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Banff Mountain Film Festival Begins Next Wednesday with Middle School Student Screening

BOONE, NC  – The Banff Mountain Film Festival is back in Boone, N.C. On Wednesday March 21 a special middle school screening will be presented to over 1,500 local middle school students. On Friday March 23 and Saturday March 24 2018, the large public screenings will take place at the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts. This year, local organizers are celebrating 22 years of the World Tour coming to Boone, NC. For 42 years, the Banff Film Festival has been inspiring audiences by showcasing the world’s best films highlighting mountain adventure, culture, and the environment.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival – a program of The Banff Centre – is the largest, and one of the most prestigious, mountain film festivals in the world will be held at the Schaefer Center on the Appalachian State University campus. This is the 22nd Anniversary of Banff Film Festival screenings in Boone, which has become one of the largest screenings in North America.

With stops planned in over 1,000 communities and 35 countries across the globe, this year’s tour features a collection of the most inspiring mountain adventure, culture, and environmental films from the festival.

Local tour hosts like Appalachian State University’s Outdoor Programs choose the program from the best of over 400 films submitted to the Banff Film Festival in November. Two completely different screenings will be shown on Friday and Saturday night. “We will highlight award winning mountain films each night that combine elements of mountain adventure, culture, and the environment,” said Appalachian State University Outdoor Programs Associate Director Rich Campbell. “We try to keep each night well balanced but entirely different and unique so audiences are exposed to as many different films as possible during the festival.”

“The Banff Film Festival is highly anticipated every spring underscoring how strongly this festival is supported in the High Country. Our community has embraced the themes, characters, and stunning places that the World Tour brings to us every year and I think our audience will be very pleased with the quality, diversity, creativity, and passion the films highlight” states Campbell.

For more information on this year’s events, check the official festival website at www.op.appstate.edu for updates.

Continuing a tradition from the past 7 years, live music on the Schaefer Center stage will be featured each night before the films. Upright and Breathing will be playing on Friday night and Brooks Forsyth and Cameron Owens will be playing on Saturday night. Continuing another tradition which started last year, there will also be an outdoor vendor space along with vendors inside the lobby of the Schaefer Center. Outside vendors include the Mountain Alliance, ASU Sustainability, AppalCart, BikeApp, and others. Inside vendors include sponsors of the event including Footsloggers, Sherpa Outdoor Gear, VPC Builders, ASU Geology, and many others.

“We want to create a true film festival atmosphere with this event” states Campbell. “All of the sponsors and local businesses and organizations are excited to partner with this event as we have tried to create a true community-wide, outdoor oriented festival.” For more information, go to www.op.appstate.edu or theschaefercenter.org for more information. Doors to the lobby open just after 6:00pm, and the films start at 7:30pm and go to about 10;30pm each night. Different films are shown each night. This event is sold out.

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The Banff Mountain Film Festival is an annual international competition celebrating its 42nd year featuring the world’s best films on mountain themes. In November 2017, the festival screened over 50 finalist films, chosen from more than 400 entries from over 30 different countries. The film festival is organized by The Banff Centre for Mountain Culture in Banff, Canada. For information visit: www.banffmountainfestivals.com

For more information about the Banff Mountain Film Festival at Appalachian State University visit www.op.appstate.edu or contact Rich Campbell at campbllrh@appstate.edu. ASU Outdoor Programs is the host of this event and Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters, ASU Geological and Environmental Sciences, and VPC Builders are the Presenting Partners.