International film festival showcasing outdoor adventure films coming to Colonial Theater

IDAHO FALLS — A popular traveling film festival is returning to eastern Idaho later this month and the Idaho Falls Nordic Ski Patrol invites community members to attend.

The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour will take place Jan. 22 to Jan. 24 at the Colonial Theater, 498 A Street in Idaho Falls. The lobby opens at 6 p.m. A pre-show featuring bluegrass music by “Snow Bound and Senile” is at 6:30 p.m. and the introduction gets underway at 7 p.m.

“There’s the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Banff, Canada, and they take amateur films about outdoor recreation — skiing, climbing, adventure, cultural things — and all these people around the world submit their films to this … festival,” Idaho Falls Nordic Ski Patrol spokesman Rick Williams explained. “There’s judges and a committee and they pick a big selection of the very best ones and then they go out on a world tour.”

The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival will make stops at theatres not only in the United States and Canada, but in over 40 different countries.

The film festival is a fundraiser for the Idaho Falls Nordic Ski Patrol, event sponsors for almost 30 years. It’s the ski patrol’s only fundraiser of the year.

“Each night (of the film festival) is a collection of different types of adventure films,” Williams mentioned.

Williams said the ski patrol serves all of eastern Idaho from Mink Creek in Pocatello to West Yellowstone to Teton Canyon by Driggs. The organization also has a grant program and they provide funds for different projects, such as skis and training for public schools. Community organizations apply for the grant money, which comes from the film festival proceeds.

Williams believes this film festival is the “social event of the season” for those who love the outdoors and he encourages people to come check it out.

“Theres’s something for everyone. If you’re an outdoor adventurer in any pursuit — a mountain biker, skier, climber, or a rafter — every pursuit is represented, typically,” Williams stated. “And there’s all kinds of really cool cultural things. … (The films are) so well done.”

Tickets are $18 per show. To purchase tickets, click here.

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