Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour returns to Panida for 30th annual showing

By Reader Staff

The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour will return to Sandpoint for its 30th time with three nights of screenings on Friday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Panida Theater (330 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).

All tickets will be sold through panida.org/events; and, new this year, attendees have the option to purchase a three-day festival pass.

A screenshot from the film Wild Days. Courtesy photo.

Local audiences will be treated to 21 films in the 2025 tour, featuring a variety of entries encompassing mountain sport, humor and culture — including the 2024 Best Film on Snow Sports, Wild Days, which will be part of the Jan. 18 program.

Wild Days involves four friends from the Savoie region of France who come up with the idea of 50 days of self-sufficiency in Alaska’s Denali Massif. The journey is grueling, involving skiing, climbing and the use of kayaks. 

In the film Sliding, outdoor adventurers forgo the ski hills for a faster experience sledding head-first down the course. 

The Best Short Film in 2024, The Bird in My Backyard, will also be screened, focused on window salesman-turned-hummingbird expert Eric Pittman, whose passion fires his multi-generational family to go to the Karakoram Mountain Range in Asia and tackle Nameless Tower.  

Jeff and Doti Rouleau will be on hand Friday, Jan. 17 with raffle items to support their North Idaho Mountain Sports Education Foundation, which helps provide underserved youth in the area with the opportunity to ski. Karen Brenner will be heading up the Independence Ski Team’s “Taste of Sandpoint” on Jan. 18, raffling off a  prize of dining experiences at Sandpoint area restaurants. Finally, Jeff Thompson will be heading the first-year Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Centers raffle on Jan. 19 to support their efforts to advance avalanche safety in the North Idaho.

The Banff World Tour immediately follows the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival in November, where a selection of the top films submitted to the festival go on a tour worldwide.  

The world tour reaches more than 550,000 audience members through more than 1,100 screenings in 500 locations in 40 countries — some including Antarctica.

For more information and a complete list of films, go to mountainfever.us. Get tickets at panida.org/events.