Local film selected for Banff Mountain Film Fest World Tour - will show in Duluth Sunday and Monday
Pine Journal - 11/15/2007

Thompson filmmaker Hansi Johnson’s latest work, “Cross Country with the ‘Snakes” is heading across the country.

As part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, Johnson’s film, featuring cross country skiing punk musicians, will be shown in over 275 communities in the U.S. and around the world. The tour will make stops early next week in Duluth and this weekend in Minneapolis.

Judges chose Johnson’s film as one in the top 50 of over 300 submitted entries.

“I was definitely pumped to hear it,” he said.

In its 32nd year, the Banff Mountain Film Festival features films described by the tour as, “Sure to captivate and amaze the explorer within you,” through themes as diverse as the “Exploration of remote landscapes and mountain cultures to adrenaline-fueled action sports.”

Johnson’s film combines cross country skiing with the punk/blues rock music of the Duluth band, the “Black-Eyed ‘Snakes,” documenting the band’s tour through Colorado and Utah in 2005. Brad Nelson, drummer with the band, is an avid skier who tried out for the Olympic ski team during the ‘90s, and he got the other band members, Alan Sparhawk, Justin Sparhawk and Bob Olson equipped with skis and they skied during the day and played music at night.

As a serious cross country skier, Johnson’s experience in racing and other hardcore athletic endeavors led him to the idea of portraying the sport as one of action and aggression, along with a good dose of humor.

“Cross country skiing is almost always portrayed with classical music,” said Johnson. “To me, it’s a punk rock sport and I thought I could make a connection between the two.”

Johnson received judges’ comments, however, and some of them didn’t necessarily warm to the marriage of punk music and cross country skiing.

“They said they loved the movie, but not so much the music,” he said with a laugh.

The film also features footage from a vintage film called “The Cross Country Experience with Bill Koch,” a world-renowned Olympic skier. Nelson had written to him while in middle school and received a postcard that inspired him to reach for an Olympic goal.

“The film shows the power of skiing and the power of how Bill Koch affected Brad in skiing, music and in life,” he said. “I wanted it to be gritty and real and show all the band members who ‘rock’ on stage and on skis and have a great time doing it.”

Johnson produced the film with the help of a McKnight Foundation fellowship and he’s pleased he was able to make a film with the money that people are appreciating.

“If it makes five dollars I’ll be thrilled,” he said of the film, which is for sale on the Internet at www.chairkickers.com.

“Cross Country with the ‘Snakes” had its world premier at the Free Range Film Festival in July. The film was also accepted at several other small film festivals including another one in British Columbia.

Johnson will be at the tour screenings in Duluth and in Minneapolis and will participate in a question and answer period afterward. This is Johnson’s second film. His first, “Switch to Receive,’ documented a back country telemark group caught in an avalanche in 2003.