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Alessandra Raggio Behind the Banff

Alessandra, tell me something about you.

My story is full of ups and downs. I was born at the sea, in Genoa, then life leads me to spend times on the mountains and get to know them more and more closely to the point of falling in love with those places, where in a few steps you can find silence… I graduated in Economics and Commerce without too much conviction but my desire was to travel and meet new realities. I spent a decade between London and New York, changing my life path and after an experience at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an Italian guide, I went back to Italy. Milan is my final destination, a city I am very grateful to because it offered me the right incentives to pull out the desire to get involved. From the publishing and art world I arrived to the mountaineering world where I work as a press office, editor, photo editor and author. From 2013 I am the co-founder of the Alt(r)ispazi Association, I also have some editorial (the book Masters of Heights. History of the mountain guides of Ayas) and exhibitions projects, such as the expo dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn (1865-2015) for the Museum of the Cervino Guide Society. Then comes the Banff.

 

When did you have the idea of bringing Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour (BMFF WT) to Italy?

The idea was born in Italy 8 years ago in front of an espresso cup and from the desire to go back traveling and working in an international environment. I knew the Canadian festival and the World Tour and that theirs movies had not arrived in Italy yet. I thought it was really a pity because they show mountains highlighting even the most joyful aspects: the creativity of a project shared with friends, determination, believing in your dreams. Furthermore, the exhibition also reflects modernity, that young way of respecting the past without apparently taking it as an example.

 

Tell me what BMFF WT is about.

Banff Mountain Film Festival is one of the most prestigious film festivals dedicated to mountain and outdoor enthusiasts in general. It was born more than 40 years ago in the town of Banff, Canada, and every year brings together the best of the international mountaineering world and much more. Directors, athletes, writers: for nine days (that’s where the hashtag #nineepicdays came from) the small town of the Alberta region becomes the capital of the world of mountaineering. There, a number of films is selected among the finalists to be part of the World Tour, which today has reached 45 countries worldwide. The World Tour begins immediately after the end of the show in Banff and each country chooses its selection between the movies available, according to its audience. Each evening there is a 2 hours and a half event in which a dozen of mountain and action sports short and medium-length movies are presented.

How much is important, in your opinion, bringing the mountain into the city through these movies?

I believe it is important first of all because our life in the cities risk to become very detached from the nature we are part of, and this can undermine our well-being. Rediscovering contact with the environment in a respectful way is a source of great inspiration for our creativity because it frees new energies that often, due to an essentially sedentary daily life, end up being tamed. Often the expeditions of our movies take place in remote and wild places, but there are also some examples where adventures can be found close to your own home and this is precisely the spirit that we want to promote: rediscovering the taste for the unknown and looking at what seems known to us through new eyes.

How do you select the movies?

The movies we choose must create a connection between the viewer and the mountain and the outdoor environment, they must be engaging and bring you through a real journey. We aim to share a collection of films that show the different faces of these environments and how people interact with them. We also try to meet the tastes of our audience, sometimes favoring disciplines such as skiing and climbing, which are the most practiced by people, as shown by the our latest researches. Other times we choose the most creative adventures or we decide to reward the quality of the images, as happened this year with Tierra del Viento, the story of a photographer in love with Patagonia who lives to shoot those incredible scenarios. It is a somehow “meditative” but very suggestive movie. There are films that, in some way, impose themselves, either because the type of story told, or perhaps for the athletes involved but, often, those considered minor are no less successful. In general, we try to guarantee a good alternation between short and medium-length movies and this is very appreciated by our audience.

What does the word outdoor word mean to you?

Outdoor is what brings you “outside” but also “out of your comfort zone”.
It is a lifestyle that looks for a new relationship with nature and a deeper connection with yourself, sometimes putting your limits to test, but also simply enjoying the moment and the beauty that surrounds you when you are in that environment.

Beside Banff, what other projects are you working on?

Beside Banff Mountain Film Festival, we’ve been organizing the Ocean Film Festival in Italy for 3 years, a film festival dedicated to the world of the sea and the oceans which has a format similar to the Banff and offers a selection of movies coming from the homonymous Australian event. Then last year we’ve decided to bring to theatres the Reel Rock movies which are dedicated to climbing. We made a 5-stage tour in 2018 which turned out to be very promising, involving a young audience of passionate climbers. And speaking of climbing, 2019 was a particularly important year for us: in fact, we had the privilege of distributing, exclusively in Italy, Free Solo, the film that shows Alex Honnold’s challenge on El Capitan and that was also awarded with the Academy Award for best documentary. The movie had a huge success and so far over 250 film projections have been organized in 100 cities in Italy. The movie has been loved by a very heterogeneous audience, even outside the world of climbing thanks to an engaging storytelling and an undoubtedly extraordinary adventure.

What are your plans for the future?

We’re certainly working to make our three main events grow more, increasing the number of cities involved and working to strengthen local communities. We may be follow other special projects, but it is still early to tell and… you can’t climb El Capitan in one day!

In a few weeks is going to start the Ocean Film Festival Italia, organized again by Alessandra Raggio. You can see the program on the website.

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