake Louise Ski Resort and Summer Gondola, Mammut, MEC, Banff Lake Louise Tourism and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

About the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival: Created 40 years ago, the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival has become the premier event of its kind in the world. The Festival showcases the world’s best films, books and photographs on mountain subjects – climbing, culture, environment and natural history, exploration and adventure, wildlife, and sport – and attracts the biggest names in mountaineering, adventure filmmaking, and extreme sports as presenters and speakers. More than 80 films screen during the nine-day festival, and an international jury awards over $50,000 annually in prizes.  

About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity:  Founded in 1933, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture, and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus – artists, leaders, and thinkers – to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to society through cross-disciplinary learning opportunities, world-class performances, and public outreach. www.banffcentre.ca