Photo: Justin Gural
Downtown Banff, Alberta.Currently underway in the picturesque mountain town of Banff, Alberta is the 35th edition of the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival. This year's film competition received 257 entries from 32 countries, and they've narrowed it down to 80 entries in seven categories - all listed below.

The finalists will now be viewed by the international film jury, and awards will be presented in front of a live audience on Sunday evening, November 7, at the closing ceremonies of the Festival.

Here's some gratuitous eye and ear candy, and stay tuned here for results.

Also, check out the Festival program to get the full Festival feel.

Photo: FeltSoulMedia.com
Eastern RisesBEST FILM ON EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE

sponsored by Kicking Horse Coffee Company

Crossing the Ditch

Producers: Greg Quail, Douglas Howard; Production Company: Quail Television Pty Ltd. (Australia)

Eastern Rises

Director: Ben Knight; Producer: Travis Rummel; Production Company: Felt Soul Media (USA)

Into Darkness

Director/Producer: John Waller; Production Company: Uncage the Soul Productions (USA)

Last Paradise

Director/Producer: Clive Neeson; Production Company: Zealand Films (New Zealand)

The Longest Way

Director/Producer: Christoph Rehage (Germany)

Salt

Directors/Producers: Michael Angus, Murray Fredericks; Production Company: Jerrycan Films (Australia)

Photo: Renan Ozturk
Living the DreamBEST FILM ON MOUNTAIN CULTURE

sponsored by Petzl

A Life Ascending

Director/Producer: Stephen Grynberg; Production Company: Ptarmigan Films (USA)

Anirniq

Director: RJ Sauer; Producers: RJ Sauer, Amy Jones; Production Company: Br dder Productions Inc. (Canada)

AZADI: Freedom

Director/Producer: Anthony Bonello; Production Company: b4apres Media (Canada)

Lines of Flight

Directors/Producers: Sal Brown, Martin Wood; Production Company: Brown Bear Productions (UK)

Living the Dream

Directors/Producers: Renan Ozturk, Corey Richards (USA)

Mountains: Life in Thin Air

Director: Nicolas Brown; Production Company: BBC Natural History Unit (UK)

My Country is Tibet

Director: Mangyal Wangchuk Trichen Lhagyari; Producer: Dirk Simon; Production Company: BYKids (USA)

Rev: A Buried Treasure

Director/Producer: Vance Shaw; Production Company: Vshaw Productions (Canada)

Tibet: Murder in the Snow

Director: Mark Gould; Producer: Sally Ingleton; Production Company: 360 Degree Films (Australia)

Treasure of the Lisu

Director/Producer: Yan Chun Su; Production Company: Waterdrop Films (USA)

Photo: BanffCentre.ca
BEST FILM ON MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT

sponsored by Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

America's Wild Spaces: Appalachian Trail

Director/Producer: Brian Armstrong; Production Company: National Geographic Television (USA)

Expedition Grizzly

Producers: Leslie M. Gaines, Thomas Winston; Production Company: Grizzly Creek Films (USA)

Greenland: An Expedition Aboard Sailing Vessel Gambo

Directors/Producers: Grant Redvers, Pascale Otis; Production Company: Ice3 (Canada)

L'eau qui fait tourner la roue

Director/Producer: Jean-Francois Amiguet; Production Companies: Zagora Films SA, Television Suisse Romande (Switzerland)

Sea to Peak

Director/Producer: Joseph Crawford; Production Company: Parks Canada (Canada)

Song of the Forest

Director/Producer: Chin-yuan Ke; Production Company: Public Television Service, Taiwan (Taiwan)

Still Motion

Director/Producer: Jonathan Schmidt; Production Company: Morning Light Graphics (Canada)

Wild Places

Director/Producer: Adam Greenberg; Production Company: Parks Canada (Canada)

Wolverine: Chasing the Phantom

Director/Producer: Gianna Savoie; Production Company: Thirteen/WNET (USA)

Photo: SenderFilms.com
Point of No ReturnBEST FILM ON CLIMBING

sponsored by The Alpine Club of Canada

A Cry from the Top of the World

Director: Fredrik Strang; Producer: Karin Hellstrom (Sweden)

The Asgard Project

Director/Producer: Alastair Lee; Production Company: Posing Productions (UK)

As It Happens

Directors/Producers: Renan Ozturk, Corey Richards (USA)

Border Country

Director/Producer: Jeremy Collins; Production Company: Threehouse (USA)

Fly or Die Producers: Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen; Production Company: Sender Films (USA)

Khumbu Climbing School

Director/Producer: Renan Ozturk (USA)

La vie de Guy Lacelle

Director: Chris Alstrin; Producer: Alex Lavigne; Production Company: Alstrin Films (USA)

Le Monde de Gaston Rebuffat

Director: Gilles Chappaz; Producer: Severine Gauci; Production Company: Seven Doc (France)

Point of No Return

Producers: Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen; Production Company: Sender Films (USA)

Scottish Ice Trip - "Looking for Nessie"

Director: Guillaume Broust (France)

Squamish in a Day

Director/Producer: Cedar Wright (USA)

The Swiss Machine

Producers: Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen; Production Company: Sender Films (USA)

Tuzgle

Directors: Julien Nadiras, Vladimir Cellier (France)

Photo: LifeCyclesFilm.com
Life CyclesBEST FILM ON MOUNTAIN SPORTS

sponsored by Live Out There

Chimaera

Director: Dave Mossop; Producer: Malcolm Sangster; Production Company: Rocky Mountain Sherpas (Canada)

Cross Country Snowboarding

Director: Adam Brodie; Producer: Geoff McLean (USA)

Daredevils: The Human Bird

Director: Neil Rawles; Producer: Mark Soldinger; Production Company: Firecracker Films Ltd (UK)

Desert River

Director: Ben Sturgulewski; Producer: Nick Waggoner; Production Company: Sweetgrass Productions LLC (USA)

Dream Result

Production Company: River Roots & Revolutionary Innovations (USA)

The Fall Line

Director/Producer: Tyler Stableford; Production Company: Tyler Stableford Photography (USA)

Feel the Hill

Director/Producer: Jeremy Comte (Canada)

Follow Me

Director: Darcy Wittenburg; Producer: Ian Dunn; Production Company: Anthill Films (Canada)

Life Cycles

Directors/Producers: Ryan Gibb, Derek Frankowski; Production Company: Stance Films (Canada)

Miracle in the Storm

Director: Nial Fulton; Producers: Guy Norris, Leo Faber; Production Company: Essential Media and Entertainment (Australia)

Oseven

Director/Producer: Maxime Moulin (France)

Parking Garage: Beyond the Limit

Director: John Dabrowski; Producer: Mark Odlum; Production Company: Expanding Entertainment (USA)

Rush Hour Dream

Directors/Producers: Kerim Jespersen, Christian Menn (Germany)

Seconds

Director: Tim Loubier; Producer: Bryan Smith; Production Company: Reel Water Productions (Canada)

The Storming

Director: Travis Robb; Producer: Mike Hatchett; Production Company: Standard Films (USA)

The Ultimate Ride: Steve Fisher

Director: Erich Lyttle; Producers: Aaron Debevoise, Allen Debevoise, Doug Allen; Production Company: Legacy Films Inc. (USA)

WildWater

Director/Producer: Anson Fogel; Production Company: Forge Motion Pictures (USA)

Photo: Cedar Wright
Squamish in a DayBEST SHORT MOUNTAIN FILM

sponsored by Mountain Hardwear

Anirniq

Director: RJ Sauer; Producers: RJ Sauer, Amy Jones; Production Company: Brudder Productions Inc. (Canada)

Border Country

Director/Producer: Jeremy Collins; Production Company: Threehouse (USA)

Cross Country Snowboarding

Director: Adam Brodie; Producer: Geoff McLean (USA)

Desert River

Director: Ben Sturgulewski; Producer: Nick Waggoner; Production Company: Sweetgrass Productions LLC (USA)

The Fall Line

Director/Producer: Tyler Stableford; Production Company: Tyler Stableford Photography (USA)

Into Darkness

Director/Producer: John Waller; Production Company: Uncage the Soul Productions (USA)

Khumbu Climbing School

Directors/Producers: Renan Ozturk, Corey Richards (USA)

Living the Dream

Directors/Producers: Renan Ozturk, Corey Richards (USA)

The Longest Way

Director/Producer: Christoph Rehage (Germany)

Oseven

Director/Producer: Maxime Moulin (France)

Parking Garage: Beyond the Limit

Director: John Dabrowski; Producer: Mark Odlum; Production Company: Expanding Entertainment (USA)

Rush Hour Dream

Directors/Producers: Kerim Jespersen, Christian Menn (Germany)

Sea to Peak

Director/Producer: Joseph Crawford; Production Company: Parks Canada (Canada)

Seconds

Director: Tim Loubier; Producer: Bryan Smith; Production Company: Reel Water Productions (Canada)

Squamish in a Day

Director/Producer: Cedar Wright (USA)

Still Motion

Director/Producer: Jonathan Schmidt Production Company: Morning Light Graphics (Canada)

Wild Places

Director/Producer: Adam Greenberg; Production Company: Parks Canada (Canada)

Photo: TetonGravity.com
DeeperBEST FEATURE-LENGTH MOUNTAIN FILM

sponsored by Sole

180 South

Director: Chris Malloy; Producers: Tim Lynch, Rick Ridgeway, Emmett Malloy; Production Company: Woodshed Films (USA)

Deeper

Director: Jeremy Jones; Producer: Steve Jones; Production Company: Teton Gravity Research (USA)

I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash

Director: Brad Osborne; Producers: Andy Streitfeld, Charles Nordlander; Production Company: AMS Pictures (USA)

Mi Chacra

Director/Producer: Jason Burlage; Production Company: Devolution Films (USA)

Nanga Parbat

Director: Joseph Vilsmaier; Producer: Armin Weltersbach; Production Company: Perathon Film UND GmbH (Germany)

Rosso 70. Stories and memories of 70 years of alpinism of the Scoiattoli di Cortina

Directors: Francesco Mansutti, Vinicio Stefanello; Production Company: Associazione Gruppo Scoiattoli Cortina (Italy)

Sherpas: The True Heroes of Mount Everest

Director/Producer: Frank Senn; Production Company: Swiss National Television (Switzerland)

Summer Pasture

Directors/Producers: Lynn True, Nelson Walker; Production Company: True Walker Productions (USA)

The Two Horses of Genghis Khan

Director: Byambasuren Davaa; Producer: Beatrix Wesle; Production Company: Atrix Film (Germany)