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Banff Mountain Film Festival brings adventure flicks

Plus, make unique art in two upcoming workshops
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mountain movies The Dream Factory is one of several films screening over the weekend in Whistler as part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival tour. Photo by Mark Fisher. Courtesy of Teton Gravity Research

Our counterparts in Banff, AB, might not know this, but a lot of mountain films pass through the corridor.

It seems there's a constant stream of festivals, premieres and special screenings jam packed with mountain adventure. So what makes the Banff Mountain Film Festival's roving collection of films so special? Well, for starters, they cram features, documentaries and shorts about all aspects of the culture into back-to-back evenings.

To pare down the offerings, the local organizers of the event at Escape Route held a contest on their website. "We had a vote, so people could view the trailers and choose which movies they want to see the most in Squamish and Whistler," says organizer Nathalie White. "We went with that, but we like to keep it mixed. There are a couple more climbing movies for the Squamish scene, but there's a variety with mountain biking, kayaking and skiing."

Screenings will take place in Squamish on Feb. 14 at Quest University with a repeat showing of those films in Whistler on Feb. 15, along with an additional night of flicks on Feb. 16 at Millennium Place. The three-hour evening will show films like Flow Hunters, a New Zealand short about the world's top paddlers seeking white water adventure, Crossing the Ice, an Australian production about a journey across Antarctica and Teton Gravity Research's The Dream Factory about shredding Alaska.

Tickets are $19 ($15 for Quest and Capilano students) available at the door or in advance at both Escape Route locations or at Millennium Place.

Ink art

Ink and pens are items with which we used to jot down notes, write letters and make lists — before everything came with a keyboard and mounds of data storage. Why not put those tools to work to create art instead? The Brackendale Art Gallery is hosting a pen and ink, line and wash workshop Feb. 16 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Artist Mike Sherlock — who has taught everywhere from cruise ships to community centres to Quest University — will teach various techniques for beginners and more advanced artists to draw pen and ink trees in the morning and more dramatic landscape paintings in the afternoon.

The workshop costs $75 with materials included. To register call 604-898-3333 or email info@brackendaleartgallery.com.

Block printing workshop

Artist and illustrator Darryl Funk will teach a class on block printing at the Portico Gallery in Squamish on Feb. 23. The printmaking technique creates bold images using carved material and ink to create art.

Funk's stunning images, some of which are featured at the Portico Gallery, largely capture "the rugged landscape of British Columbia in the truly Canadian manner set out by painters like Lawren Harris, Emily Carr and Gordon Smith," according to his bio. "Although he works in a variety of different media, printmaking has always been his greatest passion."

With a BFA in printmaking from the Alberta College of Art and Design, Funk has worked as a freelance illustrator with his art appearing in children's magazines and other publications. He has also exhibited his fine art around Canada and the U.S.

The workshop is $60, along with $20 for supplies and requires pre-registration at the gallery by Feb. 20.