Banff Film Festival Brings Global Mountain Experiences to Rapid City
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Extreme sports. Epic alpine landscapes. Wild animals. Indigenous cultures.
Yes, you can experience all these things in South Dakota, and if you haven’t gotten a chance to really explore the types of mountain adventures you can make for yourself in the Black Hills, you should start making some plans. If you need help getting started, try a South Dakota adventure guide [PDF].
And after you’re done rock-climbing in the Needles, scaling the sheer vertical walls of Devils Tower National Monument, exploring the passages of the second-longest cave in the world, getting up-close with a herd of wild bison and watching a traditional Lakota powwow, take a nice evening to yourself. Really. You’ve earned it.
Maybe you want to take in a movie or two? Enter the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. One of the better-known film festivals in Canada, Banff brings together the best independent films in the world that are somehow framed around a mountain theme. Expect documentaries focused on things like extreme sports, epic alpine landscapes, wild animals and indigenous cultures.
Hm. That sounds familiar. You can preview some of the films in the YouTube video above.
The festival tour will be in Rapid City at the historic Elks Theater on April 20 and 21. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. each night, with different films each night, and tickets run anywhere from $12 to $16. You can get advance ticket information from the Dahl Arts Center by calling 605.394.4101, or you can buy them the day of the show at the Elks Theater (in downtown Rapid City on Sixth Street between Main and Saint Joseph).
The Elks is a bit of an attraction in and of itself. Originally built as Rapid City’s Elks Lodge around the turn of the century, the movie theater was one of the first in South Dakota, and still claims the largest movie screen in the state. The upstairs theater, where the Banff Films will likely be shown, is more intimate. It makes for a real community experience as you’re watching the film, which makes it a great fit for independent flicks and documentaries.
