What’s screening at Coast Mountain Film Festival?

Coast Mountain Film Festival is back for its second year, with a mix of films ranging from features about some of the foremost backcountry athletes in the world to a locally crafted comedy about a mysteriously missing glass of milk.

Hosted by your local newspaper of record, the North Shore News, this year’s selection of films will screen at Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver, on the weekend of Feb. 7 to 9.

This year’s event has more of an outdoors theme, said Matt Blair, festival organizer and North Shore News publisher.

“Because last year the event had so much traction, we were able to attract some higher-profile films,” he said.

Those include Calm Beneath Castles, a feature film from Matchstick Productions that delves into the hearts and minds of some of the world’s best skiers. Backdropping Castles are breathtaking locations across the globe including Whistler and Hokkaido, Japan.

Another feature is Circle of Madness by Christoph Thoresen, documenting star athletes Markus Eder (ski) and Victor de Le Rue (snowboard) as the friends trace familiar lines and take on uncharted territory on the legendary spine walls of Haines, Alaska.

But the don’t-miss movie for Blair is Snowblind.

“It’s a film about skiers who have at some point in their life lost their vision and they’re re-venturing into the backcountry,” he said, adding that North Shore locals will recognize terrain in the film.

In selecting this year’s lineup, Blair said he prioritized films with local content or athletes, and added some high-profile movies for audience draw.

“We have a local night as well, where it’s exclusively local films,” he said. “That particular screening is a bit of a departure from our outdoors theme, and the films are more comedy and drama.”

Last year, the inaugural CMFF attracted around 1,500 audience members over five screenings, and numbers are rising for the 2025 event.

“This year we’ve got five screenings in the works again, and we’re seeing particularly on the Friday and Saturday night, really strong early numbers in terms of tickets,” Blair said.

With one successful festival under his belt, Blair said he received a lot more film entries this year.

“That’s driven up the quality of the films that we’re able to show,” he said.

Blair notes that the Sunday screenings coincide with Superbowl LIX, which provides an alternative weekend outing for people less keen on chicken wings and football.

“Not being a huge football fan myself, I always feel an obligation to go to a house party,” he said. “Sometimes it’s nice to have a reason not to go, and Sunday screenings are a really good excuse to do something a little bit different.”

Here’s a complete list of the films showing at Coast Mountain Film Festival:

Big Mountain Night

Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.

Calm Beneath Castles (50 minutes)
The Harvest (20 min)
prize giveaways from North Shore Ski and Board and Vancouver Island Brewing

Local Film Celebration (matinee)

Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.

The Third Person (comedy, 5 min)
Chat4U (comedy, 7 min)
Dear May (drama, with animation, 12 min)
Jackie’s Haven (drama, with animation, 10 min)
Milk Loser (comedy, 3 min)
Tumbleweed (comedy, 10 min)
Gaby (documentary, 10 min)

Adventure Night

Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Circles of Madness (46 min)
Skookumchuck Narrows: Surf & Kayak the Tidal Rapids with Dylan Graves (14 min)
prize giveaways from North Shore Ski and Board

Environmental Matinee presented by Pacific Salmon Foundation

Sunday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m.