A taste of the great outdoors delighted Kingston audiences this month.
From Jan. 15 to 17, the 2026 Banff Mountain Film Festival (BMFF) World Tour screened a selection of films at the Isabel Bader Centre in Kingston. This year’s festival was hosted by Trailhead Kingston, who has been involved with the BMFF World Tour for over 20 years.
Kingston audiences had access to six films each night from the BMFF World Tour’s selection of 35 total, including Jaunt, Bridgers, Beyond Parallels, Best Day Ever, and more. All films originally premiered in Banff at the 2025 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival from Nov. 1 to 9.
One audience favourite during this year’s World Tour is Best Day Ever, chronicling a crew of adaptive mountain bikers’ efforts to establish trails for riders with adaptive bikes. It won the Audience Choice Award in Banff last November.
“It’s a beautiful story, a very well-made film,” said Jamie Carpenter in an interview with The Journal. Since 2000, Carpenter has traveled around North America as a “Road Warrior,” presenting the BMFF World Tour. “It’s great. I love sharing these stories,” he said.
Though Carpenter has seen film techniques and subject matters vary wildly among the years, audience appetites for outdoor filmmaking haven’t changed.
“People are just as psyched now as they were back then to come to a show,” Carpenter said. Filmmakers are excited as well: according to Carpenter, the BMFF received 570 submissions in 2025. Filmmakers from over 45 countries submitted their work, and 87 were chosen as finalists to be screened in November.
Carpenter’s favourite part of being a Road Warrior’s the anticipation in the theatre before screenings begin, which he called “magical.”
“We start the show with that really exciting sponsor intro, with our signature music [and] voice,” he said. “I think people know they’re going to hear that, and it’s almost a bit of a ritual for people to kick off the show.”
As a Road Warrior, Carpenter presented the 2026 BMFF World Tour this past week in Ontario cities like Ottawa and Hamilton. However, he didn’t attend the Kingston screenings, which Trailhead Kingston facilitated without Road Warriors.
“The Banff Festival itself chooses whether or not to send people,” said Sarah Gordon, a representative from Trailhead Kingston in a written statement to The Journal. Local organizations like Trailhead can choose to host the festival on their own or with help from BMFF Road Warriors.
But both Carpenter and Trailhead Kingston have experiences hosting the BMFF World Tour in Kingston before it moved to the Isabel Bader Centre, which Carpenter describes as “one of the most beautiful theatres on the North American tour.”
According to Gordon, the original BMFF World Tour screening in Kingston took place at the now-closed Kingston Collegiate Vocational Institute (KCVI) auditorium, near Queen’s campus.
With its long history, the BMFF World Tour continues to offer new surprises to curious explorers across the continent. “Some of our rowdiest crowds can be found in the flattest places in North America,” Carpenter joked. “I think there’s an outdoor scene everywhere, no matter whether it’s a prairie or maritime Canada or Northern Canada…wherever.”
No matter the audience, all BMFF World Tour audiences leave having engaged with new places, forging a deeper love of exploring the world around them.
“You don’t quite know where the films will take you, geographically or emotionally,” Carpenter said. “It’s always an adventure in itself.”
Tags
Banff, Banff Mountain Film Festival, cinema, Film
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