Every year, the trailer for the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival puts audiences in the mood for hours of adventure. Originally shown the first weekend every November in Banff, Canada, it introduces the year’s best adventure films, which then tour to more than 550 locations around the world, including Antarctica. The tightly edited, adrenalin-pumping trailer kicks off every showing.
The trailer is put together by an in-house team under the guidance of veteran Woody MacPhail from the hundreds of films submitted every year to the festival. Voice coach Richard Armstrong is the familiar baritone welcoming viewers to the action. Almost 30 years ago, the New York actor was giving a voice workshop at The Banff Centre when this gig came his way. Since then, his sonorous voice has become familiar to millions of outdoor film aficionados.
Each seven-minute clip includes nods to festival advertisers, but the driving adventure visuals continue during the pitch, making the ads comparatively easy to take.
Nowadays, there are several great mountain film festivals around the world, but only one rousing intro like this.
Below, two trailers from recent years.
