About

Synopsis

The awe that mountainous landscapes evoke is universal. Yet in a province that is 75% mountains, most of us seldom venture into true wilderness. Living amongst us is a special breed of people. They are undefined by age, gender, profession or background, but for them, the draw of the mountains is so strong that their lives must revolve around it. Martina Halik and her 60-year-old mother Tania attempt a bitterly cold 2300-kilometer ski trek from Canada to Alaska through the treacherous Coast Mountains; a journey that has been completed only once before, and never by a female duo.

Their adventure is  interspersed with beautifully crafted portraits of high-altitude human endurance: the gripping story an avalanche burial; a group of nuns who inhabit a mountain retreat to be closer to God; an impassioned alpinist; a focused snow artist; a couple who has been living off grid in the mountains for nearly 50 years. Shot in cinematic detail, This Mountain Life is a riveting examination of human passion set high in the peaks of British Columbia, Canada.

Tania Ski Touring
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I feel I can do this, and when I'm old that means when I'm not capable of sleeping in winter somewhere out in a tent.

— Tania

Festivals & Awards

  • HOT DOCS
  • Nordic Adventure FF - Winner
  • Banff-Winner
  • Kendal - Winner
  • Available Light - Winner
  • Torello - Winner Photog
  • Torello - Winner
  • Festival Gorniskega Filma - Winner
  • VIFF
  • Calgary
  • Aspen
  • Top 20 Audience Choice - Hot Docs (Canada)
  • Best Snow Sports Film – Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival (Canada)
  • Best Visuals – Kendal Mountain Film Festival (UK)
  • BBVA Award - Silver Edelweiss to the Best Mountain Film - Torelló Mountain Film Festival (Spain)
  • FEEC Award - Silver Edelweiss to the Best Photography - Torelló Mountain Film Festival (Spain)
  • Best Mountain Culture Film – Nordic Adventure Film Festival (Canada)
  • Audience Choice for Best Canadian Documentary – Available Light Film Festival (Canada)
  • People’s Choice for Best Film – Available Light Film Festival (Canada)
  • Best Mountain, Sports and Adventure Film – Festival Gorniskega Filma (Slovenia)
  • Audience Choice, Best Film – Anima Film Festival (Argentina)
  • Grand Prize, Best Film - Bergfilm Festival Tegernsee (Germany)
  • Best Film About Man And Mountains - Ladek Mountain Festival (Poland)
  • Best Feature Documentary – Thin Line Film Festival (USA)
  • Le Prix Spécial Montagne "L'esprit Club Alpin" FIFAV, Festival International Film & Livre D’Adventure (France)
  • Gold, Best Film – Sheffield Adventure Film Fest (UK)
  • Best Direction – Leo Awards 2019 (Canada)
  • Best Cinematography Leo Awards 2019 (Canada)
  • Best Mountain Film - Ukerdi Film Festival (Spain)
  • Best Mountaineering Film - Krakow Mountain Festival (Poland)
  • Grand Prize – OUTDOCS, International Outdoor Documentary Film Fest of China
  • Official Selection - Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada)
  • Official Selection - Big Sky Film Festival (USA)
  • Official Selection - Aspen Film Festival (USA)Official Selection - Hot Springs Film Festival (USA)
  • and more...


Characters

Filmmakers

  • Grant Baldwin, Director/Cinematographer/Editor

    Grant Baldwin, Director/Cinematographer/Editor

    Grant is a Leo award-winning director, cinematographer, editor and music composer based in Vancouver, Canada. He has a varied background working with documentaries, sports films and narratives. His work can be seen and heard on Knowledge Network, F/X, TNT, CBC, National Film Board and ESPN. His first documentary The Clean Bin Project won 10 festival awards and has screened around the world. His film Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story premiered at Hot Docs, garnered him the award for emerging Canadian filmmaker of the year, and went on to hit #2 on the US itunes documentary charts. Most recently, Grant has been filming with BBC's Planet Earth team.

    https://twitter.com/vancouverfilmer

  • Jenny Rustemeyer, Producer

    Jenny Rustemeyer, Producer

    Jenny is a writer and Leo Award-winning documentary producer with Peg Leg Films. She produced The Clean Bin Project (and is the woman behind the blog of the same name) which documented a year living zero waste. She also produced Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story which won 14 festival awards, was broadcast prime time on MSNBC and was listed in the New York Times “Top Ten TV Shows of 2015”. Jenny has contributed to community outreach for many projects, coordinated a 30 city, self-supported film tour across Canada by bicycle and spoken around the world in support of the messages behind her documentaries.

    https://www.peglegfilms.com/

Funders