Junction North International Documentary Film Festival

SOAR FILM FESTIVAL

Sudbury Outdoor Adventure Reels Film Festival

SOAR Film Festival is the first of its kind in Northern Ontario, Canada. A unique partnership between Laurentian University’s Outdoor Adventure Leadership Program (ADVL) and Sudbury Indie Cinema has allowed adventure film to SOAR. The festival boasts a curated programme of outdoor adventure and environmental/wilderness themed features and mid-length films from around the world, as well as adventures shorts- both local and international. Special consideration in the selection of films is given to diverse voices, as well as those which feature outdoor activities and adventures enjoyed in Northeastern Ontario, namely: wilderness canoeing, back-country winter travel, Nordic skiing, kayaking, mountain biking, and climbing.

All screenings will take place at Sudbury Indie Cinema, 162 Mackenzie Street, Sudbury. Free parking.

TICKETS and FESTIVAL PASSES on sale now!

Festival Opening Event

Join us for the Northern Ontario Premiere of

Yamnuska: The Ragged Edge

by John Price

Friday November 10  7:30pm

2023 / Canada / Documentary / 65 min.
World Premiere: Banff Mountain Film Festival 2023.
The feature will be preceded by SOLO PEAKS by Jacob Chambers (10 min.) North American Premiere

Yamnuska, an iconic cliff sitting at the eastern edge of the Canadian Rockies, stands as a testament to the indomitable spirit of adventure. We follow the footsteps of Arc'teryx athletes Vikki Weldon and Quentin Roberts as they traverse the decades, ascending legendary routes and connecting with climbers from different eras. They become vessels of history, immersing themselves in the flavors of Yamnuska, engaging with the "old guard" who have shaped its legacy. Each encounter reveals tales of epics, first ascents, the evolution of gear, fatalities, rescues, and the occasional conflicts that forged the cliffs identity.

Yamnuska, The Ragged Edge is not merely a documentation of historical events but a preservation of Canadian climbing history etched in stone. It is a celebration of the individuals who dedicated their lives to mastering the challenges of Yamnuska, turning it into a proving ground for Canadian rock climbing and alpinism. Without their perseverance and the skills they honed on Yam's formidable south face, the landscape of Canadian climbing would be unrecognizably different.


Solo Peaks

by Jacob Chambers

Friday November 10

2023 / UK / Documentary / 10 min.

British adventurer and endurance athlete, Isaac Kenyon, tackels more than a world record: the themes of outdoor resilience and men's mental health converge as he has set his sights on both summiting and running 218km (135 miles) between the three highest peaks in Wales (Mt. Snowdon, Cadir Idris and Pen-y-Fan.)

Mixed Film Programme 1

Connection Through The Outdoors

Nature is often framed as an escape, a place for meditation away from civilization. Bucking the trend, these films place an emphasis on the community and intimate connection we can make through shared experiences in the outdoors.

Saturday November 11  12:00pm

Lure of Adventure in the South Island
by Tom Woodward (2022, New Zealand) 

After 14 years traveling the globe, Tom Woodward comes back to where he was raised, New Zealand’s South Island, in search of the same adventures that sent him abroad. Between ventures to mountain peaks and dips in the bluest waters Tom rekindles old friendships, finds new community, and makes a boatload of memories.

End2End Relay
by Nathalie Grace (2022, UK)

A 2,500km in 74-days. Dozens of women carry a baton the length of the British Island forming new friendships and community along the way.

Return To Sender 
by Nate Stephens (2023, USA)

The gorgeous and warm tale of a community of Slackliners building a mile long line over an Oregon canyon and incidentally going for an American record.

Daytime Feature

ONTARIO PREMIERE

Traversées / Passages

by/par Florence Pelletier, Caroline Côté

Saturday November 11  2:00pm

2020 / Quebec / Documentary / 76 min. / French, English, Inuktitut with English subtitles

En juillet 2019, cinq femmes tentent de traverser le parc Kuururjuaq dans le Grand Nord québécois. Elles suivent un passage de 160 kilomètres emprunté par des chasseurs inuit depuis des millénaires. Cette traversée deviendra rapidement une découverte d’elles-mêmes.

Five women from the North to the South of Quebec embark on a multisport expedition following the Koroc river in Nunavik. Travelling together against adversity, this journey soon becomes one of self-discovery for each participant.

Live Bilingual Q & A follows the screening.

Daytime Feature

ONTARIO PREMIERE

Subterranean

by François-Xavier De Ruydts

Saturday November 11  4:00pm - 5:30pm

2023 / Canada / Documentary / 86 min. / English

For adventurous thrill-seekers, caving is hard to beat. Combining climbing, diving, wayfinding and overcoming claustrophobia, it’s a unique skill set not for the faint of heart.

Two gritty teams of hobbyist explorers are on the cusp of discovering new territory. Katie Graham is an accountant by day who is obsessed with the Bisaro Anima cave in the Rocky Mountains, and she is willing to risk it all to achieve a caving depth record that depends on a successful scuba dive. Further west on Vancouver Island is Franck Tuot, who sacrifices weekends away from his young family with the goal of linking two tunnel systems that will mark the longest-known cave in Canada.

Regardless of whether they are successful in their missions, understanding their motivations and dedication is what makes their pursuits so compelling. Accessing the depths of the earth through muddy crawls, tight squeezes, and seemingly endless pits, for these intrepid explorers, there’s nowhere to go but down.

SATURDAY EVENING FEATURE

INDIE PREMIERE

Adaptation

by Jake Thomas

Saturday November 11  6:45pm

2022 / Canada / Documentary / 102 min. / English
Official Selection: Whistler Film Festival 2023

Adaptation follows a group of wheelchair-bound athletes as they converge in British Columbia for the BC Summer Race Series, the World's first downhill mountain bike race series to include an adaptive mountain bike (aMTB) category. However, this is not just a film about a bike race; it's a group of stories about the ability to overcome adversity - whether for the thrill of competition or a need to push through the pain of daily life to simply get lost in a moment. The film seeks to inspire the uninspired and educate the uneducated, to celebrate the gift of life, love, and friendship through all its complexities.

Live Filmmaker Q & A

SATURDAY EVENING FEATURE

ONTARIO PREMIERE

Weak Layers

by Katie Burrell

Saturday November 11  9:00pm

2023 / USA/ Comedy / 88 min. / English
World Premiere Banff Mountain Film Festival 2023

Weak Layers, revives the old party-hard ski comedy—with women at the center of the action. After getting evicted, a stuck-in-life aspiring adventure filmmaker and mountain town local, Cleo, enters a 72-hour ski film competition against the best pros and filmmakers in the business. Along with her two younger and wilder roommates, these outsiders take the slick, male-dominated industry down a notch while trying to win prize money to put a roof back over their heads, and on this journey rediscover their love for the local community that surrounds them.

Live filmmaker Q & A follows the screening.

LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL OUTDOOR ADVENTURE SHORTS

Daytime Programme

Sunday 11:00am

Live filmmaker Q & A

Present 
by Timothy Dhalleine (2022, Chile)

Dimitri Poffé, a 34-year-old French traveler who left his native France to undertake a cycling trip from Mexico City to Ushuaia after he tested positive for Huntington's disease.

Enchanted Woods to Urban Rush
by Larry Bernard (2022, Sudbury) 

From serene mountains of an enchanted wood to the bustling urban jungles, this cinematic journey unravels a symphony of motion and adrenaline.

Fifth Tide  
by Lena Kemna & Christina Gindl (2023, Germany)

Winter swells, thundering waves, sharp reefs, paddling larger waves with guns, and the struggle and joy that comes with all of that.

Immersive Experiences 
by Mike Sember (2023, USA)

Favorite experiences over the last 8 years- from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Winter Reflections 
by Ivan Gorbenko (2022, Canada)

Exploring the profound importance of three friends embarking on a winter backpacking adventure and discussing why this is so important for them.

Chicas al-agua 
by Liz McGregor (2023, USA)

You can count the number of female paddlers in Futaleufú, Chile on one hand... and they want to change that. After many riverside matés and floating conversations, the idea to create a kayak course for local teenage girls was hatched.

#life on wheels 
by Austin Kim

A look into the world of biking, its community, and the little things that make biking so wonderful. Additionally, this film was made to inspire more kids to ride bikes.

Running Interrupted 
by Kyle Vine (2023, Sudbury)

In a black and white début, the simplistic beauty of nature is one-of-a-kind and only experienced through the hills and thrills of skateboarding.

Mixed Film Programme 2

Interacting with Northern Beauty

Be drawn into each of these films for the amazing Northern landscapes they depict, within each is a deeper story of connecting with that land - providing access to its present.

Sunday November 12  1:00pm

My 2020
by Sarah McNair-Landry (2022, Canada) 

A fascinating cinematic travelogue, filled with breathtaking Arctic landscapes, My 2020 is a story of love for frozen, remote places and the realities of adventure tourism in the pandemic.

Journey to Our Homeland
by Adrien Harpelle (2022, Canada)

Two Nibinamik elders take a number of youth from their nation and travel an old portage route. Through their voyage they share memories of previous portages down the same rivers that have been the heart of transportation for indigenous travel for centuries. 

Logging Algonquin
by Conor DeVries (2023, Canada)

Over half of Algonquin Park remains open to forest management (logging) today. This documentary goes boots on the ground to uncover the economic, governmental, and environmental implications of that fact.

Daytime Feature

CANADIAN PREMIERE

Cabin Music

by James Carson

Sunday November 12  2:30pm

2022 / USA, Canada / Documentary / 75 min.

Hailed as a childhood prodigy, Edmonton-born pianist James Carson pursued his musical gifts all the way to the prestigious New England Conservatory. But a spiritual crisis would spur him to turn his back on music and prompt a two-year pastoral pilgrimage from Spain to Japan. Upon returning to his native Alberta, Carson set about building a remote, strawbale cabin where he would craft new compositions inspired by the natural wonders encountered on his travels. The symphonic, globe-spanning Cabin Music gives visual and sonic expression to that transformative journey. Featuring spellbinding performances and powerful, lyrical imagery, Carson’s directorial debut pays tribute to the transcendent forces of music and nature.

Live Filmmaker Q & A

CLOSING FEATURE

Yukon, Un Rêve Blanc / A White Dream

by/par Mathieu Le Lay

Sunday November 12  4:30pm

2021 / France / Documentary / 52 min.

Rêveur d'images et amoureux du froid, le photographe animalier Jérémie Villet parcourt seul les déserts blancs de l'hémisphère nord avec sa pulka et son téléobjectif, en quête d'animaux vivant dans le froid. Au cours de sa prochaine expédition dans le Grand Nord canadien, Jérémie s’apprête à explorer la région sauvage et extrême du Yukon, avec pour principal objectif de photographier l’emblématique chèvre des montagnes. La difficulté d’accès des territoires montagnards dans lesquels cet animal évolue et les températures glaciales rendra sa tâche difficile. Porté par des aventures et des rencontres humaines et animalières uniques, le documentaire permet d’entrer dans l'intimité du photographe et d'aborder avec délicatesse ce monde qui change.

Dreamer of images and in love with the cold, wildlife photographer Jérémie Villet travels alone through the white deserts of the northern hemisphere with his pulka and telephoto lens, in search of animals living in the cold. On his next expedition to the Canadian Far North, Jérémie sets out to explore the wild and extreme region of the Yukon, with the main objective of photographing the iconic mountain goat. The difficulty of accessing the mountain territories in which this animal evolves and the freezing temperatures will make its task difficult. Driven by adventures and unique human and animal encounters, the documentary allows you to enter the photographer's intimacy and delicately approach this changing world.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

All screenings take place at Sudbury Indie Cinema- 162 Mackenzie St. Laneway/side entrance.

Friday November 10

7:30 pm

Festival Opening Event
Feature: Yamnuska: The Ragged Edge/ preceded by short film, SOLO PEAKS

Saturday November 11

12:00 pm

Mixed Programme 1

2:00 pm

Traversées / Passages

4:00 - 5:30 pm

Subterranean

6:45 pm

Adaptation

9:00 pm

Weak Layers

Sunday November 12

11:00 am

Shorts Programme

1:00 pm

Mixed Programme 2

2:30 pm

Cabin Music

4:30 pm

Closing Feature
Yukon, Un Rêve Blanc / A White Dream

Festival Presenting Sponsors

Premiere Sponsors

Film Sponsors