Mtl is a short ski film entirely shot in the city of Montreal. Exploring the streets of Montreal with Québec’s new generation of talent.
Words by Driector/filmer/editor Xavier Mayrand.
Montréal is my hometown. It’s where I was born and raised. It’s where I live now.
Montréal is a mecca of the urban skiing culture. This city has always been a beloved area for both skiers and snowboarders to shoot for over 20 years now. The city’s size, terrain and temperature makes it one of the best cities in the world to film street. It has a great mix of new and classics spots, like the Mont Royal and the Olympic stadium.
Through out my years of filming skiing, I have spent 95% of my time filming urban in the Montreal region. It has everything we could wish for from a shooting location. As time passes and I get older, I wanted to make a project focused on my hometown. I knew I wanted to work with two insanely talented up and comers (Vince Authier and Mat Dufresne) who I knew would step up to the plate. I knew they could revisit old spots and approach it with a fresh mindset. Like many Canadian cities Montreal is expanding rapidly. Over the past few years I discover a ton of new spots that I knew would be great for getting shots. Everything was there for creating a cool project.
Although there were many bumps along the road, shooting the film went super well. The Québec government imposed a covid curfew, which meant we couldn’t film at night. Both skiers got injuries that took them out for a couple weeks. The snow situation was pretty rough in the early season, which resulted in us only getting our first real shots in January.
In the end we’re coming through with a 100% urban ski film entirely filmed in Montréal (with a couple shots in surrounding suburbs) starring two skiers who are also from the city. I’m stoked for this film to reflect positively on the city I’m from – MTL.
A BIG thank you to the sponsors who made this happen: Newschoolers, Surface skis, J skis, Axis Boardshop and Brasseurs de Montréal.
Come check out our film and get stoked on the upcoming season with us at IF3 and the High Five Festival. Hope to see you there.
—
Xavier Mayrand
