A movie festival that started in France a decade ago is returning to Jasper, and just in time, too.
The summer edition of Montagne en Scène (a.k.a. Mountains on Stage) comes to the screen at The Stand Easy on the evening of April 17.
Presented by ACFA Jasper and the Alpine Club of Canada, the festival will feature short films all on the theme of people having incredible adventures in the mountains and loving every minute of it.
“It's a festival I am drawn to, and I just want people to be drawn to it as well. This is a little bit of an escape in April where we don't currently do much,” said Cécile Lefort.
“There's two editions per year: winter and summer. The winter one usually is mostly around skiing or mountaineering and the summer one is more about hiking or climbing.”
The festival was successful for its winter edition that played here in December.
Lefort emphasized that all the movies are presented with both English and French subtitles so everyone can enjoy them.
The selection includes four shorts, starting with “Deep Freeze.” The 26-minute film documents the challenge of three climbers who ascended the north face of the Grandes Jorasses, which hadn’t been accomplished in 37 years. It was also the first winter ascent, making an extra challenge for the climb.
“Sea to Summit” goes to the heart of Greenland as kayakers paddle across more than 400 kilometres in the middle of the Arctic, with icebergs and whales offering even more splendid sights.
“Blue in the Skin” records the expedition of two men as they complete 100 blocks on the 7A side of Fontainebleau in one day. It’s a journey of more than 80 kilometres through a magical French forest.
Much closer to home, “Subterranean” finds Franck Tuot and his team trying to discover Canada’s largest cave in British Columbia by connecting through different networks of galleries.
The festival has always made its mission to offer films that help bring the viewer into the action with a selection of the world's best short films related to mountain sports.
“The idea was to bring the mountains closer to the cities. All the movies are always centered around human adventures first in beautiful scenery.”
Tickets are available through Eventbrite.
Editor's note: The story has been updated to clarify that the Alpine Club of Canada is one of the organizers for this event.
