This year, the event carries a different weight. The mother festival in Canada has just celebrated its 50th anniversary: half a century spent defining the language of adventure. In Italy, thanks to the work of ITACA The Outdoor Community, the tour celebrates its 14th season starting from the stage of the Teatro Carcano in Milan, then spreading everywhere, from the Alps to the Sicilian coasts, at the foot of Mount Etna, but it is certainly not an excuse to expect the usual celebration of the flawless hero. BANFF 2026 focuses on the concept of the line, that ideal path every rider, climber, or mountaineer imagines before even tracing it. It’s the line of skis on the untouched slopes of Japan, the uncertain route of a kayak in the waters of Gabon, or the mark of a pencil connecting the memory of a grandmother to that of a grandson under Mont Blanc. In an era of “packaged” adventures, this tour indeed throws reality in our face: the outdoors is resilience, it’s knowing how to read a changing landscape, and above all, it’s responsibility. Not to mention that the environment is no longer just a backdrop for performance, but the true fragile protagonist that demands conscious choices. The stories cross realities and scenarios that are nothing short of extreme and distant—from Nepal to Iceland—composing a coherent journey that unites disciplines, geographies, and generations.
And yes, it must be emphasized: BANFF is not just a film festival, but an experience that builds a community of enthusiasts and professionals. To make this tour even richer and more special, there will be guests who live the mountain every day on their own skin: in Milan, we will have Jeff Mercier, the man behind the ice axes of Ephemeral, while Turin will host David Arnaud, the director who captured the primordial chaos of Gabon Uncharted.
“The BANFF World Tour is first and foremost a community that identifies with a certain way of looking at and experiencing the mountain,” says Alessandra Raggio, CEO of Itaca and the soul of the festival in Italy. “The films are the starting point: what really matters is the space created between people, the dialogue that starts in the theater and continues outside.”
The story of a ski built through conversations and memories. In Hokkaido, a phone call kicks off a journey into the deepest snow of Japan. Four skiers move through snow-covered woods, sinking into the powder until they disappear.
The ice season is shortening, everything becomes more fragile. Jeff Mercier challenges the boundaries of ice climbing in Iceland’s relentless landscape, where the element changes before his eyes.
In this emotion-filled short, the SEND team tackles an unexplored river in Gabon, embarking on twelve days of wild white waters and relentless jungle: no Wi-Fi, no way out, just a direct confrontation with their own limits.
Kilian Bron and his team venture into the remote Nepalese region of Dolpo. A mountain biking adventure made of dizzying lines and isolated villages, suspended in time.
Max Romey follows his artist grandmother’s sketches to find the exact spot under Mont Blanc where she used to draw decades ago. A treasure hunt to see how the landscape has changed over time.
Christina Lustenberger and Guillaume Pierrel attempt a daring first ski descent of the south face of Mount Robson (3,954 m). An endeavor that requires patience, adaptation, and the ability to accept failure.
Who is the BANFF audience in Italy today and how has it changed from 2013 to today? BANFF in Italy speaks to those who experience the outdoors as an authentic experience. Today its audience is very diverse: outdoor sports enthusiasts in the environment—mountaineering, climbing, trekking, skiing and freeride, MTB, kayaking, paragliding, slackline—but also travelers, cinema lovers, and people attracted to stories of adventure, exploration, and connection with nature. We prefer to talk about community rather than audience: a very engaged community that follows the tour year after year, recognizing BANFF as a fixed appointment and sharing its values, languages, and passions. About 60% of the audience is between 25 and 50 years old, but the average age is gradually decreasing. In these 13 years, BANFF has grown along with its community, which remains faithful but at the same time renews and rejuvenates and changes.
Is there a relationship between your target audience and the choice of films? How does this relationship affect programming? Yes, the connection is very close and central to Italian programming. From the BANFF Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival in Canada, we receive a selection of top-level finalist films, which we rework to create a program designed for our audience. The choice takes into account the interests that have emerged over time, the disciplines practiced, and the experience we want to create in the theater. Surveys and direct feedback help us calibrate themes, pace, and duration, combining listening with a clear curatorial vision, which also includes more experimental or “provocative” films, both environmentally and narratively, to broaden the perspective and stimulate a different reflection on the outdoors and adventure.
What makes a film “BANFF-worthy”? What criteria guide the selection of titles for the Italian audience? A “BANFF-worthy” film is born from the balance between cinematic quality, authenticity of the story, and the ability to engage emotionally, telling the adventure in a credible and non-stereotypical way. The challenge of the Italian Tour is to condense the energy of nine days of the Canadian festival into less than three hours. For the Italian audience, we create inclusive and rhythmic programs, alternating action and introspection, different places and visual languages, to turn the evening into a real journey. In short, a “BANFF-worthy” film for the Italian audience is one that, even in a few minutes, manages to convey the spirit of the festival: to inspire, move, and make the audience feel part of a global community united by a love for adventure and nature.
What message does BANFF want to communicate through the selection of films? Has this message remained constant over the years or has it evolved? The message of BANFF has evolved while maintaining a clear thread: to tell the outdoors as a space for exploration, but above all as a place of authentic human stories. Upon arriving in Italy, it brought a new language compared to traditional documentaries: dynamic and visually powerful, capable of speaking to young people and returning sport as a living experience. Today the story is more mature: alongside the achievement, psychological and physical preparation, awareness of risk, teamwork, and relationship with the environment emerge. Athletic excellence becomes a tool to talk about responsibility, resilience, and personal choices. In this sense, BANFF has gone from being a window into something new and surprising to a more mature and layered narrative of adventure, which continues to inspire but today focuses not only on the achievement but on the journey, the people, and the values that make that experience possible.
This year the BANFF Tour will reach 42 Italian cities: what is the vision behind this growth and what does it represent for the country’s outdoor community? The growth stems from a simple and strong vision: to inspire and share. It’s not just about expanding the tour, but about creating opportunities for meeting around the mountain, adventure, and the outdoors, also raising awareness on environmental issues. Bringing BANFF to 42 cities means giving local shape to a national community. Starting from the North, today we reach as far as Catania and continue to receive requests from “unexpected” cities, confirming the cultural and social value of the tour.
Is there a BANFF film that you will always carry with you and why? Every edition of BANFF leaves me with something, but the film I truly carry with me is Doing It Scared (2017). I saw it for the first time in Canada, with Paul Pritchard present in the room, and I never forgot it: not so much for the achievement, but for the way it told his experience. In 1998, a rock hit him on the head while climbing the Totem Pole in Tasmania, leaving him with hemiplegia that forever changed his relationship with his body and the mountain. Yet, 18 years later, in those same conditions, he decided to face the Totem Pole again. I was impressed by his ability to turn an obstacle into an opportunity for a full life, joy, and freedom and to live adventure not as going higher or further, but as embracing life and finding enthusiasm even in difficulties. Doing It Scared made me realize that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to stay close to it. It’s one of those films that stay with you because they talk about mountains, but above all about life.
WEEK #01
MILAN _ Tue, February 3 _ Teatro Carcano
VARESE _ Thu, February 5 _ Cinema Teatro Nuovo
WEEK #02
BOLZANO _ Mon, February 9 _ Cinema Rainerum
PARMA _ Mon, February 9 _ Cinema Astra
LA SPEZIA _ Tue, February 10 _ Cinema Il Nuovo
VERONA _ Tue, February 10 _ Cinema Kappadue
MONZA _ Wed, February 11 _ Cinema Anteo Capitol – Sala Mazzacurati
MONZA _ Wed, February 11 _ Cinema Anteo Capitol – Sala Troisi
PISA _ Wed, February 11 _ Cinema Isola Verde
ROVERETO _ Wed, February 11 _ Sala della Filarmonica
FLORENCE – Thu, February 12 _ The Space Cinema
WEEK #03
TURIN 1 _ Mon, February 16 – Cinema Massimo
WEEK #04
GENOA _ Mon, February 23 _ The Space Cinema Porto Antico
PADUA _ Mon, February 23 _ Piccolo Teatro
PESARO _ Mon, February 23 _ Cinema Loreto
ANCONA _ Tue, February 24 – Cinema Azzurro – NEW
TREVISO-PAESE_ Tue, February 24 _ Cinema Manzoni
TURIN 2 – Wed, February 24 – Cinema Massimo
BRESCIA _ Wed, February 25 _ Cinema Teatro Santa Giulia Villaggio Prealpino
CESENA _ Wed, February 25 _ Cinema Eliseo
VICENZA _ Wed, February 25 _ Cinema Patronato Leone XIII
BASSANO DEL GRAPPA _ Thu, February 26 _ Cinema Metropolis
COMO _ Thu, February 26 _ Cinema Astra
FINALE LIGURE _ Fri, February 27 _ Auditorium Santa Caterina
WEEK #05
BOLOGNA _ Mon, March 2 _ Cinema Arlecchino
BERGAMO 1 _ Tue, March 3 _ Cinema Conca Verde
UDINE _ Tue, March 3 – Cinema Visionario – Sala Astra
UDINE _ Tue, March 3 – Cinema Visionario – Sala Eden
MORBEGNO _ Wed, March 4 _ Cinema Pedretti
TRIESTE _ Wed, March 4 _ Teatro Miela
NOVARA _ Thu, March 5 _ Cinema VIP
WEEK #06
AOSTA _ Mon, March 9 _ Cinéma Théatre de la Ville
BELLUNO _ Mon, March 9 _ Cinema Italia
SARONNO _ Mon, March 9 _ Cinema Silvio Pellico
BIELLA-CANDELO _ Tue, March 10 _ Cinema Verdi – Sala 2
BIELLA-CANDELO _ Tue, March 10 _ Cinema Verdi – Sala 1
CUNEO _ Wed, March 11 _ Cinema Don Bosco
LECCO _ Wed, March 11 _ Cinema Palladium
WEEK #07
ASTI_ Mon, March 16 _ Cinema Lumière
L’AQUILA _ Mon, March 16 _ Cinema Movieplex
LOCARNO (Switzerland) – Mon, March 16 _ Cinema Lumen – 8:30 PM – NEW
LUGANO (Switzerland) – Tue, March 17 – 8:30 PM _ Cinema Lux
REGGIO EMILIA _ Tue, March 17 _ Cinema Alcorso – NEW
ROME _ Tue, March 17 _ The Space Cinema Moderno
PAVIA _ Thu, March 19 – Cinema Politeama
CATANIA _ Fri, March 20 _ Cinema KING
Tickets can be purchased directly on the official website https://www.banff.it/date-e-biglietti/