Words by Alexia Rose Cicard | Photography by Nil Puissant
After our time spent covering the Arc’teryx winter film tour and our most treasured Every Island Has A Name’s journey into the public sphere in Milano and LA – it was time for Paris, the ender if you will. So, in our infinite and unquestionable wisdom, we sent our resident Parisian fashionista to the final stop of the Arc’teryx winter film tour in the subliminal Rex Cinema.
Full disclosure : I’m not a snowboarding expert. Parisian? Oui. Model? Guilty. Sorbonne business grad? Best believe it. Fashionista? Non merci.
To put it in perspective: my idea of altitude? A rooftop party in heels. My comfort zone? Champagne in hand at a fashion event, not dodging trees in the backcountry. And the closest I’ve come to heliskiing? A quick ride to St-Trop with the Alps making a nice backdrop for the IG story.
But Wasted Talent, in their infinite wisdom, decided I was just the person to send to a premiere of snowboarding as an art format. I was in for the ride.
Enter Arc’teryx—the renowned brand, recognised and revered by non outerwear wearers like me—brought its latest screening to Paris as the final stop of the Arc’teryx Winter Film Tour. Five short films, each showcasing those who don’t just push themselves to the limit, they take it way past it. And where better to host it than the iconic Rex Theatre in Paris? Opened in 1932, just a few years after winter sports started to take off in 1926. Coincidence? Maybe.
But the Rex. If you know it, you love it. If you don’t, well.. you should. As the Europe’s largest cinema, with its towering 30-meter ceiling and volume intentionally designed to make you feel like you’re outdoors—watching these high-altitude snowboard films felt like a freefall into untouched valleys, sweeping peaks, or standing on the brink of a cliff… So, yeah I’d say—maybe, just maybe—it wasn’t a coincidence after all.
I’ll be honest—I walked in nervous as hell. You know that feeling when you’re about to step into a room full of die-hard fanatics, armed with absolutely zero technical knowledge to back it up.
This crowd; snowboarders, skiers, and mountain junkies who wear their passion like a second skin, effortlessly stitched into who they are. The kind of cool that comes naturally, not something you can fake or buy. Throw 2,500 of them into the mix, and yeah, you could say I was a little out of my depth.
Did I care? Just until the lights dimmed, and the chatter of technical terminology I had no ideas as to the meaning of – instantly stopped.
So the night unfolded with four films that proved the mountains are more than just scenery—they’re a stage for stories that cut deeper. .
Éphémère took us through Edgar Cheylus’s poetic and gravity-defying ski-dance, a raw exploration of loss and growth. Going East offered a gritty journey of public transport and powder as Silvia Moser and her crew skied their way across Eastern Europe. Passages, wove the grit of mountain survival with the humanity of solidarity, as locals and climbers banded together to protect refugees navigating treacherous alpine borders. And Weazy, a showcase of precision-meets-playfulness, explaining us that Craig Murray doesn’t just ski mountains—he moves with them.
Each film delivered its own flavour of altitude, artistry, and adrenaline, setting the stage perfectly for le grand finale– as we like to say.
The main event – Every Island Has a Name. Directed by Achille Mauri, with breathtaking cinematography by Willem Jones and riding from Elena Hight, Severin Van der Meer, and Jared Elston.
This wasn’t just a snowboarding film—it was an immersive art piece, meditation wrapped in powder and peaks. From the rough textures of glacial rocks to delicate shots of wildflowers caught in the breeze, it wasn’t just about riding terrain—it was about catching the details we often overlook, seamlessly woven into the fabric of the slopes.
My beloved audience at the Rex? Spellbound. Conversations after the lights came up described it as a softer, dreamier take on the mountain narrative. A sensory deep-dive that painted the outdoors not as a battlefield against the elements but as a sanctuary.
For a couple of hours, I got an insider’s glimpse into a world I’d barely scratched the surface of—a place where the mountains are more than just backdrops and snowboarding is more than a sport. It’s a performance art form, a culture, and, somehow, a creative process that turns gliding down a mountain into poetry in motion. I walked in none the wiser, but I left with a new appreciation—and a healthy respect for anyone who can make snow and gravity look like their personal playground.
So thank you – To the Rex crowd—the ones who gasped, erupted in “ohs” and “ahs,” and leaned over to whisper, “Did you see that?” making me realise it was never “just a trick.” To Arc’teryx, for supporting unfiltered devotion and passion to the culture of snowboarding. To the artists, for performances so dedicated and breath-taking they left the entire room in awe. And to Wasted Talent, for throwing me headfirst into a world I had absolutely no business being in – what a ride !
Hate to break it to you, but the Winter Film Tour’s wrapped for the year. Tough luck. The good news? The films will drop soon enough online.
Watch this space…
