The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is returning to Sedona.

For the eighth year, the Sedona International Film Festival is bringing the spirit of outdoor adventure and mountain culture to red rock country. This year’s screenings feature the world’s best mountain sport, culture and environmental films, letting you experience the thrill and challenges of the mountain environments that inspire us all.

The Sedona tour stop has been expanded to two nights again this year: Tuesday, March 8, and Wednesday, March 9, at 7 p.m. at the Sedona Performing Arts Center. Each night will feature a different program of films. Audience members can attend either one of the nights or get a package discount to attend both evenings.

Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world! Hot on the heels of the festival that is held every fall in beautiful Banff, Alberta, the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour hits the road. With stops planned in roughly 550 communities and more than 40 countries across the globe, the Banff World Tour celebrates amazing achievements in outdoor storytelling and filmmaking worldwide.

From the over 400 entries submitted into the festival each year, award-winners and audience favorites are among the films that are carefully selected to play in theaters around the world.

Traveling to remote vistas, analyzing topical environmental issues, and bringing audiences up-close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports the 2021/2022 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world.

Featured films on Tuesday, March 8, “The Banff Larch Program” include:

Follow the Light: From sunsets over dramatic landscapes to the illumination of hot air balloons and the warm ambiance of Turkey, immerse yourself in this colorful adventure with riders Kilian Bron, Pierre Henni, Pierre Dupont and JB Liautard.

Finally: After two months of confinement, Ben Buratti, the prodigy of French freeskiing, needed to feel what he was capable of again. As a setting, he chose his home mountain of La Clusaz. What skier doesn’t dream of finding themselves completely alone on their home mountain?

Bear-Like: Two adventurers engage in close contact with grizzly bears in Alaska experiencing first-hand the struggle for survival and dramatic fighting scenes. Driven by a desire to explore the unknown, the film tells a personal story of wilderness, framed through breathtaking footage of these amazing creatures.

If You Give a Beach a Bottle: Inspired by a picture book, Max Romey heads to a remote beach on Alaska’s coastline in search of marine debris. What he finds is a different story altogether.

Dream Mountain: Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita is a certified international high mountain guide, an accomplished mountaineer, humanitarian, and a mother. She reflects on her personal highs and lows and rediscovers for herself just how much the mountains mean to her.

EM: Emilie Pellerin has spent most of her adult life traveling the world and living a dirtbag life. She has honed her skills on the rock and in the process has become one of the world’s best onsight climbers and now she’s ready to put onsighting aside and try pushing her level on her hardest trad route yet, La Zébrée, a spectacular 5.14a overhanging crack in Quebec.

My Midsummer Morning: Inspired by Laurie Lee’s book “As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning”, Alastair Lee sets out on his most terrifying journey yet - walking through Spain, earning money for food by playing his violin, being distinctly unmusical.

Featured films on Wednesday, March 9, “The Banff Maple Program” include:

A Dog’s Tale: There’s something primal about the feeling of the forest floor under your paws and smelling a thousand different smells all at once. The freedom of the trail is what we long for.

Can’t Beat This Place For Fun: This film is a small vignette of Fretwater Boatworks, a very unique boat crafting shop that keeps the tradition of wooden dory building alive whilst honoring the dreams of Grand Canyon pioneer Martin Litton. These beautiful boats still represent advocacy toward wild places compromised and/or lost.

Precious Leader Woman: Hailing from the remote village of Alert Bay, British Columbia snowboarder Spencer O’Brien dedicated her life to becoming a world champion. But, being driven to win came at a cost. Snowboarding at the elite level was taking Spencer further from her Indigenous heritage than she realized. Precious Leader Woman tells Spencer’s story from childhood to the world stage, to coming full circle to embrace her identity as she pushes forward bringing her heart and soul to her next challenge, the backcountry.

Jump To Zero: “Jump To Zero” is the story of 3 BASE jumpers changing the paradigm of human-powered access and female empowerment in action sports. Knowing that car and plane access have adverse environmental effects, they set out to discover how much they can reduce their impact while still enjoying the places they love and practicing the sports that bring them joy.

Inside: A Hole New Ski Experience: After an amazing ski tour at the Grand Ferrand massive in France, where you can ski through stunning rock caves, a few skiers decide to take it to the next level in a huge cave in Slovenia.

Reel Rock 15: Action Directe: French powerhouse Melissa Le Nevé spends seven years battling insane moves, inner doubt, and the burden of history to climb the most revered sport route on earth.

Breaking Trail: As COVID-19 surges amidst ongoing civil unrest, Emily Ford sets out with a borrowed sled dog named Diggins to become the first woman and person of color to thru-hike the 1900 km Ice Age Trail in winter. As the 69-day journey through subzero temperatures tests her physical and mental endurance, Emily and her canine protector develop an unbreakable bond as they embrace the unexpected kindness of strangers.

Join the Sedona International Film Festival and film and adventure enthusiasts when the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour brings the spirit of outdoor adventure to Sedona, at the Sedona Performing Arts Center (995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road) on Tuesday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. each night.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour stop in Sedona is made possible by a generous grant from the Leo & Rhea Fay Fruhman Foundation.

Tickets for each individual night are $20 general admission; $17 for film festival members and students. A two-night package discount is offered to attend both evenings: $35 general admission and $29 for film festival members.

For tickets and information visit SedonaFilmFestival.org or call 928-282-1177. Tickets can also be ordered in person at the Sedona International Film Festival office at 2030 W. 89A in West Sedona.

Information provided by SIFF.