UMaine students enjoy Banff Film Festival
By Kathryn Busko
2/13/24
People entering Husson University's Gracie Theater for the Banff Film Festival.
Photo By: Kathryn Busko
Hundreds of meters below ground, several days deep into Canada’s deepest cave and far beyond the reach of any rescue, Katie Graham gasped in pain and tumbled to the rocky ground.
This is a pivotal moment in Subterranean, a 40-minute documentary which follows two teams exploring the deepest and longest caves in Canada. The audience at Husson University's Gracie Theater watched as Graham and her team struggled through the multiple-day trip back to the surface, where Graham received surgery for her broken ankle.
This was one of six adventure films shown last Wednesday night, at the Bangor stop on the Banff Centre Mountain Film World Tour. The films ranged from kite surfing in the Andes, to piloting a sweep boat in Idaho, to rock climbing in Norway.
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The Gracie Theater Lobby during intermission.
Photo By: Kathryn Busko
For UMaine students, the festival provided a new and engaging way to experience the outdoors, especially in the middle of winter.
“It’s inspiring. It’s super interesting. It’s like nothing I’ve ever, like, really tapped into as of late,” said Myles Harrison, a Finance and Economics major at UMaine.
The Banff world tour began in 1986 with three cities in Canada, as an extension of its annual Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival. The tour has grown to include over 45 countries, making it the largest adventure film tour in the world.
In a few hours, the tour aims to highlight adventure and creativity from around the world.
Jeri Misler, the Managing Artistic Director of the Gracie Theater, introducing the Banff Film Festival.
Photo By: Kathryn Busko
“I think it’s pretty incredible that places like this exist…I feel pretty grateful to be a human and live in the place that I am,” said Will Morris, a UMaine Biology and Sustainable Materials and Technology major.
The Banff Film Festival is about more than just the films. Outdoor organizations from the Maine Audubon to the Orono Land Trust set up tables in the Gracie lobby to promote their work.
“The culture around it is super cool. People coming together around, like, really amazing people doing really cool things. And I think that’s a really awesome thing to connect over,” said Bryce Butterfield, a UMaine Mechanical Engineering major.
From Left to Right: Myles Harrison, Bryce Butterfield, Will Morris
Photo By: Kathryn Busko