I’m still in a daze as my flight takes off from Montreal. The last 40 hours have been wild, to say the least, all thanks to the filmmakers, athletes and organizers of the biggest movie festival in skiing: IF3.
The Festival is a true encapsulation of everything that makes skiing good, except for actual skiing. It blends screenings of all the top movies with musical performances rooted in skiing and then adds personal appearances by most of the stars of the films. It’s this combination that attracts thousands of die-hard skiers from around the continent to get together for the ultimate celebration of skiing.
Saturday was the final day of the three-day event, with 13 screenings happening back to back at the Cinema Imperial. Meathead Film’s Work it Out started off the pro finale, followed by Voleurz’s Look on the Bright Side. Both movies lived up to their feel-good reputations. Look on the Bright Side made my favorite segment of all the movies: Max Hill vs. The Intern in which max bonks the intern over and over mid trick. Poor guy.
The last two movies to play, PBP’s Revolver and MSP’s The Way I See It were the ultimate cap to the weekends’ on-screen displays. Revolver was an hour of banging action and banging music. The surprise performance of the film was Julien Regnier’s segment, which won him an award later in the evening. MSP’s The Way I See It, which won multiple awards later, is a classic MSP movie: stunning cinematography, editing, action, humor and commentary. Sean Pettit’s opening segment is one for the ages, while mainstays Hjorleifson, Abma, Wester and Ingrid showed why they’ve had a major role in MSP movies for years.
Riley Poor opened the evening’s festivities with a moving speech about fallen friends and asked for a moment of silence. And the silence was massive.
The last big hurrah of the event was the Newschoolers Awards at the Telus Theatre. The place filled up to capacity, while bottles of vodka once again turned the party from awesome to epic. Matchstick Productions was the big winner, taking both Movie of the Year and Viewer’s Choice awards, while Ahmet Dadali and Grete Eliassen took top honors for individual performances.
Awards List
Web Category
Best Webisode: Traveling Circus
Amateur Category
Best Editing: B4Apres Media, Azadi:Freedom
Best Cinematography: B4Apres Media, Azadi:Freedom
Best Film: Stept Productions, NetWork
Open Category
Best Teaser: Level 1 Productions, Eye Trip
Most Innovative Visual Effect: PVS, Punch Line
Best Single Shot: Julien Regnier, Poor Boyz Productions, Revolver
Best Documentary: Inspired Media Concepts, Like A Lion
Best Jib Flick: Level 1 Productions, Eye Trip
Best Big Mountain Movie: Dendrite Studios, Out of the Shadows
Rookie of the Year: Parker White
People’s Choice Award: Matchstick Productions, The Way I See It
Pro Category
Best Film: Matchstick Productions, The Way I See It
Best Male: Ahmet Dadali, Level 1 Productions, Eye Trip
Best Female: Grete Eliassen, Say My Name
Best Soundtrack: Nimbus Independent, En Route Nomads
Best Editing: Matchstick Productions, The Way I See It
Best Cinematography: Level 1 Productions, Eye Trip
After the awards, the evening got a little hazy. Jarred All Star Haynes put on a stellar performance, hyping up the already hyped crowd to a new level. Then, Daywalker, aka Matt Walker, took the DJ reigns, blasting dubstep beats until we all got kicked out at 3am. After that… well, guess you had to be there.
Huge thanks to Felix Rioux and JF Durocher for putting on one hell of an event. I’m already looking forward to next year. See you there.
