Julianna Howatt celebrated in Nat Segal’s Beauty in a Fall film

Beauty in a Fall, Nat Segal’s directorial debut starring Julianna Howatt, celebrated mountain guide and rock climber received standing ovations at its Nov. 8 premiere during the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival.

With climbing routes across Western Canada attributed to her and decades of guiding experience throughout the region, Howatt is a name found throughout some niche outdoor recreation communities. Beauty in a Fall follows Howatt as she reintroduces herself to many of those familiar spaces after recovering from major climbing injuries and coming out as a trans woman.

Segal approached Howatt about documenting her story after Howatt spoke on a panel for People like Us and shared her experience navigating transitioning in an industry not known for being all inclusive. Segal’s previous work and dedication to highlighting underrepresented voices helped win Howatt over.

“The reason I agreed to do this project was because of Nat, 100 per cent. And her being the kindest, funniest, easiest person to be with,” she explained, adding support from Nat and editor Colleen Gentemann made visiting old work locations and sharing her story an easier process.

“She’s just such an amazing person and to see her being seen, that we made a film that shows her story how she wants to be seen makes me very happy,” Segal told Revelstoke Mountaineer.

Dubbing herself a “professional fall-aparter,” Howatt used her spotlight in the film to share grace to those finding themselves while working and living in spaces not often open to diverse identities.

“It’s in feeling those feelings that you start to create connection.That’s what we wanted with this story. In a day and age where connection can be hard to find, we wanted the power of story to create that,” Howatt said.

It’s a theme throughout the films being screened at Open Mountains Project‘s Perspectives Film Night Friday, Nov. 14. The film festival is in its fourth year, having previously screened works such as People Like Us. 

“These films are the beginning of a conversation, the middle of a conversation,” Segal said. “We always talk about ‘it’s getting better.’ That doesn’t mean that it’s good. These films are an acknowledgement that people are trying.”

This year’s line up includes Beauty in a Fall, Rachel Reimer’s RISE which documents her work studying psychological safety within mountain communities, Ellen Bradley’s Let My People Go Skiing and her work to recenter Tlingit voices within Alaska’s winter sport culture, and Emily Sullivan’s Shaped by Land which highlights how Inuit ski guides in Greenland are creating an environmentally sustainable industry. A panel Q&A will follow the films, featuring filmmakers and cast including Bradley, Reimer, Colleen Gentemann, Howatt and Kim Younger-Laboucan.

Tickets for Perspectives Film Night can be purchased online and all ages are welcome to attend. Doors open at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 at the Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre.