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ShAFF Online This Mountain Life
THIS MOUNTAIN LIFE, WINNER OF THE GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST FILM ShAFF 2019
Welcome to the high life: Canadian filmmaker Grant Baldwin’s portrait of the local mountain men and women who choose to breathe the thin, pure air of adventure and isolation is a stunning visual experience and a profound spiritual journey.
Chances are, you have never seen British Columbia quite like this before. In a province that is 75% mountains, few people have ventured as far into true wilderness as the hardy folk featured in this awe-inspiring film. Living amongst us is a special breed of people. They are undefined by age, gender, profession or background, but for them, the draw of the mountains is so strong that their lives must revolve around it. Martina and her 60 year-old mother Tania embark on a 6 month, 2300km journey to Alaska through a relentless mountain wilderness in a tale of passion and drive and of regular people following their dreams for no one but themselves. Woven between their arduous and uplifting story are vignettes of others who have chosen a mountain life: a group of nuns inhabiting a mountain retreat to be closer to God; a photographer is buried in an avalanche; an impassioned alpinist; a focused snow artist; a couple who has been living off grid in the mountains for nearly 50 years.
What is it that leads these adventurous people to sacrifice everything – comfort, family, personal safety – for a life in the mountains? Shot in cinematic detail, This Mountain Life is a riveting portrait of human passion set high in the peaks of British Columbia, Canada.
Our judges said:
"An absolutely beautiful collection of stories; philosophical, emotional, heartbreaking and heart warming."
"This film has a skiing nun !!! And so much more - the cinematography is incredible, the stories are powerful, sweet and sad. Oh did I mention the SKIING NUN !!!"