Fremont Toyota Sheridan: Banff Mountain Film Festival

Fremont Toyota in Sheridan WY

Sponsored the Banff Mountain Film Festival this year in Sheridan, Wyoming. Sheridan Wyoming is just one of many stops in the Banff Mountain Festival World Tour. Banff is a mountain town in the beautiful Rockies of Alberta, Canada where the film festival originated. It seems a fitting partnership given the rugged, adventurous free spirt natures of vehicles such as the RAV4, Tacoma and 4Runner. Fremont Toyota in Sheridan have sponsored the event for a number of years. Staff from the store were also present at the event with giveaways (Clif Bars) and had drawings to win North Face outer gear and Petzl headlamps.

Let’s go places

A Toyota slogan, followed by ‘We’re going places we never have before’, is a theme that runs throughout the film festival screenings. Held at the WYO Theater, the evening consisted of a series of short films that submerged me in to deep cognitive thoughts. Films aired at the Sheridan festival were;

• INTERSECTION : MICALYA GATTO
• MY IRNIK
• WINTER ON THE BLADE
• SKY MIGRATIONS
• IMAGINATION: TOM WALLISCH
• ICE CALL- BACKYARDS PROJECT-SAM FAVRET
• JOHANNA
• INTO TWIN GALAXIES-A GREENLAND EPIC

As an outdoor enthusiast and previously an extreme sports hooligan myself (until I had to grow up and be somewhat responsible), I already had an idea of what the films would entail. I’d always been watching for the latest most extreme snowboarding DVD, (yes back when DVD’s were a thing…like before you could just buy/watch them online). The theme is the same, it’s about going further, in harder conditions, or going somewhere no one has been. It’s about pushing the boundaries, and survival. It’s about the journey to get there, the hardships, the sacrifices, determination, disappointment and euphoria.

Whilst the theme is similar for most of the films that were on that night, none of them were what I expected. Perhaps an oxymoron there, but you’ll have to watch them for yourself or go next year to see what I mean. What is great about these films though, is that most of them are extremely thought provoking, whether you are interested in outdoor activities, mountain life, extreme sports of not. The inspiration can be applied to every day life.