El Capitan by Fred Padula

 

Saturday, November 3, 8:00 p.m.
Max Bell Auditorium

Fred Padula

Retro Reels: El Capitan

After 30 years, El Capitan remains one of the most memorable films screened at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Fred Padula’s classic 1979 film follows a three-day ascent of the 1000-metre Nose route on El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley, one of the highest rock faces in North America.

El Capitan won the Grand Prize in 1979. The Film Festival jury wrote, “Amongst climbing films, El Capitan is without peer in poetic beauty.” Many who saw this masterpiece can still recall the majestic close-up of the moon as it passed behind the shadowy profile of climbers on the vertical wall. Yvon Chouinard, one of the leading figures from Yosemite’s climbing history, has called it “the best climbing film I have ever seen”.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival is thrilled to have Fred Padula join us for a presentation and the world premier screening of his HDTV digitally remastered film, followed by a selection of films in competition. We hope to see you at Retro Reels on Saturday, November 3.