Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival scales peaks and paraglides down, February 27 to March 11
Views and feats to inspire, from a Mountaineering Women program at The Cinematheque to the Everest tales of adventure filmmaker Elia Saikaly
Adventure filmmaker and Everest expert Elia Saikaly hits the Rio Theatre on March 7 for Extreme Ascents.
The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival runs February 27 to March 11 at the Rio Theatre, The Cinematheque, and R&B Brewing in Vancouver; Centennial Theatre, Capilano University Lonsdale, the West Vancouver Cricket Club, and Kay Meek Arts Centre on the North Shore; the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam; and Howe Sound Brewing and the Eagle Eye Theatre in Squamish
THE 29TH VANCOUVER International Mountain Film Festival scales rocky cliffs, ice fields, and some of the tallest peaks in the world with a series of live events running February 27 to March 11 at venues all around town and as far away as Squamish. Highlights include an Everest old hand, an impressive array of women adventurers, and specialty nights devoted to everything from biking to rock climbing to the peaks of Poland. And did we mention the paragliding off K2?
Besides inspiring stories, the fest serves up stunning panoramic views that many moviegoers may never have the chance to see otherwise.
Noteworthy evenings include March 2’s Mountaineering Women program at The Cinematheque, named for Canadian author and climber Joanna Croston’s new book, which captures the achievements of 20 female climbers from around the world. She’s joined in conversation with renowned American climber Lynn Hill in celebrating mountaineers who still receive limited recognition. Two films screening the same night turn the lens on altitude-happy women: the French documentary Sophie Lavaud—The Final Summit chronicles one climber’s attempt to complete a “Himalayan grand slam”, navigating the steep ice fields and rock walls of the notoriously dangerous Nanga Parbat; and The Bride of Mont Blanc, in which modern-day mountaineer Elise Wortley dons the primitive gear available to Henriette d’Angeville in 1838 (think hobnail boots) to recreate the first female ascent of Europe’s iconic Mont Blanc.
Among the big names coming to the fest, adventure filmmaker Elia Saikaly hits the Rio Theatre on March 7 for Extreme Ascents, ready to share two decades of stories about making movies in extreme environments—including his 10 trips to Mount Everest (and the two times he survived avalanches there). Saikaly, who has shot for the likes of National Geographic and Netflix, was there in the high altitude to document the 2014, 2015, and 2019 disasters on Everest. In 2016, he costarred in Discovery Channel’s Unclimbed—Reaching the Summit with Pasang Kaji Sherpa. Films screening at the event include the North American premiere of the French doc K2 Mon Amour, chronicling Liv Sansoz and Zeb Roche’s 2024 trip to the summit of the second-tallest peak in the world, sans oxygen but with—yes—a plan to fly off the summit together on a paraglider.
There’s much more, with everything re-screening online from March 14 to April 11. Find the whole program here and watch the program trailer below. 
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