Nearly 75 per cent of British Columbia is mountainous, and most Vancouverites have some kind of relationship with the sky-high hills in our backyard. We ski, we hike, we marvel 鈥� we鈥檙e disoriented when the North Shore Mountains are obscured by fog or smoke.
But for some people, the mountains aren鈥檛 just some weekend retreat or picture-perfect backdrop. Alone in the vastness of B.C.鈥檚 mountain ranges, breathing thin air and subsisting on rehydrated rations 鈥� this is where these diehards truly come alive.
麻豆传媒映画filmmaker Grant Baldwin provides an unfettered look into the lives of a handful of B.C. mountaineers in This Mountain Life. The documentary screens Nov.2 to 12 at Vancity Theatre after playing to sold-out crowds at the 2018 麻豆传媒映画International Film Festival.
This Mountain Life聽introduces audiences to Tania and Martina Halik, a mother and daughter team who embark on a 2,300-km trek through the Coast Mountain Range from Squamish to Skagway, Alaska; Janina and Ian, who share a horrifying avalanche experience; Simon, an artist who 鈥減aints鈥� with his skis; Mary and Bernhard, who have lived off the grid for more than 50 years; and Sisters Marie and Claire, who contemplate God in the Queen of Peace Monastery in the Garibaldi Highlands.
Director Baldwin seems to gravitate to filmmaking that places him in extreme situations. His previous feature-length documentary, , detailed how he and his wife Jenny Rustemeyer lived off discarded food for six months. The film won the Audience Must See Award at VIFF 2014 and drew the attention of major broadcasters who wanted him to follow it up with something similar.
But Baldwin didn鈥檛 want to experiment on himself again for cinema鈥檚 sake, and he didn鈥檛 want to be on camera. 鈥淚 believed if we did a follow-up to Just Eat It with similar people, people would see right through it as being a cash grab,鈥� says Baldwin. 鈥淚 basically abandoned all of these opportunities to do something that I really believed was quality.鈥�
And so Baldwin turned to the mountains. He鈥檇 spent much of his career filming professional skiers, and he recalled being intrigued by 鈥渢hese interesting people in the mountains who were never featured in those stories, who don鈥檛 get to be the ones selling skis or jackets,鈥� says Baldwin. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e usually just the ones in the background, but they鈥檙e literally living the mountain life.鈥�
Although there鈥檚 plenty to differentiate the real-life mountaineers who populate This Mountain Life, Baldwin noted a thread that ran between them. 鈥淵ou see it particularly in Tania, the mom from the ski tour trip, that she鈥檚 really uncomfortable in the city around a lot of people,鈥� says Baldwin. 鈥淭hey all really seem to feel that [the mountains are] where they shine and where the confidence comes out for them.鈥�
Baldwin is no stranger to filmmaking-related challenges 鈥� he regularly dumpster-dove for Just Eat It. But This Mountain Life came with its own special set of challenges 鈥� some that put life and limb at risk.
鈥淭he challenge of making this one was how do you do a v茅rit茅 documentary, and make it look good, but also be with these people in these places that are really challenging to shoot in?鈥� he says.
Baldwin addressed this challenge by limiting his crew to two people. 鈥淚t had to be two, because you had to be able to move through the terrain, and you couldn鈥檛 do it with more people,鈥� says Baldwin. 鈥淲e were very lucky to get the footage we wanted, but often it was really hard to get back out.鈥�
On one occasion, after getting the footage they needed, Baldwin and his colleague were stranded on a glacier for two days. 鈥淭he weather came in and we couldn鈥檛 get off the glacier and we were low on fuel from making water, and it was a bit scary and I was like, 鈥業s this really worth it?鈥� Most mountaineers are used to this stuff. I didn鈥檛 prepare enough. We brought so much camera gear that we hadn鈥檛 brought a bunch of extra food or water.鈥�
But Baldwin learned how to deal with this kind of danger from his film鈥檚 subjects. 鈥淚鈥檓 so inspired by the idea of when you think you鈥檙e at your limit, you鈥檙e not,鈥� says Baldwin, who is currently shooting a four-part series for the Knowledge Network about North Shore Rescue. 鈥淚 felt like my threshold was lower, but I feel like I met that, and got past that sometimes, making this, and I think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to stick with me.
The Mountain Life聽screens Nov. 2 to 12 at Vancity Theatre. Tickets at .
