N t Te El LL iI n lU uR r Ii D dE e since 1979
IMAGES.
IN TELLURIDE
words.
ON TOUR
action. Celebrating Indomitable Spirit
MAY 27-30 2011 MOUNTAINFILM.ORG
welcome
O
ur Mountainfilm guests are a daring bunch who regularly take risks, so it is the nature of our world to lose folks each year. That being said, it has been an especially tragic year for the extended festival family, particularly for a few of our luminaries. On April 20, Tim Hetherington, a war photographer and the co-director of Restrepo (Mountainfilm 2010), was killed in Libya. I admired his work but was particularly struck in the little time we spent together how gracious and warm he was given how much time he spent in hellish places. The last email exchange I had with him ended with an auto-response saying he was in the Middle East and would be back in touch in May. Sadly, he won’t be. Then, there is the fallen hero, Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea who first came to Mountainfilm in 1980 as an audience member. He stepped onto the stage in 2002 and again, last year but now, he has been laid low by an investigation into the legitimacy of his story and his non-profit, the Central Asia Institute. The damning allegations cast a pall over so much worthy work, including to some extent ours at Mountainfilm. Tim DeChristopher is another festival favorite who has had a rough year after being convicted by a jury in March of
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interfering with a federal auction of public lands. His noble action was inspired by the urgency of climate change and he continues to fiercely fight the good fight. Nevertheless, the end result will be that this good man will go to prison and that breaks my heart. Even sadder for me has been the sudden and tragic death of my father, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, this past December. He loved this festival of ours and I know from the numerous letters and emails I received from Mountainfilm Nation that many of you have lost someone who inspired you as well. Inspiration remains so important to us at Mountainfilm. Even after these setbacks (including the death of our Executive Director Peter Kenworthy’s mother Mary Jane, a day before my father) it is that much more important that we come together and be inspired by Hetherington’s daring photos, Mortenson’s big and bold vision, DeChristopher’s audacious action and my father’s drive and determination. What I have taken away from this difficult year is that while we need to learn from these luminaries we also need to remember that they are human and can only do so much. It is now on each of us to inspire and lead the way to a better future. –David Holbrooke, Festival Director
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contents
sponsors
3 How To Mountainfilm8 What We Do12 Moving Mountains Symposium16 The Films21 Adrenaline42 Kidz Kino43 Schedule48 Presentations53 Social Events69 Gallery Walk72 Coffee Talks76 Reading Frenzy82 Awards & Judges86 Boards90 Donors91 Staff & Volunteers92 Map96 Index97 Notes98 In Memoriam99 Welcome
PRESENTING SPONSOR
National Media
SUMMIT
magazine
Camp III
Camp II
Camp I
C.C.A.A.S.E. • Chums-Beyond Coastal • The Telluride Daily Planet • eBay, Inc. enLIGHTen • Ford Foundation • Klean Kanteen • Oaks — Fat Alley • prAna Stephen B. Johnson Law Firm, P.C. • Telluride Express
Base Camp
Bobo’s Oat Bars • Boulder Ice Cream • The Brown Bag • Brown Dog Pizza Coffee Cowboy • Immaculate Baking Co. • Montanya Distillers Montrose Water Factory • Mountain Limo • Organic Valley • ProBar • Sahale Snacks sweetriot • Smith Optics • Steaming Bean Coffee Co. • Telluride Sports Telluride Truffle • Tomboy Soap • The Video Project
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Eddie Bauer returns as presenting sponsor of Mountainfilm 2011 with film and photography tributes to Hendri Coetzee & his life of adventure from First Ascent kayakers Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesberry CHriS KorBuliC PHoto ExHiBit Steaming Bean Friday, May 27 3:30 to 6:30 PM KAdomA Film PrEmiErE See program schedule for date, time and location
getting around
getting around
how to Mountainfilm
*scan the QR code above with your mobile device to follow Mountainfilm
new this year Low Impact Festival Take special note and tell your friends: in an effort to reduce festival waste we are not providing single-use disposable containers of any type. For your morning coffee at Coffee Talks, bring your own cup or mug. Bring a bowl to the Ice Cream Social if you prefer not to eat your delectable sweet out of an edible cone. Bring dishes and silverware to the Closing Picnic or be prepared to eat lunch on a leaf. If you are lacking reusable dishware, pick up great portable items at the Mountainfilm Store at BootDoctors and Paragon Outdoors. Rare exceptions: Some venues will still be selling concessions in their usual manner, and unfortunately, we cannot serve alcohol in to-go cups. Outdoor Theater: Base Camp We’re excited to undertake a new theater (ad)venture this year: Base Camp Outdoor Theater in Town Park. Free to the public. See page 51 for details and programming. Symposium Break-Out Sessions The Moving Mountains Symposium is starting as usual in Mountain Village at High Camp, but we’re moving into town for smaller break-out sessions in the afternoon. See the Symposium pages (16) for new locations and additional information. Check the map (page 96) for locations, and go to the Social Pages (page 69) for parties and events.
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Hospitality
Find your festival program and pass, along with some friendly folk, at Hospitality. Located in the restaurant at the Camel’s Garden Hotel—formerly X Café and soon to be Oaks Restaurant. Free Wi-Fi and New Belgium brews on tap.
The Mountainfilm Store
Buy Mountainfilm apparel at BootDoctors & Paragon Outdoors on Colorado Avenue, also known as main street, two doors from the Nugget Theatre.
Theater Lines
All theaters have two lines: 1) pass holders and ticket holders, and 2) ticket buyers. Pass and ticket holders are admitted first. Queue early, especially at the smaller theaters–Sheridan, Nugget, Masons and the library–in order to assure seating. The back of your pass explains any restrictions.
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The Q System
When lines start to form, theater staff will often issue Q tickets. If you see these colored and numbered pieces of paper being handed out, get one. The lower your number, the likelier it is that you’ll get into the theater. Qs are issued at the discretion of each theater staff, depending upon the popularity of the program. Qs do not guarantee a seat in the theater; they merely let the staff know your place in line. If you do not enter the theater when your number is called out, you will be denied access until the entire line has been let into the theater.
TBAs
TBAs and special screenings will be posted daily outside all theaters, at Hospitality, and online at www.mountainfilm.org, on our Facebook page and on Twitter @mountainfilm.
Individual Tickets
Individual program tickets ($25) go on sale after all pass holders have been admitted to the theater.
Getting Around: The Gondola and The Goose
All theaters are reachable by foot, bicycle or gondola–which runs between Telluride and Mountain Village from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. On Friday and Saturday during the festival, gondola hours will be extended to 1:00 a.m. Telluride’s shuttle, the Galloping Goose, runs a loop through Telluride every 10 minutes. In Mountain Village, dial 728-8888 any time the Gondola is open for Dial-A-Ride services within the town limits. All are free of charge.
Getting Around: Airport Shuttle
Telluride Express provides ground transportation between Telluride and area airports: 888.212.TAXI.
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127891_15707 5.5x8.5 4c
Seeing the possibilities
ELEvATE YOuR LIfE “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world, indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” – PIONEERING ANTHROPOLOGIST MARGARET MEAD
The Mountainfilm Festival is a place where people can explore new ideas and imaginations can soar. Thank you for educating and inspiring us. Telluride ATM/Store Location 620 Mountain Village Blvd. • Mountain Village, CO 81435 ATM Location 100 W. Colorado Ave. • Telluride, CO 81435
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wellsfargo.com © 2010 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. (127891_15707)
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what we do
what we do
mountainfilm Mission Statement: Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating and inspiring audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving and conversations worth sustaining.
Mountainfilm on Tour
Year-round and worldwide, we take some of the best films from Mountainfilm on the road for single-event and multi-day shows. Hosted by a wide variety of organizations, including corporations, community groups, theater operators, as well as schools and colleges, our tour reaches more than 20,000 people annually in 70 locations on five continents.
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The Mountainfilm Commitment Grant Program
This new program helps the Mountainfilm community get their stories told–and heard. New in 2010 the program annually awards five $5,000 grants along with a Mac Book Pro laptop computer. The recipients are filmmakers and photographers, artists and adventurers whose projects are intended to move audiences to action on issues that matter.
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what we do
Mountainfilm in the Classroom Making Movies that Matter
Our school program introduces students to essential environmental, cultural and social issues through hands-on, film-editing projects. Students take a content-rich film from our festival archives and, with permission from the filmmaker, use images and voices from the film to create a short adaptation. They add their own graphics, music, voiceover, subtitles and special effects. This combination of practical and cognitive learning skills thrills teachers and students alike. Students love working in a medium that is such a prevalent part of their daily lives.
what we do
Mountainfilm on TV
Mountainfilm has its own prime-time television show on the Outside Television cable network, a show that reaches more than 61 million homes across the country. Airing four nights a week, the 90-minute show features festival films as well as interviews with filmmakers and special guests from Mountainfilm itself. If Outside TV serves your community, don’t miss us. If not, go to outsidetelevision.com, give them your zip code, and you can get Mountainfilm in your home. We also produce our own programming from the festival, all of which can be seen on our website www.mountainfilm.org
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New Mountainfilm Website
Four days a year we program the festival for an audience that visits us in Telluride. The rest of the year we hope that same audience and others will visit our website mountainfilm.org for news about the wide world that is Mountainfilm. Thanks to the wonderful team at VentureWeb we have built a dynamic new website that will carry short films, stories about our remarkable guests, as well as live blogging from certain events. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Green Screen
With all pass sales we collect a $5 energy offset fee that is dedicated to reducing the festival’s carbon footprint. Past initiatives have included investing in and using locally generated bio-fuel, hydro and solar power. This year we hope to refine and sharpen our long tradition of recycling and composting by bringing the festival as close as possible to zero waste. Please help us in the effort by bringing your own reusable plates, bowls, cups, mugs and utensils to festival events, and please don’t use single-purpose plastic bags, bottles or containers!
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symposium
symposium
schedule of speakers and panels Awareness into Action
EXTINCTION — M SANJAYAN
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. High Camp
Speakers listed in order of appearance WELCOME AND ACTION STATEMENT—TOM SHADYAC
Filmmaker Tom Shadyac, director of I Am (Mountainfilm 2010), will open the Symposium with a call to action. He will also emcee the rest of the morning session.
moving mountains A w ar e n e s s
I nto
A c tion
s ym p o s ium Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. High Camp (Telluride Conference Center) 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sheridan Opera House, Nugget Theatre, Masons Theatre
Our Moving Mountains Symposium has traditionally focused on a single issue and the last four years Mountainfilm has looked at: Energy (2007), Water (2008), Food (2009), and last year, Extinction (2010). These issues come with challenges that are so grave that we decided we need to do more than talk this year; we need to take action. Thus, this year’s theme: Awareness Into Action.
Our hope is that members of our formidable audience—once informed—roll up their sleeves and make an impact. In other words, if you know something, do something. Our outstanding guests live and work on the frontlines of some of the fiercest battles being waged today for the future of our planet. After framing the problem they are grappling with, they will show us how we, the audience, can be part of the solution. We know you’ll be moved by their stories but hope that you’ll take the next step and get involved in a way that you never have been before. Brief but bold clarion calls, which we are calling Action Statements, will kick off each session. Then in the morning at High Camp, we will have speakers on our recent themes, energy, water, food and extinction. After a lunch break (which is 90 minutes, allowing you to get food in town using coupons that we will hand out when you come into High Camp), we will reconvene for compelling sessions at the Sheridan Opera House, the Nugget and the Masons that will certainly raise your awareness and hopefully move you to action.
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ENERGY — MARIA GUNNOE
A lifelong resident of coal country in West Virginia, Maria Gunnoe has been fighting mountaintop removal, a take-no-prisoners approach to mining coal, ever since the debris from this brutal process landed in her backyard—quite literally. Fierce and unafraid, she has been featured in several documentaries on the topic, including On Coal River (p. 34). She was also a recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2009.
WATER — WADE DAVIS
Mountainfilm audiences know Wade Davis—an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society—as an anthropologist. This year he speaks at the Symposium as an activist who is trying to prevent drilling and mining in the Sacred Headwaters, an area in northern British Columbia that is also known as the Serengeti of the North, so-named for its unusually large and intact predator-prey system.
Specializing in conservation and wildlife ecology, M Sanjayan is the lead scientist for the Nature Conservancy. He has been profiled in Outside magazine and has been a guest on “Late Night” with David Letterman. For his first trip to Mountainfilm Sanjayan will speak at the Symposium about the unfolding nightmare that is the extinction crisis and how we can mobilize a movement to counter it. CLOSING STATEMENT — BILL MCKIBBEN (p. 63)
PANEL — TOM SHADYAC WITH TIM DeCHRISTOPHER, Maria Gunnoe, and KATIE LEE FOOD - IAN CHENEY & CURT ELLIS
Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are filmmakers (King Corn and 2011 selections The City Dark and Truck Farm) who are also launching a new school garden program called FoodCorps, part of AmeriCorp. They are recruiting the founding class for a yearlong term of public service, during which they will establish desperately needed school gardens, farm-to-cafeteria supply chains and provide nutrition education.
Lunch in Town 12-1:30 p.m.
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symposium Images into Action
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sheridan Opera House
Images tell the complicated stories of our time. We have brought together artists, photographers and filmmakers who are bearing witness and bringing us a vision of a world we rarely see firsthand.
ACTION STATEMENT — JAMES BALOG
A longtime guest of Mountainfilm, James Balog has spoken about his work on animals and trees; this year he turns his lens to glaciers. His latest work—the “Extreme Ice Survey”—uses a series of time-lapse cameras to chronicle the rapid recession of glaciers around the world.
symposium AARON HUEY
For six years Aaron Huey has been taking searing photographs of the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. (p. 74). Not content to just THE YES MEN document, Huey has become Andy Bichlbaum is a leading an activist who is working member of The Yes Men creatively and successfully (Mountainfilm 2009, The Yes to improve the very difficult Men Fix the World). These subversive performance artists lives of the members of this Native American tribe. pretend to be everyone from major corporations to the country of Canada in their effort to expose malefactors for their shameful stances on essential issues such as climate change. This session will teach you how to be a Yes Man. DIY in Action SUZAN BERAZA
Last year at Mountainfilm director Suzan Beraza premiered Bag It, her film about the pernicious nature of plastic. A year later she has screened it across the country with such success that the American Chemistry Council built a website to counter the film’s conclusions.
1:30-3:30PM Nugget Theatre
These intrepid folk saw a problem and set out to solve it themselves. This is a chance to learn from their successes, as well as their failures. ACTION STATEMENT —
BEN SKINNER
Ben Skinner is an author and abolitionist whose book A Crime so Monstrous has raised awareness of the solvable problem of modern day slavery. DAN AUSTIN — 88 BIKES
THE BEEHIVE DESIGN COLLECTIVE
This band of artists are bringing to Telluride “The True Cost of Coal” (p. 72), a massive banner that narrates the real damage mining coal does to people and the planet. Artist Emma Bee, a member of the Collective, will explain the work and what we can do to reduce the toll of coal.
An avid cyclist and traveler, Dan Austin wanted to bring the joy of riding to children around the globe. His effort started in 2006 in Cambodia where he arranged for 88 children to each get their own bike. He raised the 88 dollars needed per bike in just two weeks. Since then, Austin’s growing non-profit has given out more than 1,000 bikes.
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SHANNON GALPIN — MOUNTAIN2MOUNTAIN
Shannon Galpin is a resident of Breckenridge who became transfixed by Afghanistan and the young women she met during a trip to the war-torn region. On her return she sold her house and dedicated herself to improving their plight, a challenging endeavor for anyone, but particularly for a woman and former pro mountain bike racer.
DAVID GONZALES and LYNSEY DYER — TREEFIGHT
Skiing in the trees near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, David Gonzales saw firsthand how the pine beetle was attacking and killing the forests in Grand Teton National Forest. In response, he started Treefight and enlisted folk, including pro skier Lynsey Dyer, to repel this dreaded invader. The solution: create a network of hikers to go deep into the forest and staple packets of pheromones to trees to protect them.
Youth in Action 1:30-3:30PM Masons Theatre
“And a little child shall HILTON KELLEY lead them,” (Isaiah 11:6) is Hilton Kelley—a 2011 winner a biblical proverb that the of the prestigious Goldman speakers on this program take Environmental Prize—was to heart. It’s not that they don’t born and raised in Port Arthur, necessarily trust anyone over Texas along the Gulf Coast. 30; it’s just that they know they Looming over the residential will be the ones cleaning up communities of Port Arthur from the generations preceding are eight petrochemical plants them. In a variety of ways they and their emissions make the decided to take matters into local air some of the worst their own hands. in the country. Against all odds Kelley succeeded in ACTION STATEMENT — improving the air and the TIM DECHRISTOPHER health of his neighbors. Says (Page 61) Kelley of his effort: “I speak up for the disadvantaged KENNY LAUBBACHER — because it is the duty of all INVISIBLE CHILDREN mankind to help those in Leader of the Lord’s Resistance need, those who have no Army, Joseph Kony has voice, no way of helping committed a series of atrocious themselves.” crimes against humanity— including kidnapping and conscripting children—across several central African states. A group of young Americans formed Invisible Children to expose Kony’s use of child soldiers and to rebuild
infrastructure for children in war-affected areas. They are taking a multi-media approach and Kenny Laubbacher, one of the founders, will talk about how music can make a difference on an issue as intractable as this one. ALEC LOORZ
A junior in high school, Alec Loorz was 12 when he saw An Inconvenient Truth and started Kids vs. Global Warming. He has since spent much of his teenage life speaking to a remarkable number of kids about the specter of climate change. He also recently organized the iMatterMarch. PEACEFUL UPRISING
After he was arrested Tim DeChristopher started Peaceful Uprising, an organization dedicated to empowering nonviolent action that will address the climate crisis at its root cause. The Salt Lake City-based group has grown rapidly, bringing its message all over the country, including to Washington, D.C. where it recently participated in Power Shift, a gathering of young environmental leaders.
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We are committed to The Preservation Of our World
the
We know how to enjoy it!!
F ilm s synopsis by: David Holbrooke (DH) Peter Kenworthy (PK) katie klingsporn (kk) Emily Long (EL)
PARAGON on Main Street is the official MOUNTAINFILM STORE Three Convenient locations
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Paragon 213 Colorado I Main St., Telluride 728-4525 Further Adventures I 236 Oak St., Base of Gondola, Telluride 728-4581 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / MAP / FILMS / PRESENTATIONS / SCHEDULe / EVENTS Bootdoctors Le Chamonix Bldg, I Mountain Village 728-8954
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the films
The Films
Bidder 70 Beth & George Gage
(Saturday, 9:00 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 7:00 p.m., Palm)
The Barber of Birmingham Robin Fryday
(Saturday, 3:30 p.m., NUG; Sunday, 6:30 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Judith Helfand
“The worst thing a man can do is live for nothing.” So says James Armstrong, a barber in Birmingham who was one of thousands of unknown and unsung heroes of the civil rights struggle of the ‘60s. Living by his own creed, Armstrong willingly risked his own life in the often-brutal fight for basic rights–to vote, hold a job, use a public facility or go to school without the oppression of racial segregation or fear of violence. In the decades since, he kept the faith that enduring what he and his fellow foot soldiers called the “terrible days” would be worth it. Indeed, this short, carefully crafted and compelling film tells his and his compatriots worthwhile story. Armstrong passed away just after this film was shot–but not before witnessing the swearing in of our first African-American president. —PK (USA, 2010, 26 min)
IN PERSON: Tim DeChristopher, Beth Gage & George Gage
WORK IN PROGRESS Longtime Mountainfilm filmmakers Beth and George Gage bring us Bidder 70, a work-in-progress about climate activist Tim DeChristopher. They started filming him soon after he was first arrested for disrupting a federal oil-and-gaslease auction in December 2008 and have followed him through his recent conviction this March. Even though DeChristopher’s story has one last twist that the Gages have to film–his sentencing June 23–they will debut several scenes at Mountainfilm. After forty minutes of rough-cut film, festival guests Terry Tempest Williams and Bill McKibben will join DeChristopher on stage for a conversation about the direction of the climate movement. You can read a more complete bio on DeChristopher (and the rest of his festival schedule) on page 61. The Gages will also show the world premiere of their film From the Ground Up, Friday night at the Nugget Theatre (p. 26). —DH (USA, 2011, 60 min)
The City Dark Ian Cheney The Big Uneasy Harry Shearer
(Saturday, 3:30 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 9:30 a.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Harry Shearer
You might know Harry Shearer from his numerous film roles, including as the addled Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls (“That’s not to say I haven’t had my visionary moments. I’ve taken acid seventy-five, seventy-six times.”). He is also the voice behind many characters on “The Simpsons,” including Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders and Scratchy. Shearer also has his own radio program, “Le Show.” In The Big Uneasy his latest role is as a real-life truth teller who investigates the “natural” disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. This documentary, which Shearer directed and stars in, effectively shows us how much of the storm’s damage to New Orleans could have been prevented. His affection for the city is outweighed only by his ire at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who designed and built a series of levees that were ill conceived from the start and made a bad situation much worse. —DH (USA, 2010, 99 min)
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Buck Cindy Meehl
(Friday, 9:00 p.m., BC; Saturday, 8:45 p.m., LIB; Sunday, 12:15 p.m., PALM)
The horseman is a classic American archetype, and at first glance Buck Brannaman, the title character of this outstanding documentary, fits the icon to a tee. Steady and taciturn, Brannaman travels the country training horses using a nonviolent method. However, he often has to figure the owners out first, as they can be more jumpy than the horses. As this warm and intimate character study progresses, we learn more about the rest of his life, from his work on Robert Redford’s The Horse Whisperer to long held family secrets, all of which deepen our understanding of why the cornerstone of his approach is to never hurt a horse. —DH (USA, 2011, 88 min)
Chasing Water Peter McBride
(Saturday, 12:00 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 12:00 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Anson Fogel & Peter McBride
In Chasing Water, photojournalist Peter McBride sets out to document the flow of the Colorado River from source to sea. A Colorado native, McBride hails from a ranching family that depends on the Colorado for irrigation, and this is the story of his backyard. His simple desire is to find out where the irrigation water of his youth went after his family used it, and how long it took the water to reach the ocean. His experience, however, is not so straightforward, analogous, perhaps, to tracking down a special friend from childhood– one who was always full of vitality–only to find her utterly changed and diminished. Writer Jon Waterman joins McBride on this 1,500-mile journey, one that shows how the thirst of the 30 million that the Colorado supports takes an unhealthy toll. —PK (USA, 2011, 19 min)
(Friday, 6:45 p.m., MAS; Saturday, 8:30 p.m., NUG; Sunday, 9:00 p.m., BC)
IN PERSON: Ian Cheney
Filmmaker Ian Cheney (Mountainfilm 2011, Truck Farm, and speaking at the Symposium) looks up at the dark night sky and is disturbed by what he sees–or really doesn’t see. This exceptionally wellmade film manages to be both heartbreaking and heartwarming and shows how disconcerting it is that a large proportion of the current population has no sense of what we have lost. At the same time Cheney tells a story that introduces us to one person after another who is passionate about the night sky and who remains hopeful that their vision can bring back something that has gone missing. —DH (USA, 2011, 84 min)
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the films
Coal Thom Beers
(Saturday, 6:15 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Thom Beers
Coal is a leading source of energy, a major cause of climate change, and now, the name of a popular new show on Spike TV. Producer Thom Beers, who has created a huge television empire out of shows like “Deadliest Catch,” “Ax Men” and “Ice Road Truckers,” captures the drama that comes with working deep underground in Coal. The show focuses on a new company in West Virginia called the Cobalt Coal Corporation, which gets its ore the old-fashioned way–by digging it out, rather than using mountain top removal. Mining underground is challenging and dangerous, and Beers, following the hardy men who go into the mine every day to bring out our power, offers no judgment on the effect their work has on rising greenhouse gas emissions. Mountainfilm audiences will get to see the season finale weeks before it airs and hear from Beers how he creates compelling television. —DH (USA, 2011, 60 min)
The Films
Cold Anson Fogel
(Friday, 6:45 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 12:15 p.m., HC)
IN PERSON: Anson Fogel
Ascending an 8,000-meter peak is never easy. In winter, with temperatures plummeting to 30 below and colder and with snowstorms raging, it is nearly unthinkable. In fact, of the seventeen efforts to ascend an 8,000-meter peak in Pakistan in winter only one has been successful. That winter ascent of Gasherbrum II by Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards is the subject of Cold. Filmed by Richards and written from his perspective, this is a very personal and frank portrayal of the risks and rigors of highaltitude mountaineering, in this case intensified by the choice of calendar date–fully three months ahead of the standard Himalayan season. There’s crazy; and then there’s cold crazy. Moro, Urubko and Richards clearly pitch their tents in the latter camp. Of the three only Richards–the first American to ever achieve an 8,000-meter winter ascent anywhere–seems concerned by the madness. —PK (USA, 2011, 20 min)
Down and Out and Under Rob Frost, Pete Mortimer & Nick Rosen
Deadliest Catch Thom Beers
(Friday, 9:15 p.m., SOH; Saturday, 4:00 p.m., HC)
(Sunday, 4:15 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Rob Frost & Nick Rosen
IN PERSON: Thom Beers
Commercial fishing is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in America and going after King crabs in Alaska’s Bering Sea is that much more perilous. Of course, a tough occupation like this makes for great drama, especially in the hands of Thom Beers whose production company, Original Productions, provides numerous hours of programming to cable networks. The Deadliest Catch, now in its seventh season, has had more than its share of drama. Last year one of the show’s stars, Captain Phil Harris, suffered a stroke while on board. The cameras–at Harris’s insistence–kept filming right up to his death. At this very special screening, Beers will explain how he tells a compelling story like Harris’ and provides a tutorial on how to pitch, sell and make compelling television. —DH (USA, 2011, 56 min)
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Desert River Ben Sturgulewski
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Producers Zac Ramras & Nick Waggoner
Sweetgrass Productions (Mountainfilm 2010, Signatures) offers a poetic ski film set to the haunting Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes song, “Desert Song.” The film provides a glimpse into the beauty of late season skiing in Haines, Alaska, and the extreme turns that still can be had as evenings deepen with long, spring shadows. —EL (USA, 2010, 5 min)
Sometimes climbing trips are all glorious locations, perfect weather and incredible ascents. Other times they’re less than perfect: rental vans from hell; lunatics who go by Singer and who have axes to grind; a climber reviled for his past abuses of Wallabies. These are just a few of the factors that contribute to the wacky misadventures recounted in Down and Out and Under, a wry, tongue-in-cheek climbing film by Rob Frost. Into the junk show, though, Frost manages to weave lovely images of incredible climbing with a story of high adventure gathered from an unforgettable trip to Australia and Tasmania with climbers Heidi Wirtz, Cedar Wright, Matt Segal and James Pearson. It’s a saga. But at the end of it, the climbers learn an important lesson: even the biggest junk show can come out on top. —KK (USA, 2010, 25 min)
eel / water / rock / man Hal Clifford & Jason Houston (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., NUG)
IN PERSON: Hal Clifford & Jason Houston
The team behind Stone River (Mountainfilm 2010) brings us this short film, which, simple, balanced and richly shot, is fully consonant with its theme of Nature’s timeless cycles, unchanging truths and abundance. Watch the Delaware River as it flows around, past and through an ancient stone weir designed by a decidedly old-school fisherman to catch migrating eels. The moving river creates a sound like applause–a rippling, bubbling, liquid ovation–for the virtues of patience, acceptance and devotion. —PK (USA, 2010, 7 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 25
the films
The Films
The Green Wave Ali Samadi Ahadi The Fall Line Tyler Stableford
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
Heath Calhoun would never wish his experience on anyone, but somehow he considers his experience a blessing–which is not what you would expect from someone who lost both legs from a rocket attack in Iraq. The lesson Calhoun has taken from his disability is that the human body can go a lot farther than we imagine. On a Wounded Warriors-sponsored trip to Aspen, Calhoun discovered mono-skiing. Within four years he was competing for the U.S. in the Paralympics. Along the way he learned that his spirit had gained far more than his body had lost. —PK (USA, 2010, 14 min)
(Friday, 6:30 p.m., HC; Sunday, 9:15 p.m., SOH)
From the Ground Up Beth & George Gage
(Friday, 6:15 p.m., NUG, Sunday, 10:00 a.m., PALM)
IN PERSON: Maureen Fanning, Beth Gage, George Gage, Andrew Garbarini & Andrea O’Hagan
Longtime local filmmakers Beth and George Gage (Mountainfilm 2011, Bidder 70, p. 22) traveled to New York City to tell the story of several women who lost their husbands on September 11, 2001. The film shows how these widows, many of them married to firefighters, have moved forward with their lives bravely and the best they can in the ten years since that hellish day. And while their loss endures, they have also invested themselves in a range of causes–from autism to a race for firefighters–and done so in a way that is deeply impressive. —DH (USA, 2011, 30 min)
IN PERSON: Roger Cohen and Vali Nasr
Before the recent Jasmine Revolutions that have rocked the Middle East, there was a powerful but ultimately defeated uprising in Iran in 2008. The so-called “Green Wave” was a hopeful, people-powered revolt that was put down by a ruthless Iranian government. This fine film tells this compelling story by assembling analysis by experts and personal recollections (often told using stark animation). One such authority, Professor Paya Akhavan, a former UN prosecutor, says, “What we have witnessed in Iran is not just a rebellion but a seismic shift, a democratic tidal wave which will irreversibly change the future– not only of Iran but the entire Middle East.” This is particularly prescient as the film was made well before the recent uprisings; unfortunately, his words are also a sad commentary on what could have been in Iran. —DH (Germany, 2010, 80 min)
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The Grid Will Parrinello
Happy Roko Belic
(Saturday, 9:30 a.m., HC; Sunday, 10:00 a.m., LIB)
IN PERSON: Will Parrinello
The Goldman Environmental Prize is perhaps the most important–and generous– environmental tribute of its kind with an annual financial award that goes to grassroots environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continents. In The Grid we meet one of the winners, Ursula Sladek of Germany, for whom the idea of 100 percent reliance on renewable energy by 2050 is not a hope or a dream but simply a matter of time. Having led a successful 10-year effort to take over her regional power grid through a citizen’s collective, Sladek is accustomed to taking her time. Today following deregulation of Germany’s electricity market, Sladek’s collective serves some 250,00 users throughout the country–paying those who feed the grid with excess power and rewarding those who save on energy consumption. —PK (USA, 2011, 5 min)
(Saturday, 6:15 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 4:30 p.m., PALM)
Hammer and Flame Vaughan Pilikian
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., LIB; Sunday, 12:30 p.m., LIB)
Ship breaking, or scrapping, is a dangerous business with severe health and environmental hazards. As a result, the industry now resides almost exclusively in developing countries, notably in India and Pakistan where risks of personal injury lawsuits and workers’ health claims are virtually absent. Like water wearing away rock, a sea of men and boys, armed only with rudimentary tools, swarms the derelict hulls and decks and engine rooms and slowly they break down beached leviathan tankers and cargo chips. In the course of their work the laborers separate and identify any parts and pieces that may have resale value. This short, direct cinematic piece provides a fascinating glimpse of a harrowing enterprise. —PK (UK, 2005, 10 min)
IN PERSON: Roko Belic
If you know Roko Belic–a longtime Mountainfilm regular who along with his brother Adrian is one of the filmmakers behind Genghis Blues–he seems like a pretty happy guy (especially after the birth of his daughter Viva Paradise Firth Belic on March 27th). You may not need to be happy to make a film called Happy, but it must have helped Belic as this fine documentary is infused with wisdom and warmth, and abounds with life lessons. Filmed in more than fourteen countries, the film takes you around the world looking for universal truths about happiness, inquiring of scientists and surfers alike. But what happens quite naturally is that you learn something about your own state of mind and how you best might be, yes, happy. —DH (USA, 2011, 80 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 27
the films
Heliotropes Michael Langan
(Saturday, 3:30 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., NUG)
Carefully crafted by director Michael Langan, this short piece is a lovely filmic rendition of a poem by Brian Christian that speaks of sunflowers seeds, flight patterns and Fibonacci sequences. Yes, it’s odd, but appealing. —DH (USA, 2010, 3 min)
The Films
Human Terrain James Der Derian, David Udris & Michael Udris (Saturday, 3:45 p.m., LIB)
“Anthropologists as Spies?” was the headline of a recent article in The Nation about a controversial U.S. Army program that enlists academics to serve in a war zone. Their mission: to help soldiers gain an understanding of and then access to the people whose country has been invaded. Human Terrain focuses on one of these professors, Michael Bhatia from Brown University (a colleague of Human Terrain co-director James Derrian). Sent to Afghanistan by the military, Bhatia hopes that he can help reduce casualties on both sides; instead the academic finds an alien world, and things do not go as planned. As a colleague discussing Bhatia’s work explains, “People become anthropologists because they want to reach out to the other. They want to understand the other and think that understanding each other enhances the dignity of the other.” As this compelling film shows, that is almost impossible to do in a war zone. —DH (USA, 2010, 56 min)
If a Tree Falls Marshall Curry
Interviews 50 Cents Erin & Ethan Boehme
(Friday, 9:15 p.m., PALM; Saturday, 6:00 p.m., LIB; Sunday, 7:00 p.m., HC)
(Friday, 9:15 p.m., PALM; Saturday, 12:15 p.m., MAS; Saturday, 6:00 p.m., LIB; Saturday, 9:00 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Marshall Curry
In the early 2000s, the Earth Liberation Front was making news by setting fire to various targets including a Hummer dealership, a logging company and an expansive, new dining hall at the Vail ski area. The first-rate If a Tree Falls, focuses on the sad story of Daniel McGowan who committed acts of arson for the Front and takes an incisive look at this shadowy group in the aftermath of a series of arrests and plea bargains. Director Marshall Curry came across the story serendipitously when McGowan–who worked with Curry’s wife–was arrested without warning at their office. Comprised of activists who have good intentions but who also seem confused, cops who mean well (and some who don’t), and a snitch who seems nothing but low-down, this intense, and at times graphic, film will stay with you. It is a compelling and cautionary tale that smartly delves into the complexity of extreme action. —DH (USA, 2011, 85 min)
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In The Shadow Of The Mountain Hugh Barnard & Max Segal
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
Prompted by the death of a climbing friend, mountain guide and filmmaker Hugh Barnard sets out to discover just what it is that drives a certain type of person into the mountains. Who is it that ignores risk and responsibility for the thrill of the ascent? His exploration uncovers some surprising revelations, such as the fact that climbers–who often describe their endeavors in terms of spirituality and transcendence–rank very low in terms of religious sentiment. —EL (New Zealand, 2010, 25 min)
IN PERSON: Ethan & Erin Boehme
This marks the third year that Interviews 50 Cents, the quirky series of conversations with Alex Chadwick, will screen at Mountainfilm. Even though Chadwick can’t be in Telluride this year, we will show four of his 2010 pieces, all filmed by Ethan and Erin Boehme with guests from last year’s Festival. Chadwick chats with: climate activist Tim DeChristopher who talks about the mall cop that wanted to administer the ultimate punishment; artist Erica Nelson who discusses the beauty of Kansas and the virtues of that state’s art scene; Andy Keller of Chico Bag who talks about plastic; and climber Alex Honnold (Mountainfilm 2010, Alone on the Wall) who explains how climbing films are made. —DH (Telluride, 2010, 5 min)
Into Darkness John Waller
(Saturday, 4:00 p.m., HC; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., SOH)
Amazing what wonders can lead from an unassuming hole in the ground: crystal spires, cathedrals of calcite, gypsum cascades. To access this magical cave, however, a certain suffering must be endured and one must overcome more than a little fear. For the cavers of Into Darkness this means squeezing through impossibly constricted spaces, exhaling everything in their lungs to make their bodies improbably flat, feeling their heartbeats thud into intractable rock, or holding themselves up by nothing more than their armpits. The contortion and pain is worth it, though, as they emerge into a dazzling underworld chamber of secrets and experience one of our world’s few final frontiers. —PK (USA, 2010, 15 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 29
the films
The Films
Live from Shiva’s Dance Floor Richard Linklater
Koran By Heart Greg Barker Kadoma Ben Stookesberry Into Eternity Michael Madsen
(Saturday, 9:30 a.m., HC; Sunday, 10:00 a.m., LIB)
Finnish for “hiding place” is onkalo; it is also the name for the first-ever, permanent burial ground for spent nuclear waste, now being built in Finland to house that country’s radioactive waste. The film takes us inside Onkalo, a deep and vast manmade cave excavated more than four kilometers into the earth. When it is finished in the twenty-second century, it will be covered and sealed for eternity. Filmmaker Michael Madsen has made a poetic and haunting film about this eerie place, and in it he asks many probing questions including most agonizing of all: How do we protect the people of the far future from Onkalo and what it holds–a question all the more on point after the recent disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan. —EL (Denmark, 2010, 75 min)
(Friday, 9:15 p.m., SOH; Saturday, 4:00 p.m., HC)
IN PERSON: Chris Korbulic & Ben Stookesberry
“Kadoma” was a nickname for Hendri Coetzee, a legendary South African kayaker who had explored some of Africa’s wildest rivers. In December of 2010 American pro kayakers Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesbury followed Coetzee into the Democratic Republic of Congo for a first descent of the dangerous Lukuga River. Seven weeks into the expedition, tragedy struck. Coetzee was paddling tip to tail between the other two men when a fifteen-foot crocodile surfaced silently and swiftly pulled him underwater. He was never seen again. The cover story for Outside magazine in February, the horrific story is now recounted in this tense documentary that was directed by Stookesbury and is premiering at Mountainfilm. Korbulic’s photos of the ill-fated expedition can be seen at the Steaming Bean. —DH (USA, 2010, 30 min)
Killing in the Name Jed Rothstein
(Saturday, 3:45 p.m., LIB; Sunday, 12:30 p.m., LIB)
“You don’t have the right to kill people in the name of God,” says Ashraf al-Khaled, the main character in this Oscar-nominated short documentary. He has some moral authority; in 2005, an Iraqi suicide bomber walked into his wedding and killed 27 members of his family, including his father and father-in-law, and 130 people overall. It was the most ever by a single terrorist and considered by the planners–who are interviewed in the film–to be “a great killing.” With characters like this, Killing in the Name certainly veers into the heart of darkness, but it also touches your heart when it introduces you to the relatives of victims and a father whose son became a suicide bomber. Given that it only focuses on the Muslim world, the result is certainly an incomplete portrait of terrorism today, but the details we do see are both insightful and unsettling. —DH (USA, 2010, 39 min)
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(Saturday, 3:30 p.m., NUG: Sunday, 10:00 a.m., PALM)
(Saturday, 6:30 p.m., HC; Sunday, 12:15 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Greg Barker
Koran recitation, the subject of this documentary, may not, at first glance, seem like the most scintillating subject for a film. Yet in director Greg Barker’s (Mountainfilm 2009, Sergio) capable hands, it is a compelling one. He follows an annual competition that takes place during Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt where kids vie to see who can best memorize–and recite–the Koran, a revered tradition in Islam. It is high-pressure and the children, representing countries as far away as the Maldives and Tajikistan, are focused but nervous–and for good reason. Some contestants are as young as seven and go up against kids twice their age, while others don’t even speak Arabic. —DH (USA, 2011, 90 min)
IN PERSON: Producer David Holbrooke & Speed Levitch
Life Cycles Derek Frankowski & Ryan Gibb
(Saturday, 9:00 p.m., BC; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Derek Frankowski
Bicycles have been called the noblest of inventions, a notion central to Life Cycles. As the film explains, “This isn’t a bike movie. It’s a movie about a bike.” The film tells the story of a bike from birth to death, but in between are moments of beautiful quiet, raucous joy, hurt, brute strength and exaltation. With this film co-creators Derek Frankowski and Ryan Gibb have forever changed the visual aesthetic of mountain biking. —EL (USA, 2010, 45 min)
In early 2003, I was sitting on Chair 9 with then Mountainfilm Festival Director Rick Silverman. He asked what I was working on and I responded I’d produced an odd but really interesting short that featured a tour guide from New York City named Speed Levitch. Live from Shiva’s Dance Floor–directed by indie filmmaker Richard Linklater–follows Levitch around downtown New York on a walking monologue as he offers a very different vision of Ground Zero, one that does not involve another glass and steel tower. Silverman asked to see Shiva, but I responded that it takes place entirely in the city and didn’t seem right for this festival. He asked to see it anyway so I sent it. He liked it and said it was just right for Telluride. I proudly became an official Mountainfilm filmmaker for the first time and am thrilled to screen it again ten years after 9-11. —DH (USA, 2003, 21 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 31
the films
Magic Trip Alison Ellwood & Alex Gibney (Friday, 8:30 p.m., NUG; Saturday, 11:45 a.m., HC)
There is no epic trip that quite compares with the one that Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters took across America in 1964. Chronicled by Tom Wolfe in his seminal book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the crosscountry, bacchanalian bus ride is now the subject of Magic Trip, a vibrant and spirited documentary directed by Allison Ellwood and Alex Gibney (Mountainfilm 2008, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and the Academy Award-winning Taxi to the Dark Side). Filmmakers Ellwood and Gibney tell this wild story by mixing footage that Kesey and his fellow travelers filmed in varying degrees of sobriety with re-creations using actors. As the bus–brilliantly named “Further”– gets rolling with beat poet Neal Cassady behind the wheel, so does the film, as it takes us on a road trip for the ages. —DH (USA, 2010, 107 min)
The Films
Mbambu and the Mountains of the Moon Lucian & Natasa Muntean (Saturday, 6:30 p.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., NUG)
IN PERSON: Lucian & Natasa Muntean
Mbambu is a sixteen-year-old girl who lives at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda. She is also an actress, an aspiring mountain guide and hopes to be the first in her family to complete secondary school. These are significant ambitions for anyone; in Uganda they are nearly unheard of for a young girl. If Mbambu becomes a guide in the Rwenzoris– an impressive accomplishment in its own right, as the mountains reach to nearly 17,000 feet–she would break all sorts of cultural and societal barriers for a girl from Bakonzo. As this film tells the story of a hopeful Ugandan girl, it also examines a culture transitioning from harmful poaching practices into more sustainable livelihoods. Mbambu is one of five projects to receive our inaugural Mountainfilm Commitment Grant. We are thrilled to bring directors Natasa and Lucian Muntean (Mountainfilm 2009, Journey of a Red Fridge) to Telluride for the film’s North American premiere. —EL (Serbia, 2010, 55 min)
Moving to Mars Mat Whitecross
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., LIB; Sunday, 4:30 p.m., LIB)
For someone from Sheffield, England, the idea of living in a thatched bamboo hut in the Thai jungle might seem a dream. For dispossessed Karen refugees from Burma, that Thai hut is a nightmare. Indeed, the Burmese refugees look forward to leaving their tropical camp and moving to the north of England, but they do so with a turbulent mix of emotions and excitement. Moving to Mars captures perfectly the welter of human feelings that attends life in exile: the ineffable sadness for lost family and friends, the gnawing pain of injustice endured, the heady promise of new beginnings, the ragged ups and downs of acculturation in a new and vastly foreign homeland. While the film shows that the path of the exile can, however improbably, lead to happiness, the film also reveals clearly, and sometimes harshly, that the way there is enormously challenging. —PK (UK, 2010, 84 min)
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Mr. Happy Man Matt Morris
My Toxic Reality Tom Dusenbery
IN PERSON: Matt Morris
IN PERSON: Producer Will Parinello, Hilton Kelley
(Saturday, 11:45 a.m., NUG; Sunday, 6:30 p.m., MAS)
Johnny Barnes is one of the happiest people in the world, and his main goal in life is to share that happiness. This humble and lovable Bermudan wakes up at 3 a.m. every morning and heads to one particularly busy intersection to stand, wave, blow kisses and shout, “I love you!” to passersby. Crazy or not, Johnny has a lot to say about what it takes to be optimistic and happy. And he has brought smiles to the faces of thousands who would have an otherwise dreary morning commute. —EL (USA, 2010, 11 min)
(Saturday, 9:30 a.m., SOH; Sunday, 11:45 a.m., NUG)
The Goldman Environmental Prize is perhaps the most important–and generous– environmental tribute of its kind with an annual financial award that goes to grassroots environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continents. My Toxic Reality is about one of the winners, Hilton Kelley, who saw a need for someone to take a stand in his community of Port Arthur, Texas, a place where eight petrochemical refining facilities loom over that town’s residential areas. Hoping to reverse the severe economic and environmental decline of his hometown, and reduce the alarming incidence of respiratory and cancer-related illness, Kelley spent years learning all he could about policies governing industrial pollution. Then he galvanized his community to take action–to clean up historical damage and degradation and protect against future threats. —PK (USA, 2011, 5 min)
The Nature of Battle Nat Dart
(Saturday, 9:00 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 9:15 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Nat Dart
In an empty and dystopian wartorn world a new hope arrives in the form of a seed. —EL (Canada, 2008, 3 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 33
the films
Nostalgia for the Light Patricio Guzman
(Friday, 6:30 p.m., LIB; Saturday, 12:15 p.m., LIB; Saturday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
With exquisite shots of the night sky, this beautifully made film starts out as an ode to the stars and space. However, not long into the film the documentary takes a sharp turn towards the more earthbound topic of human rights in Chile. In less-skilled hands this shift would be clunky, but director Patricio Guzman handles it seamlessly. The film takes place in Chile’s Atacama Desert, which at 10,000 feet is the driest place on Earth. The altitude and the lack of moisture in the air is a boon for stargazing but also helps to preserve bodies, from ancient mummies to the more recently disappeared political prisoners, victims of Chile’s fractious history. As a result, astronomers look to the sky, while bereft widows and family members dig in the dirt, trying to find traces of their loved ones. The juxtaposition makes for an enormously powerful and affecting film. —DH (Chile, 2010, 90 min)
The Films
On Assignment: Jimmy Chin Renan Ozturk & Camp 4 Collective (Saturday, 9:45 a.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Jimmy Chin & Renan Ozturk
In On Assigmnent: Jimmy Chin Renan Ozturk (Mountainfilm 2009, Samsara which won the Charlie Fowler Award) trains his lens on a man who usually stands behind a lens of his own. Climber, skier and mountaineer Jimmy Chin, a longtime guest of Mountainfilm, has spent his life behind the camera, and from that viewpoint has chronicled incredible feats in some of the most breathtaking places in the world. This film follows Chin to Yosemite Valley and films him as he shoots a National Geographic story on the climbing culture in Yosemite. It’s a short portrait of a passionate athlete who has melded his loves: climbing and photography. “I think the most honest photos happen when both the subject and the photographer are just in the moment,” he says in the film, and “the rest of the world has just fallen away.” —KK (USA, 2010, 6 min)
On Coal River Francine Cavanaugh & Adams Wood
(Saturday, 9:30 a.m., SOH, Sunday, 11:45 a.m., NUG)
IN PERSON: photographer Antrim Caskey, mountaintop removal activist Maria Gunnoe & Adams Wood
Mountain top removal is just what it sounds like: a mountain, shaped over millennia by geology and weather, is leveled in a day. Its crumbled remains are then sifted for coal. This brutal process wrecks rivers, crushes communities, and has been the subject of many documentaries, but none as well told as On Coal River. Directors Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood focus on a secondary school in Coal River Valley, West Virginia that is threatened by toxic waste from an MTR operation run by the notorious coal mining company Massey Energy. Tilting against the coal barons is a band of tenacious activists that includes 2011 Mountainfilm guest Maria Gunnoe and which is led by Ed Wiley whose granddaughter is a student at the school. The film follows the tense battle for the school but also tells the larger story of what is happening across Appalachia, home to some of the oldest mountains in the world. —DH (USA, 2010, 81 min)
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One Plastic Beach Eric Slatkin & Tess Thackara (Saturday, 12:15 p.m., MAS; Sunday, 6:30 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang
For 12 years Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang have collected plastic trash along a onekilometer stretch of beach near their home in northern California. At a rate of 35 pounds per hour, it isn’t surprising that they have accumulated tons of debris. What may be surprising is the art they produce with it—sculptures and abstract prints reminiscent of Paul Klee and Henri Matisse that feature 1949-vintage toys, Korean lighters, Astroturf (a common find), bubble blowers and hair curlers that may have last adorned a human head thirty or forty years ago. The artwork has been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and now, the Langs can add Mountainfilm’s 2011 filmmaker awards to their resume. Let’s hope that those pieces never find their way back to the sea where they would join an estimated 46,000 visible pieces of plastic that float in every square mile of Earth’s oceans. —PK (USA, 2010, 8 min)
A Perfect Soldier John Severson (Friday, 8:45 p.m., LIB; Saturday, 12:15 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Producers Brooks Bergreen & Richard Fitoussi
Aki Ra was handling weapons by age five. By age ten he was shooting people. Kidnapped as a child and conscripted to serve in Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army, it was kill or be killed for the young boy. After surviving two decades of wartime soldiering, Aki Ra is now living a very different life. First introduced to Mountainfilm audiences in 2003 with Richard Fitoussi’s short film, Aki’s Story, a fuller and updated version of Aki Ra’s quest for redemption is presented in A Perfect Soldier. To date Aki Ra has, almost single-handedly, removed an estimated 50,000 land mines and ordnance from the Cambodian countryside. No matter the number, he can never remove mental images and memories of his haunted past–the faces of his victims, their last anguished cries for help, his unending struggle to make sense of the atrocities he has experienced. —PK (USA, 2010, 56 min)
Power in the Pristine Chris Kassar & James Q Martin (Saturday, 9:00 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 9:45 a.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Craig Childs, Chris Kassar, James Q Martin & Timmy O’Neill
These days a river that flows freely from its headwaters to the sea is a rare creature. Of the few that do remain unchained, many are threatened by development or damming, including the Baker in Chilean Patagonia, which is the site of a proposed major hydro-electric dam that would forever alter the river’s geography, form and ecosystem. Power in the Pristine features a group of adventurers—including professional climber and longtime Mountainfilm guest Timmy O’Neill and writer Craig Childs—who are trying to stop the damn. Before the screening, Childs will present a spokenword piece about this journey that took them from the Baker’s high and cold origins, through its rushing gorges to its end in the Pacific. —KK (USA, 2010, 24 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 35
the films
Prayers for Peace Dustin Grella
(Saturday, 12:15 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 10:00 a.m., PALM)
Animation, as a medium and an art form, can be powerfully profound, especially when it delivers a universal message through an intensely personal story. Dustin Grella’s short film about September 11 achieves just such a synthesis. His sad story, sparely told, is perfectly complemented by the simple beauty of his drawings that are, at once, both ephemeral and unforgettable. —PK (USA, 2009, 8 min)
The Films
Remigration Barry Jenkins
(Saturday, 6:30 p.m., MAS; Sunday, 9:30 a.m., NUG)
IN PERSON: Barry Jenkins
What does it tell us about the direction of our society that the first TV/Film vision of the future that comes to mind that isn’t completely dire is The Jetsons? Now you can add the narrative short Remigration to the list of films—from The Road to Mad Max—that paint a dark portrait of life ahead on this planet. What distinguishes this film from the rest of this desperate genre is its focus on a massive problem: the everincreasing disparity of wealth in this country, a problem that New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman believes is the most serious challenge facing the U.S. And, while it may not sound like a sexy subject for a film, director Barry Jenkins (who also made Medicine for Melancholy) has carefully crafted a spooky story that rings true and feels like it could be non-fiction before long. —DH
Shakespeare High Alex Rotaru
Revenge of the Electric Car Christopher Paine
(Saturday, 6:00 p.m., NUG; Sunday, 6:15 p.m., NUG)
IN PERSON: Oscar Fernandez, Tosh Hall & Ronnie Planalp
(Friday, 6:30 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., HC)
IN PERSON: Rev Gadget & Christopher Paine
In 2006 as many as 5,000 modern electric cars were destroyed by the major car companies that built them. Today, less than five years later, the electric car is back–and with a vengeance. In Revenge of the Electric Car, director Chris Paine (Mountainfilm 2006, Who Killed the Electric Car?) takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to find the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of car is America’s future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever. With almost every major carmaker now jumping to produce new electric models, Revenge follows the race to be the first, the best and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world. It’s not just the next generation of green cars that’s on the line. It’s the future of the automobile itself. —EL (USA, 2011, 90 min)
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Seasons: Winter Skip Armstrong
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Skip Armstrong
Winter. Brian Ward discovers an unexpected and newly found love for water in its frozen and expanded form. —KK (USA, 2011, 4)
This well-made and energetic film is a worthy addition to the flourishing competition documentary genre as it follows a Shakespeare tournament for high school kids in southern California, which claims Richard Dreyfus, Sally Field, and Kevin Spacey as alumni. The teams are an appealing multicultural mix—from former gangbangers to a Catholic Girl’s School—who compete to perform the best scene from “Macbeth,” “Othello” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The tension of who will wins drives the narrative but this film—directed by Alex Rotaru and produced by Ronnie Planalp—has a secondary storyline. Some of these kids are living on the edge and their hardscrabble stories tell you that theater is saving them. Right after the screening, audiences will be treated to a live performance of a Shakespeare scene by several characters in the film. –DH (USA, 2011, 80 min)
Skateistan Orlando von Einsiedel
(Friday, 8:45 p.m., LIB; Saturday, 12:15 p.m., SOH, Sunday, 12:30 p.m., LIB)
“People keep looking at our shoes and boards in a weird way. They think that they are attached to the boards through some sort of magnetic field.” So says 17-year-old Afghani Murza, a young teenager from Kabul who has found his oasis in a place called Skateistan. Directed by former professional snowboarder Orlando von Einsiedel, Skateistan documents how a physical action as simple as skateboarding can help to dissolve barriers between boys and girls and empower children to believe in their ability to create positive change, even in a bombscarred country. —EL (UK, 2010, 10 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 37
the films
The Films
Towers of the Ennedi Camp 4 Collective & Renan Ozturk Spoil Trip Jennings
(Saturday, 12:15 p.m., MAS; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., LIB)
IN PERSON: Trip Jennings
Filmmakers Trip Jennings and Andy Maser (Mountainfilm 2010, Flathead Wild and others) return to Mountainfilm with Spoil, a film in which they follow the International League of Conservation Photographers and the Gitga’at First Nation people of British Columbia in their search for the illusive spirit bear. All white, but not albino, and more rare than the panda, the spirit bear lives only in the Great Bear Rainforest on the north coast of British Columbia, a place that is at risk from a proposed oil pipeline. In an effort to oppose the pipeline, the iLCP’s mission is to create images of this rare bear and the unique ecosystem that it relies on. At risk is an intact and rare-in-theworld temperate rain forest that is home not only to the Gitga’at, but also to a host of animals, from the spirit bear and genetically distinct wolves to an array of marine mammals. After the screening, M Sanjayan from the Nature Conservancy will discuss the extinction crisis. —EL (USA, 2011, 44 min)
(Friday, 9:15 p.m., SOH; Saturday, 4:00 p.m., HC)
Summer Snapshot Ian McCluskey (Saturday, 8:30 p.m., NUG; Sunday, 6:15 p.m., NUG)
There is nothing like summer and this well-made short offers a real sense of the season with Frisbees, guitars and, yes, skinny-dipping. When he heard Kodak was discontinuing Kodachrome film, director Ian McCluskey picked up a super-8 camera and “set out to make a short film about memory, with the look and feel of nostalgia–sun kissed and golden.” Lured by a cooler of tall boys and the promise of playing in the river, McCluskey and a group of friends piled into a wood-paneled Wagoneer. The result is a sweet, yet sexy, narrative film that features an all-volunteer cast running around the river in various states of (un) dress. As one of the fictional characters says, “You know we still talk about it. We still talk about that day.” —DH (USA, 2010, 11 min)
Swiss Machine Pete Mortimer & Nick Rosen
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Alex Honnold & Nick Rosen
Ueli Steck is a Swiss speed climber and alpinist who scales giant rock and ice faces at a rate so blurrily fast that it could be considered stupid. But the thing about Steck is he is incredibly precise and controlled. “I am like a Swiss watch, you know. Very efficient,” he says in the film. Swiss Machine chronicles Steck, a driven athlete who balances on the knife edge between safety and danger, as he speed climbs such routes as the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite with Alex Honnold (Mountainfilm 2010, Alone on the Wall). After setting the speed record on the north face of the Eiger at 3:50 hours, he decides to break his own time and spends a year training. The film culminates with Steck’s ambitious attempts on the gorgeous, iconic peak as he sets out–with no room for mistakes–nearly running up the snow-and-ice-blanketed peak. —KK (USA, 2010, 25 min)
38 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
IN PERSON: Renan Ozturk
Renan Ozturk (Mountainfilm 2009, Samsara, which won the Charlie Fowler Award) now heads to the remote and sun-flattened landscape of the Ennedi Desert in northeastern Chad. It’s a hot, sand-scoured and unfriendly place, but from its vast belly rise clusters of spires, towers and rock formations that are breathtakingly lovely. In Towers of the Ennedi, Ozturk and veteran climber Mark Synnott—known more for his farflung adventures than his technical accomplishments—bring young climbing stars Alex Honnold and James Pearson to the Ennedi to explore its untouched landscapes. Together, Synnott, Honnold and Pearson endure a long, bumpy drive across the sand flats of a godforsaken country to reach an incredible destination: gardens of towers filled with graceful fingers of rock, bottle-shaped formations and lithe arches. With its stark and poetic footage of camels and rock, as well as jarring images of unpleasant travels, this film shows that sometimes you can have just as many adventures trying to reach your destination as you can have once you get there. —KK (USA, 2010, 15 min)
Undercity Andrew Wonder
(Friday, 6:15 p.m., NUG; Sunday, 10:00 a.m., HC)
Truck Farm Ian Cheney
(Saturday, 3:45 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 12:00 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Ian Cheney & Curt Ellis
Forty-eight minutes may seem awfully long for a film about a truck farm. After all, how much can a filmmaker say–that is interesting–about a truck that has been converted to grow plants in the back of it? This skepticism may be warranted but is unnecessary, as filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are terrific filmmakers (they have another strong film in the festival called The City Dark and are also starting the Food Corps). They show us how to make a truck farm—drill holes in the bed, plant seeds, park on the streets of New York City and let it grow. Then they drive their mobile garden around the city to foodies, like organic chef Dan Barber (Mountainfilm guest 2009), who buy their very locally grown herbs and vegetables. The concept of a Truck Farm is a little goofy but this charming and authentic film is really much more about the vast potential of urban agriculture. —DH (USA, 2010, 48 min)
IN PERSON: Steven Duncan & Andrew Wonder
Most people come to New York City to see the sights, and understandably they look up. Steve Duncan, a historian and self-described urban explorer, looks down–way down–into the maze of tunnels that run beneath the city. Directed by Andrew Wonder, Undercity is a short documentary that follows Duncan as he shows us some of the city’s secrets and introduces us to some of the peculiar characters that lurk below the streets. Not content to explore underground, Duncan also sets his sights on some hard-toreach landmarks above–way above–ground and before long he is carefully climbing the Wiliamsburg Bridge. It’s a thrilling tour with a high degree of exposure and serious illegality, but Duncan, a confident climber, seems to know what he is doing as he shows us the city from angles rarely before seen. —DH (2010, USA, 28 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 39
the films
The Films
We Still Live Here: As Nutayunean Anne Makepeace
Waiting for a Train Oscar Bucher
(Saturday, 9:00 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 6:30 p.m., MAS)
IN PERSON: Toshio Hirano
Waiting for a Train is the lovely story of Japanese-born Toshio Hirano, who took the road less traveled by following a unique and encompassing passion for the music of Jimmie Rodgers. The moment he discovered Rodgers was a transcendent epiphany that inspired him to immigrate to the United States through Appalachia and Texas, after which he finally landed in San Francisco. As a man who is truly following his bliss, Hirano chases a passionate dream for over 40 years and is rewarded with a life well-lived, one that is filled with music, song and dance. After the screenings Hirano will grace the stage to share a little of his inspired bluegrass magic with Telluride. —EL (USA, 2010, 20 min)
We Come From Jambiani MJ Lat & Bobby Maser
(Saturday, 9:30 a.m., NUG; Sunday, 12:30 p.m., LIB)
When a Chapman College film professor challenged his students to submit their work to Mountainfilm, there were no guarantees. The student work was judged alongside all others submitted. One student film, however, rose to the top. Bobby Moser and MJ Lat’s We Come from Jambiani takes on the subject of the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, a deeply impoverished land whose people are at the mercy of inhospitable forces outside their control, and looks at the Zanzibar Action Project (ZAP), an aid undertaking that provides relief in the only way that outside aid can ever truly work–based on what the people themselves deem their needs to be. In addition to beautiful cinematography, the pace, sensitivity and incision of this film combine to reveal a true talent in the making. —PK (USA, 2010, 15 min)
(Saturday, 9:30 a.m., NUG; Sunday, 9:30 a.m., NUG)
IN PERSON: Anne Makepeace
Linguists have never before seen the likes of Jessie Little Doe. A member of a Native American tribe called the Wampanoag, Little Doe resuscitated that tribe’s language, which had been dead for over a century. Inspired by a dream, Little Doe set out to make her dream real. The Wampanoag people were some of the first to greet the Pilgrims when they landed in the New World; hence there exists a thick record of documents written in or translated to Wampanoag, including the Bible in its entirety. Aided by these documents, as well as the award of a MacArthur Grant, Little Doe pieced together linguistic clues to her ancestors’ spoken word. In an age when hundreds of languages die each year, the story of one woman’s journey to bring back her ancestral language is a hopeful tale made most poignant through the first hesitant words of a child: Little Doe’s daughter, the first native speaker of Wampanoag in over a century. —EL (USA, 2010, 56 min)
40 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
With My Own Two Wheels Jacob Seigel-Boettner
(Saturday, 11:45 a.m., NUG; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., LIB)
IN PERSON: Jacob SeigelBoettner
If you’re like me and think that bikes can save the world—or at least have a hugely positive impact—then this film is for you. With My Own Two Wheels tells the story of four people whose lives have been deeply changed by bikes. In Africa we meet a visiting nurse who sees infinitely more patients after he acquires a bike; we also meet a remarkable woman who overcomes serious physical handicaps to become the best bike mechanic in her town. In India having a bike makes the difference between whether or not a young girl will be able to go to school; and in America the film looks at a bike shop that is started to help troubled kids stay off the streets. Beautifully made by director Jacob SeigelBoettner, this film is a hopeful portrait of a world where bikes rule. —DH (USA, 2010, 44 min)
Yelp Tiffany Schlain
(Friday, 8:30 p.m., NUG; Saturday, 11:45 a.m., HC))
This short film’s full title is Yelp: With Apologies to Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” Directed by Tiffany Shlain and narrated by Peter Coyote, it is a brief essay (really a rant) about technology and how we need to–as Peter Coyote shouts to the world, “unplug, unplug, unplug and revisit the present tense.” —DH (USA, 2010, 5 min)
Yosemite Falls High-Line Camp 4 Collective & Renan Ozturk
(Friday, 6:45 p.m., SOH; Saturday, 9:00 p.m., BC; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Renan Ozturk
Taking no chances, Dean Potter rigged a high line over Yosemite Falls with a 100,000-pound shackle and a cable rope stronger and lighter than steel. No chances, that is, except for walking on a thin, blue cable stretched across the sky, above a gushing waterfall, and while being filmed by Camp Four Collective. –EL (USA, 2010, 4 min)
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 41
ADRENALINE
KIDz KINO Saturday, 9:00 p.m. Base Camp Outdoor Theater in Town Park
Free and open to the public
Mountainfilm’s annual gnar collection, aptly named the Adrenaline Program, will melt faces under the stars Saturday night. The program was curated by Stash Wislocki, Mountainfilm producer, and Ben Knight of Felt Soul Media. Berber Turns Telluride local Kim Havell teamed up with Kris Erickson and Chris Rubens to explore the far reaches of Morocco’s skiing. This short film was directed by Dave Mossop. (8 minutes) Dark Side of the Lens Surf photographer Mickey Smith artfully crafts and narrates an immensely powerful and brooding glimpse at some of Ireland’s heaviest, and coldest, waves. (7 minutes) Desert River Ben Sturgulewski of Sweetgrass Productions (Signatures, Hand Cut) leads us by foot into the high desert of a Haines, Alaska spring. (5 minutes) Life Cycles With this film Life Cycles cocreators Derek Frankowski and Ryan Gibb have changed the visual aesthetic of mountain biking forever. (45 minutes)
Lundberg Loses It Filmmaker Kenny Luby followed a day in the life of professional downhill skateboarder Eric Lundberg who makes the transition from breakfast to trying not to lose it at 70 mph. (9 minutes) Way Back Home When with trial bike in hand Danny MacAskill returns to the old country to try a few new school tricks. Filmmaker Kris Moyes captured MacAskill at play in his hometown of Dunvegan, Scotland. (7 minutes) WildWater: North Fork of Payette The North Fork of the Payette has long been fabled as one of the classics of big water kayaking. WildWater– beautifully filmed by Anson Fogel (who also edited Chasing Water and Cold, p. 24)–takes us along as kayakers attempt to run this classic during a record high water year. (7 minutes) Yosemite Falls High Line Filmmaker Renan Ozturk (Towers of Ennedi, p. 39, and On Assignment, p. 34) shows us a new angle on slack lining as Dean Potter attempts a perilous crossing at Upper Yosemite Falls. (4 minutes)
42 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
Monday, 11:00 a.m. Palm Theater
The show is free to all passholders and children under 12 years old. $10 tickets are available for the general public.
Amazonia Sam Chen Deep in the vibrant jungle a little, hungry, green frog is having some trouble finding a meal. Enter a fat, blue friend to help him out, some big scary predators, and a twist at the end to make everything all right again. (4 minutes) Animal Beatbox Damon Gameau What is the true call of the wild? Here we travel down a very special river and are introduced to a wide variety of animal kingdom members, each of whom contributes their name for the sake of music. Look for the monk-ey. (5 minutes) Dinosaur Ballet Ross Butter Don’t blink when we screen this film or you’ll miss the elegant dinosaur pas de deux. (less than 1 minute)
I Am a Paleontologist Sean McBride This delightful song by They Might Be Giants talks all about paleontology, which is a fancy word for the study of prehistoric, life-like dinosaur bones, evolution and mass extinction. (3 minutes) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Dean Fleischer Marcel hang glides onto a chip for adventure, drags around a piece of lint on a string named Alan, is afraid to drink soda, and is infectiously lovable. Join Marcel—who is really only half shell—for this exclusive day-inthe-life interview. (4 minutes) The Mustache Song Warren Brown & Adam Goddard What gives this sad cartoon character meaning in life? Why his mustache, of course! (3 minutes) Ormie Rob Silvestri Ormie is a Pig in every sense of the word. Pig see cookie. Pig want cookie. But they are out of reach...or are they? See Ormie’s attempts to gain the warm, sweet taste that is his obsession. (4 minutes)
The Shark Riddle The second episode in The Riddle Solvers series (following Riddle in a Bottle, Mountainfilm 2009), The Shark Riddle, is a half-hour shark film for the whole family. Follow siblings Laura and Robert Sams on an adventure through the pages of a magical journal to solve a mysterious riddle about shark teeth. Meet a raucous group of singing sea lions, hear a shark lullaby, and experience the underwater game show Are You a Shark? (27 minutes) Skateistan Orlando von Einsiedel Skateboarding is cool, mysterious and it also gives you a chance to see the world from a different perspective. Cruising along the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, kids in the Skateistan program talk about their life, their feelings and, most importantly, their love for skateboarding. (10 minutes) The Snake Show Joel Sartore A warning to all ophidiophobes: close your eyes now! This short film—made from over 70,000 still images taken by Joel Sartore—has the slimy, scary creatures in nearly every single frame. (3 minutes) Tadpole Bonzom If you like tadpoles, fish, dragonflies and surprises, you’re going to love this beautiful, animated short film about a tadpole just trying to get a little rest. (2 minutes) —EL
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 43
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800.537.4781 | 970.728.3001 www.telluridecondominium.com sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule reservations@telluridecondominium.com
/ PRESENTATIONS /
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 45
3 5 t h
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728-7999 • 250south south fir the corner 728-7999 · 250 fir• on · on the corner OpEN EVERY DAY 9AM – 7pM
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 47
schedule friday palm
sheridan
schedule saturday nugget
masons
library
8:00 AM 8:15 8:30 8:45 9:00 am 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00 am 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 am 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 pm 12:15 12:30 12:45 1:00 pm 1:15 1:30 1:45 1:30 to 1:30 to 1:30 to 2:00 pm 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 2:15 2:30 Images Into DIY in Action Youth in 2:45 (p. 18-19) Action Action 3:00 pm (p. 18) (p. 19) 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 pm 4:15 4:30 4:45 5:00 pm (p. 74) 5:15 5:30 5:45 6:00 pm 6:15 6:15 to 8:00 p.m. Undercity 6:30 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. Q&A Revenge of 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. 6:45 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. Nostalgia for the Electric the Light From the Cold The City Dark 7:00 pm Car Ground Up Q&A Q&A 7:15 Q&A Q&A Yosemite 7:30 Falls 7:45 Q&A 8:00 pm 8:15 Baffin Babes 8:30 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. 8:45 8:45 to 10:15 p.m. Yelp Skateistan 9:00 pm Magic Trip 9:15 to 11:15 p.m. 9:15 9:15 to 11:15 p.m. 9:15 to 11:15 p.m. A Perfect Towers of Base Camp 9:30 Interviews Soldier Ennedi 50 Cents Back Up 9:45 Q&A Q&A 10:00 pm If a Tree Falls Down & Out & Q&A 10:15 Under 10:30 Q&A 10:45 Kadoma 11:00 pm Q&A 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 am
high camp
palm
sheridan
nugget
masons
library
high camp
coffee Talks | 8:00 - 9:15 a.m.
9:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. Moving Mountains Symposium awareness into action
(p. 76)
9:30 to 11:30 a.m. 9:30 to 11:15 a.m. 9:30 to 11:15 a.m. The Grid 9:45 to 11:30 a.m. On Coal River We Come From 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. 9:45 to 11:30 a.m. Jambiani Q&A Richard Hammer & On Assignment Into Eternity Holbrooke Flame We Still Live In the Shadow Q&A Tribute Here of the Mountain Moving to Q&A
Desert River The Fall Line Seasons Swiss Machine
(p. 16)
Mars
Q&A
11:45a.m.to1:30p.m. 11:45 to 1:45 p.m. Mr. Happy Man Yelp 12:00 to 1:45 p.m. eel / water / 12:15 to 2:00 p.m. 12:15 to 2:00 p.m. 12:15 to 2:00 p.m. Magic Trip Rick Hodes rock / man Interviews 50 Nostalgia for Prayers for Cents With My Own Peace the Light Chasing One Plastic Two Wheels Water Beach Skateistan Q&A
Terry Tempest Williams
A Perfect Soldier
Q&A
Spoil Q&A
Extinction talk with M Sanjayan
Q&A
Ice Cream Social | 2:15 - 3:30 p.m.
(p. 70)
3:30 to 5:45 p.m. 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. Heliotropes The Barber of 3:45 to 5:30 p.m. Truck Farm Birmingham 4:00 to 5:45 p.m. Killing in the 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Big Q&A Name Down & Out & Nostalgia for Live from Uneasy Under the Light Shiva’s Dance Human Q&A Floor Terrain Into Darkness David de Q&A Rothschild Towers of Yes Men Lab Ennedi
Gallery Walk | 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Kadoma Q&A
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Green Wave Q&A
6:00 to 8:00 p.m. 6:00 to 8:15 p.m. Interviews 50 6:15 to 8:30 p.m. 6:15 to 8:30 p.m. Shakespeare Coal High Cents 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Happy 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Q&A Q&A Remigration Q&A Koran By Q&A Q&A If a Tree Falls Heart and Q&A Mbambu Q&A performance George and the Steinmetz Mountains of Prudence the Moon Mabhena Q&A
8:30 to 10:45 p.m. Summer Snapshot 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. 9:00 to 10:45 p.m.
Presentations Films Events
48 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
The Nature of Battle Bidder 70 Q&A
Interviews 50 Cents
The City Dark 9:15 to 11:15 p.m. Q&A Base Camp Back Up Power in the Pristine
Waiting for a Train Q&A
and special performances
8:45 to 10:30 p.m. Buck
8:00 AM 8:15 8:30 8:45 9:00 am 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00 am 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 am 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 pm 12:15 12:30 12:45 1:00 pm 1:15 1:30 1:45 2:00 pm 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:00 pm 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 pm 4:15 4:30 4:45 5:00 pm 5:15 5:30 5:45 6:00 pm 6:15 6:30 6:45 7:00 pm 7:15 7:30 7:45 8:00 pm 8:15 8:30 8:45 9:00 pm 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00 pm 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 pm 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 am
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 49
schedule sunday palm
sheridan
schedule monday nugget
masons
library
high camp
coffee Talks | 8:00 - 9:15 a.m.
Reading Frenzy | 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
TBA
TBA
50 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
palm
sheridan
nugget
masons
library
high camp
coffee Talks | 8:00 - 9:15 a.m. (p. 76)
9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Baffin Babes FREE PROGRAM
9:15 to 11:00 a.m. 9:15 to 10:45 a.m. 9:15 to 11:00 a.m. 9:15 to 10:45 a.m.
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
TBA
11:00 to 1:00 p.m.
KIDZ KINO (p. 43)
11:15 to 1:00 p.m. 11:30 to 1:00 p.m.
TBA
TBA
11:15 to 1:00 p.m. 11:30 to 1:00 p.m.
TBA
TBA
Closing Awards Party | 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
(p. 71)
base camp outdoor theatre at the Town Park main stage
Our newest bike-in theater is brought to you by Horny Toad Free and open to the public 9:00 p.m. In case of severe weather, Base Camp’s program will move to the Masons Theater at 9:15 p.m., on a first-come, first-seated basis. Weather back-up will be announced by 8 p.m. via social media networks and at all venues.
WEDNESDAY
FRIDAY
In Person: Tom Shadyac
(page 23)
I Am
We’re excited to kick off Base Camp with an encore screening of Tom Shadyac’s I Am, which premiered at Mountainfilm 2010 and won the Student and Audience Awards. This special film – now screening in cities across the country – was described in last year’s program this way: “I Am is both an introspective journey about happiness and a larger commentary on the American Dream.”
Buck
SATURDAY
Adrenaline Program (page 42)
SUNDAY
The City Dark
(page 23) In Person: Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis
Presentations Films Events
8:00 AM 8:15 8:30 8:45 (p. 76) 9:00 am 9:15 9:30 9:30 to 11:15 a.m. 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. 9:45 The Big 9:45 to 11:30 a.m. Remigration 10:00 am 10:00 to 11:45 a.m. Power in the Uneasy Q&A 10:00 to 11:45 a.m. 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Pristine 10:15 We Still Live The Grid Undercity Prayers for Here Q&A and Into Eternity Peace Q&A 10:30 Q&A Q&A performance 10:45 Live From Geoff Tabin 11:00 am Shiva’s Dance David de Floor Rothschild 11:15 11:30 From the Ground Up 11:45 11:45 to 1:45 p.m. Q&A 12:00 pm My Toxic 12:00 to 2:30 p.m. Reality 12:15 Chasing 12:15 to 2:00 p.m. 12:15 to 2:00 p.m. 12:15 to 2:00 p.m. Q&A Water 12:30 Buck Koran By Cold 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. On Coal River Q&A Heart 12:45 Q&A Hammer & Q&A Q&A Truck Farm Flame 1:00 pm We Come From Wade Davis Q&A 1:15 Jambiani 1:30 Bill Killing in the McKibben 1:45 Name 2:00 pm Skateistan 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:00 pm 3:15 (p. 82) 3:30 3:45 4:00 pm 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Revenge of 4:15 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. Heliotropes On Assignment 4:30 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. eel / water / In the Shadow 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. the Electric of the Car Chris Rainier 4:45 Happy rock / man Moving to Mountain Q&A Mars Q&A 5:00 pm Mbambu Desert River Deadliest 5:15 and the The Fall Line Catch Mountains of 5:30 Seasons Q&A the Moon Swiss 5:45 Q&A Machine 6:00 pm Q&A 6:15 6:15 to 8:15 p.m. Summer 6:30 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Snapshot 6:45 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. One Plastic 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. With My Own 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 7:00 pm Beach 7:00 to 8:45 p.m. Interviews 50 Shakespeare Cents High Mr. Happy Man Two Wheels If a Tree Falls 7:15 Bidder 70 Yosemite Q&A The Barber of Q&A Q&A Q&A 7:30 Falls Birmingham Spoil 7:45 Into Darkness Waiting for a Q&A 8:00 pm Timmy O’Neill Train 8:15 Life Cycles Q&A and Q&A 8:30 performance 8:45 8:45 to 10:45 p.m. 9:00 pm 9:15 9:15 to 11:15 p.m. 9:15 to 11:00 p.m. 9:15 to 11:15 p.m. 9:30 The Nature of Base Camp Battle Back Up 9:45 The Green 10:00 pm Wave 10:15 Q&A 10:30 10:45 11:00 pm 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 am
8:00 AM 8:15 8:30 8:45 9:00 am 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00 am 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 am 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 pm 12:15 12:30 12:45 1:00 pm 1:15 1:30 1:45 2:00 pm 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:00 pm 3:15 3:30 3:45 4:00 pm 4:15 4:30 4:45 5:00 pm 5:15 5:30 5:45 6:00 pm 6:15 6:30 6:45 7:00 pm 7:15 7:30 7:45 8:00 pm 8:15 8:30 8:45 9:00 pm 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00 pm 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 pm 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 am
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2ND A NNU AL 3 artistic lives - backcountry pioneers legends of the mountain - a family of authors practitioners of the deep - the lachapelle legacy
a dynamic story waiting to be told...
3 - D AY h o r r o r F i L m F e s t i vA L
"I remember one bright powder morning at Alta,Utah. I watched from inside the warm living room of our cabin as my father scooped up a handful of snow crystals, examined them with his pocket magnifying lens, and then let the snow fall from his hands. It was in the time the powder snow took to fall from his fingers and reach the ground that I saw a side of my father which transcended the science that anchored his life. He was, in that moment, reverent, as if listening to a greater voice than his senses could convey. He stood for a moment and I witnessed him encounter the world as if it were sacred. He turned from that moment, came inside and began to call the lodges to tell them that there would need to be some avalanche control work before the ski area could open."
Presentations synopsis by: David Holbrooke (DH) Emily Long (EL) (listed in order of schedule)
t eLLUr iDe, c oLor ADo
- David Randall LaChapelle, son
Photos provided by the LaChapelle Library. All rights reserved.
Help bring it to the screen, to Mountain Film. Now accepting proposals.
For tickets AND iNFo visit teLLUriDehorrorshow.com FAcebook.com/teLLUriDehorror
www.LaChapelleLegacy.org 52 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 53
presentations
presentations
richard holbrooke tribute (Saturday, 9:45 a.m., PALM)
the baffin babes (Friday, 6:45 p.m., SOH; Monday, 9:30 a.m., PALM)
In March 2009, the Baffin Babes set out on a burly ski trip of 1,200 km across the Canadian Arctic’s Baffin Island. The four twenty-something women—two Swedish sisters, Emma and Vera Simonsson and a pair of Norwegians, Kristin Folsland Olsen and Ingebjoerg Tollefsen—are all seasoned guides so before they set out they wanted to make sure the social dynamic of their group would hold up. Sparing no punches they told each other exactly what they liked—and didn’t like—about each other and probed how their relationships might clash or gel on a trip where they would depend on each other for survival. Their experience on the ice and snow may have been hardcore and harrowing— such as sleeping in a tent with polar bears
as their closest neighbors—but they also brought a joyous spirit to the trip, posing for goofy photos along the way and skinnydipping in ice-cold waters. They will bring that same joy and exuberance to the Sheridan Opera House Friday evening with a presentation that is unlike any you have ever seen before with singing, dancing and much merriment. If you miss them Friday, check them out at the Palm Monday morning. Bring your friends on Monday as this presentation is free and open to the public. The Babes are able to attend Mountainfilm this year due in large part to the generosity of long-time attendee and supporter John McCall. —EL
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When he was young, my father, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, read Maurice Herzog’s classic Annapurna. Like so many others, it affected him deeply, and instilled in him a deep respect of the mountains, one that lasted throughout his life. He climbed in the Alps when he was young; journeyed to Tibet when it was first open to Westerners; and made repeated trips to the mountainous country of Afghanistan first as a private citizen, then later as President Obama’s Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP). Then, there was Telluride, a place he loved and where he felt very much at home in a way I never saw him anywhere else. My father ambled up Bear Creek in the summer and raced down Bushwacker in the winter at a speed that could be dangerous to anyone nearby.
When he discovered Mountainfilm, he found himself surrounded by other people who, as Melville wrote in Moby Dick, “love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts” (a quote that was used on the program as his memorial). It further deepened his appreciation for this unusual town to be with kindred spirits who strive for a life filled with adventure, as well as with meaning. And that is why we have put together a program of people who can address that spirit that he so embodied, but who also have the insight and wisdom to assess where we are now on the work that he so cared about from AIDS to Afghanistan. As of press time the full roster for this program was still being assembled. There will be a few brief remembrances by family and friends, and more to his liking, a serious conversation about foreign policy in a world that has changed dramatically in the past half-year since his sudden death in December. —DH
Speakers include: • Roger Cohen, New York Times columnist, on his legacy in Bosnia • Anthony Holbrooke on our father in Telluride • Vali Nasr, author of The Shia Revival and a member of the SRAP Team, on the new Middle East • David Rohde, New York Times journalist, on being held hostage in Serbia and Afghanistan • Ben Skinner, author and abolitionist, on his contributions to eradicating modern day slavery EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 55
presentations
presentations
“
Our kinship with Earth must be
maintained; otherwise, we will find ourselves trapped in the center of our
”
own paved-over souls with no way out. - Finding Beauty in a Broken World
david de rothschild (Saturday, 3:45 p.m., PALM; Sunday, 9:45 a.m., SOH)
Inspired by Thor Heyerdahl’s legendary Kon-tiki expedition across the Pacific Ocean, David de Rothschild set sail from San Francisco in March of 2010, landing in Sydney four months later. Like Heyerdahl who made his voyage on a rickety looking raft, de Rothschild’s highly unusual vessel was called the “Plastiki” because the catamaran’s hull consisted of 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles. In the U.S. 12,500 plastic bottles are used every 8.3 seconds and de Rothschild wanted his Plastiki project to bring attention to the problem of waste. With his famous name (he is part of the well-known banking family), dashing good looks and audacious vision, his madcap adventure/environmental
statement has given him a platform to bring about change. He has had other adventures as well. He traversed Antarctica and on another occasion spent 100 days crossing from Russia to Canada, making him the youngest British citizen to reach both geographical poles. He is also an author, organic farmer and at one time a student of naturopathic medicine. De Rothschild will speak about the Plastiki expedition and what we can do to reduce waste on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. at the Palm and again on Sunday at the Sheridan Opera House as well as a Coffee Talk about the perils of plastic on Sunday. —EL
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terry tempest williams (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., PALM)
Writer, author and naturalist Terry Tempest Williams is not one to sit quietly by. In addition to writing about the issues that she cares so deeply about, Tempest Williams is also an activist. She has testified before Congress on women’s health issues; been arrested and jailed for civil disobedience; she has been a guest at the White House; and worked as a barefoot artist, one of a group of artists invited to Rwanda to create a memorial to that country’s genocide. For Tempest Williams environmental issues are social issues that ultimately become matters of justice. This past February she joined hundreds of others in Salt Lake City in support of climate activist Tim DeChristopher. In early
March 2011 DeChristopher was convicted of disrupting a federal oil and gas lease auction; in disrupting the auction—by winning the leases for 22,500 acres of public lands, but for which he had no intention of paying—he took the public lands out of the oil and gas play. (See more about DeChristopher on page 61). Speaking at a gathering prior to the trial Tempest Williams said: “I love that Tim has shown us not only what is possible, but what is necessary.” Tempest Williams is working on a new book about the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf, an early portion of which was featured in a recent cover story in Orion magazine. She last appeared at Mountainfilm in 2005. –EL
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presentations
presentations
the Yes Men (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., NUG)
You have probably always wanted to be a Yes Man. Here’s your chance. Andy Bichlbaum who was at Mountainfilm 2009 with his film, The Yes Men Fix the World, returns and brings us a Yes Lab, which we will let him explain: “I’ll start by letting the audience know that they’re going to be asked to think of some action to do by the end. Then I will frame the overall idea of laughtivism: creating an action with humor to hook journalists and hook everyone else as well. “Then I’ll show a wide variety of different things that we’ve done as part of the Yes Lab: Coalcares.org; Hydrofracking “safe to drink” campaign; Copenhagen15 action and a couple of things other people have done. “I’ll also bring a bunch of relics of actions (stickers, etc.) to give away to any active participants as well as a special certificate, or maybe it’s actually a draft card. Yes, I’ll give them a draft card.” —DH
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george steinmetz (Saturday, 6:15 p.m., SOH)
George Steinmetz was pursuing a degree in geology at Stanford when he decided to drop out and spent two and a half years hitch-hiking around Africa. He returned to finish his degree, but knew he needed to get back out on the road and decided the best way to satisfy this wanderlust was to become a photographer. Early on in his career George Steinmetz figured out that making pictures from a plane brought limited success as the pilots flew too fast and high and often didn’t understand where he needed to go. Frustrated, he took paragliding lessons, and soon
strapped on his back a custom-built, motorized paraglider, a funky contraption he calls a flying lawn chair. It is also the lightest and slowest-moving aircraft in the world, and has allowed him to shoot from angles that have not previously been seen. At the Sheridan Opera House on Saturday at 6:15 p.m., Steinmetz will talk about his view of the world from this unique vantage point. He has photographed in Brazil, China and all over Africa for many magazines, including National Geographic for which he has completed more than twenty assignments. –DH
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presentations
presentations
tim
dechristopher Saturday, 9:00 p.m., PALM
We don’t know when Tim DeChristopher will be back to Mountainfilm. This past March he was convicted of interfering with a federal oil and gas lease auction and is being sentenced on June 23 in Salt Lake City. At that December 2008 auction DeChristopher bid on and won the right to drill more than 22,500 acres of public lands; he had no intention of paying the nearly $1.8 million
prudence mabhena (Saturday, 6:15 p.m., PALM)
When Prudence Mabhena took the stage after a screening of Music by Prudence, the short documentary about her life, it was one of the most electrifying moments of Mountainfilm 2010. This incredibly talented young lady was born with a debilitating condition called arthogryposis that left her severely handicapped. In Mabhena’s home country of Zimbabwe the handicapped are often associated with witchcraft and her parents abandoned her as a young child. Her maternal grandmother refused to do the same and eventually found a school for disabled people that would take her granddaughter. The school, St. George’s, changed her life as she found other musically inclined students who formed a band, Liyana, which featured the little girl with the big voice as the lead singer. When we saw the film
(which won an Oscar for short documentary), we managed–with the support of Stuart and Joanna Brown–to get Mabhena to Mountainfilm. After arriving in Telluride, she met Dr. Rick Hodes (p. 66) who has dedicated his career to fixing spines of children in Ethiopia. Hodes knew he could help her and announced at last year’s Awards Picnic that he had found a surgeon who would be able to alleviate Mabhena’s life-threatening condition. This winter the daunting–and expensive–surgery happened in Denver and after a grueling recovery, Mabhena is ready to return to the stage. For her first performance since the operation, she is returning to Mountainfilm 2011, which should again be one of the highlights of the festival. –DH
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painting by charlotta Janssen
that he owed for the leases. At this point, between conviction and sentencing, some people would heed their attorneys’ advice and lay low in an attempt to avoid a longer prison term. Moments after his conviction, however, DeChristopher ignored that advice. Leaving the courtroom, he stepped onto the courthouse steps and made this speech:
Everything that went on inside that building tried to convince me that I was alone and that I was weak. They tried to convince me that I was like a little finger out there on my own that could easily be broken. All of you out here were the reminder that I was connected to a hand with many fingers that could unite as one fist. That fist is not a symbol of violence. That fist is a symbol that we will not be misled into thinking we are alone. We will not be lied to and told we are weak. We will not be divided and we will not back down. We are connected and we are powerful. We know that now I’ll have to go to prison. We know that is the reality but that’s just the job that I’ll have to do. That’s the role that I face. Many before me have gone to jail for justice and if we’re going to keep our vision many after me will have to join me as well. Nobody ever told us that this battle would be easy. Nobody ever told us that we wouldn’t have to make sacrifices. Every wave on the ocean that has risen up and refused to lie back down has been dashed upon the shores. But it is the very purpose of the wave to rise up; because once it rises above the horizon it has the perspective to see that it’s not just a wave. That it’s a part of a mighty ocean and the sharpest rocks on the wildest shores could never break that ocean apart. They could never wear that ocean down because it is the ocean that shapes the shore. And that’s what we are starting to do here today. That’s what we are starting to do here this week. With wave after wave after wave crashing against that shore we shape it to our vision. DeChristopher will speak at the Symposium (p. 16) and again, after the screening of the work-in-progress Bidder 70 on Saturday night, he will speak with Terry Tempest
Williams and Bill McKibben. He will also participate in a talk Monday (p. 51). —EL
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presentations
geoff tabin (Sunday, 10:00 a.m. HC)
Being blind is a challenge anywhere, however in the Third World it is often a death sentence. In the developing world there are approximately 150 million functionally blind people; as a result of their condition they have one-third the life expectancy of a sighted person. As overwhelming as those statistics are, sight can be restored to more than eighty percent of these folks. That is where noted eye surgeon Dr. Geoff Tabin steps in. Returning from the top of Mt. Everest in 1988, Tabin (who would later become the fourth man to climb the Seven Summits and one of the creators of bungee jumping–but that’s another story) came across a Dutch surgical team performing cataract surgery on a woman. The encounter changed his life; then an orthopedic resident Tabin switched specialties and chose ophthalmology. Soon after Tabin joined forces with Dr. Sanduk Ruit, a visionary Nepali ophthalmologist who believed that with the right approach
they could eliminate preventable blindness. Over the past decades Tabin and Ruit have honed that approach. Typically Tabin and a team of medical professionals set up shop in a small country like Nepal or Ethiopia; over several days they perform hundreds of operations. They also teach surgical skills to local doctors and help those doctors continue to work to reduce the number of blind people in their country. Tabin’s impressive work ethic has led to him being director of two institutions—the John A. Moran Eye Center and the Himalayan Cataract Project— that are dedicated to ending preventable blindness. On a recent trip to Ethiopia Tabin took along longtime Mountainfilm guest and professional climber Timmy O’Neill. The plan was to repair thousands of eyes, and then climb some nearby mountains. You can hear from these two men how it didn’t go quite according to plan at High Camp on Sunday. —DH
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bill mckibben (Sunday, 12:00 p.m., SOH)
In 1989, Bill McKibben wrote The End of Nature, which was the first book for the general public about the perils of global warming. Before that, climate change wasn’t on our radar, but now it is a specter that will negatively impact future generations. McKibben last spoke at Mountainfilm 2009 about his essential work at the climate group 350.org and now he returns to Telluride to discuss his latest book, Eaarth. The book sketches what climate change will feel like when it is no longer that distant specter but rather an everyday horror. His thesis is that we can no longer push back against global warming but must now focus on adapting to a hotter, harsher world the best we can.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that McKibben has given up the fight to push CO2 levels in the atmosphere down to 350 parts per million (considered by scientists to be the magic number). He continues to travel tirelessly, working towards this goal and will discuss what we need to do—individually and collectively. There are several opportunities to see McKibben speak: he will give closing remarks to the morning session at High Camp on Friday; he will do two breakfast talks (p. 76); Q&A with Tim DeChristopher and Terry Tempest Williams; and a conversation about Eaarth at the Sheridan Opera House on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. —DH
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presentations
presentations
wade davis (Sunday, 12:15 p.m., HC)
Wade Davis who has appeared at Mountainfilm many times is often thought as an anthropologist and ethno-botanist; yet he considers himself more of a storyteller. Now after a two-year absence he returns to Telluride with two important stories. In the first he is an activist, explaining at the Symposium on Friday the critical debate over drilling in the Sacred Headwaters, a still primal, sub-alpine basin in northern British Columbia that is the source of three salmonbearing rivers. The second story he tells is about the famed mountaineer George Mallory who made several attempts on Mount Everest, the final one fatal. Ten years in the making,
Davis’s forthcoming book Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest shows how the mountaineer’s obsession was rooted in 19th-century imperial ambitions, but then became a redemptive statement for a generation of men trying to repair their psyches after the brutality of World War I. This book used new access to notes and personal letters and is the latest opus from the highly productive Davis who has written more than a dozen books and appeared in countless films while also serving as an Explorer-in-Residence for National Geographic. —DH
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chris rainier (Sunday, 4:15 p.m., SOH)
Last October photographer Chris Rainier, a longtime friend to Mountainfilm, jumped out of an airplane over Mount Everest with guide Tom Noonan. The two men set a record for the highest tandem skydive. Now Rainier returns to Telluride to tell the story of this bold adventure. He is also here to talk about conservation and culture and how today adventure today can be so deeply woven into social activism. Rainier will also discuss photographers from Ansel Adams to present-day visual storytellers and examine how the nature of their work is changing in the 21st century. –DH
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presentations
presentations
timmy
o’neill
(Sunday, 6:45 p.m., SOH)
So right as we were finalizing this program that you are now reading, we received an email from longtime Mountainfilm guest Timmy O’Neill who wanted to offer his own theatrical take on Greg Mortenson:
rick hodes (Saturday, 11:45 a.m., NUG)
Since he first came to the festival in 2009 with the film that featured him, Dr. Rick Hodes has had a special relationship with Mountainfilm. That documentary, Making the Crooked Straight, followed his efforts to help children in Ethiopia whose spines had been twisted by spinal tuberculosis and other diseases. The film won the Moving Mountains Prize that year and instead of putting the $5,000 in prize money (which had been supplemented by an anonymous audience member) into a general fund to support his work, Hodes decided that he would use it to heal a single child. The recipient was a thirteen-year old girl named Mieraf whom he brought last year to Telluride where she spoke about how
Mountainfilm had “saved her life.” Also at last year’s festival, he encountered Prudence Mabhena, the star of Music by Prudence who was born severely handicapped in Zimbabwe but has been blessed with a remarkable singing voice. Once he met her, he went to work and helped arrange major surgery that he said, “saved her life.” This year, we can’t guarantee he will find more lives to save, but we do know that he will speak about his work in Ethiopia and, in keeping with this year’s theme of Awareness into Action, will talk about how the Mountainfilm audience can help him broaden the important work he is doing. He will also be part of a Coffee Talk on Monday. —DH
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“I want to do a piece called, ‘Three Cups of Coffee - Jacked on Activism.’ It will be fast and fun, sincere and effective. Trust me - I have not failed, misled, or lied to you and I truly feel this will be powerful. It’s not about taking down or destroying but bolstering and empowering. Humor, Love and Trust get together for a few cups of coffee and find a lust for life. You get the idea. TO” What could we do but say “yes.” –DH
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ne ws pa pe rs .co m
ch wat 68 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
social E v e nt s
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social events
Mountainfilm hosts the following parties and events during the festival. All are free to the public, unless noted. Don’t forget! Mountainfilm will not be providing single-use disposable items at the festival this year. Bring your own coffee mug, ice cream bowl and plates and utensils to festival-sponsored events.
Base Camp Outdoor Theater Wed n e sday, F riday, Satur day and Sunday 9:0 0 p. m . Tellurid e Town Par k
We are excited to unveil our newest venue in 2011: Base Camp Outdoor Theater. Watch Mountainfilm movies under the stars and set up your own camp in Town Park with blankets, chairs, and everything you need to cozy into a good film. Rain or moonshine!
Gallery Walk Friday 3:3 0 to 6 : 30 p. m .
See page 72 for a list of artists and galleries. An opportunity to view great art, meet the artists, and mix and mingle, while enjoying complimentary hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine.
Social events
Awareness Into… DANCING! F ri day 1 0 : 3 0 p. m . to late nig ht T he L lama ($1 0 c ove r c harg e )
Mohammed Alidu and the Bizung Family will be performing “funky filigree Afropop.” Mohammed comes from a long tradition of Ghanaian drummers and his band donates a portion of their proceeds to Playing For Change Foundation’s Bizung School of Music and Dance in Tamale, Ghana. The Llama will be offering drink specials for anyone with a Mountainfilm pass.
12SHOTS
Closing Night Party
Saturday 9: 30 p. m. to c los e Honga’s Lotus Pe tal
Sunday 9:30 p.m. to clo se The Llama ( $ 5 cov er charge)
Coffee Talks
Bluegrass Jam Session with Toshio Hirano
Satur day, Sunday an d M onday 8 : 0 0 to 9 : 1 5 a. m.
See page 76 for full descriptions of speakers and venues. NOTE: These are now coffee talks, NOT breakfast talks, so plan accordingly before you take your seat at 8:00 a.m. Plenty of coffee and tea will be available—just bring your own cup or mug.
Ice Cream Social Satur day 2 : 0 0 to 3 : 30 p. m. Colorad o Ave nue ( main str ee t ), b e t w e e n As pe n an d F ir Str e e ts
Ice cream with special sauces and toppings provided by Telluride Truffle will be served in cones and waffles and accompanied by live entertainment. If you prefer a bowl, please bring your own.
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This inspired reception features a series of stories told in images projected on a big screen. The storytellers: a group of worldrenowned iLCP photographers. Their charge: to each tell a tale using only twelve shots.
Saturday 9: 0 0 p. m. to late nig h t Ste aming B e an (donations ac c e pte d)
Stop by the Bean after the movies to see Toshio Hirano (featured in Waiting for a Train, p. 40) and friends in a bluegrass jam session. Show your Mountainfilm pass for $2 off any of the Bean’s signature cocktails.
Reading Frenzy Sunday 2 : 0 0 to 4 : 0 0 p. m. Crystal Con s e rvatory at The Pe aks Re s ort an d Spa in Mountain Village
Enjoy music by Timmy O and his new band Mounting Fill along with DJ Krittah and a dance-off, battle royale style.
Closing Awards Picnic Monday 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Telluride Town Park–sponsored by Eddie Bau er, Outside Magazine an d Outside Telev ision
(The picnic is free to Wilson, Ama Dablam and Patron passholders; tickets are on sale at Hospitality, at the Park entrance and online for $25.) Here’s your chance to vote for the Audience Choice Award, have a delicious organic lunch, and enjoy free-flowing beer and wine from New Belgium Brewing and Redwood Creek. We’ll announce the winners of the Moving Mountains Prize, Charlie Fowler Award and others as we close out the 33rd edition of the annual festival.
On Sunday afternoon theaters go dark for two hours, and Mountainfilm hosts a book signing and selling party. Food and drinks are compliments of JanSport. See the full list of authors on page 82.
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gallery walk
gallery walk
Paul Colang e lo
A N T R I M C A SKE Y
gallery A ntrim Ca s k e y
walk
GALLERY WALK OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. see map on page 96 for locations
Mountainfilm is hosting a wide range of artists this year, each of whom is committed to making a difference, a goal that mirrors the festival’s theme of Awareness into Action. At each gallery the exhibiting artist will have a call to action, and in many cases proceeds from art sales will go to support the cause behind the exhibit.
The Beehive Design Collective Traveling
Members of the Beehive Design Collective collaborate on larger-than-life, hand-drawn posters. Those posters become the signature banner for a campaign in support of (or against) a compelling issue of our times. Emma Bee, a member of the Collective, is bringing “The True Cost of Coal,” a massive poster with storylines and details that rival those of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Those details narrate what happens when this energy source is ripped from the ground. The poster, a stark reminder of what it takes to turn on our lights, will be exhibited around town during the festival. Don’t hesitate to ask Emma Bee about the details.
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t he b e e hi v e coll ec ti v e
Antrim Caskey High Camp
As part of her effort to chronicle mountain top removal in West Virginia, photographer Antrim Caskey embedded with protesters. For her master’s thesis, Caskey assembled the photos into a zine titled Dragline (which is for sale at the Reading Frenzy). Her heart-wrenching images of the wholesale destruction of mountains, posed alongside candid photos of the people determined to right this wrong, stir the soul.
Paul Colangelo Ah Haa West
Paul Colangelo, a documentary photographer was awarded a Mountainfilm Commitment grant for his award-winning project Sacred Headwaters, Sacred Journey. British Columbia’s three greatest salmonbearing rivers are threatened by extraction and this project seeks to raise awareness, through words and images, about the threat to this primal and largely untouched area. In this effort Colangelo is collaborating with many different people, including longtime festival guest Wade Davis.
S h annon Galpin
CH A R LOT T E LY KES J O R GE N SEN
George and Jenny Gage
The Butcher and the Baker
When in March 2008 Tim DeChristopher bid on and won the right to drill more than 22,500 acres of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, he had no intention of paying nearly $1.8 million for the leases. The firestorm he set off in the environmental community has galvanized many to action, including local filmmakers George and Beth Gage. The Gages are telling DeChristopher’s story in a film, Bidder 70 (page 22). George has added to that effort still photographs, on exhibit here. Gage is joined in the exhibit by his daughter Jenny Gage, a fashion photographer based in Brooklyn.
Shannon Galpin High Camp
Shannon Galpin founded Mountain2Mountain, a non-profit that works to improve women’s rights in Afghanistan. Here in Streets of Afghanistan Galpin exhibits large-format photos of life in that war-torn country.
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gallery walk
gallery walk
G EOR G E ST E I N M E TZ
Aaron Huey
J u dit h Selby Lang an d Ri ch ard Lang
Jas on Houston
Ace Kval e
Jason Houston
Charlotta Janssen
Jason Houston was last at Mountainfilm in 2009 with lovely photos of organic farmers. This time he brings a very different exhibit titled People of the Forest, a photo presentation that looks at a longterm conservation project in Borneo; his photos raise the question of how complex conservation work can be in the developing world.
Painter Charlotta Janssen was at Mountainfilm last year with her commanding series, Freedom Riders, a series of portraits of civil rights activists. Recently Janssen has turned her attention to environmental activists; she returns this year with a striking triptych of climate activist Tim DeChristopher, whom she painted after he was convicted in federal court this spring of interfering with an oil and gas lease auction held by the BLM.
Schilling Studio Gallery
Aaron Huey
Silver Bell Building
Photographer Aaron Huey returns to Mountainfilm with perhaps his most powerful body of work yet. Moved by more than a century of injustice suffered by the Lakota, a Native American tribe forcibly moved off their land and confined to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Huey has lived with the Lakota for the past six years and photographed with brutal honesty their impoverished lives. As moving as the photos are, Huey says his work is not finished; in various ways he continues to give voice to this social injustice, including speaking at the Moving Mountains Symposium (page 18).
TELLURIDE GALLERY OF FINE ART
Chris Korbulic Steaming Bean
A kayaker, Chris Korbulic was part of the expedition to the Lukuga River in the Congo that ended with the tragic death of lead paddler, Hendri Coetzee; Coetzee was attacked by a 15-foot crocodile. Korbulic’s photos of this journey mostly capture the time before the attack.
Ace Kvale
Strong House
Former Telluride area resident and longtime Mountainfilm guest, photographer Ace Kvale returns to Mountainfilm with portraits of people whose eyes have been operated on by featured guest Geoff Tabin (page 62). These portraits are simple but striking close-ups of people whose lives are about to change dramatically.
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PE T E R M C B R I DE
Dre w Lu dw ig
Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang Ah Haa East
For twelve years the Langs have been walking the same stretch of California beach picking up plastic and turning what was detritus into art. Their work has been exhibited in San Francisco MOMA and is the subject of the short film, One Plastic Beach (page 35). The Langs also designed this year’s Mountainfilm Awards.
c h ri s korbuli c
Vevie Lykes Dimmitt & Charlotte Lykes Jorgensen Schilling Studio Gallery
Vevie Dimmitt and Charlotte Jorgenson are sisters who were so moved by the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that they documented what they saw—and felt—on canvas. The two talented painters have told a story of the explosion, and also chronicled life after the spill.
Drew Ludwig
Peter McBride
Last August photographer Drew Ludwig went to Louisiana to lend a hand. Instead he found a thousand hands reaching out to help him. What started as an act of activism became a 120-mile walk from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way he collected solitary gloves, gloves that came to symbolize for him the story of Louisiana and its people. During his12-hour days of walking he made countless friends who offered him hospitality and respite. This exhibition, Ludwig’s photos of these kind folk combined with the found gloves, is a thoroughly original and entirely beautiful series of photo collages.
Peter McBride collaborated with writer Jonathan Waterman to film the length of the Colorado River, from headwaters to mouth, in an effort to help us better understand this crucial water source. McBride’s still photos of that effort paint a picture of a mighty waterway that is stressed to the breaking point and in real peril of falling down on the job of delivering water to millions.
Telluride Gallery of Fine Art
La Cocina de Luz
George Steinmetz
Telluride Gallery of Fine Art
George Steinmetz makes photographs while flying a motorized paraglider. For more than a decade, Steinmetz, a National Geographic Explorer, has flown all over the world, reaching many remote areas that are otherwise inaccessible. These special photographs provide a perspective that has never been seen before.
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EVENTS
EVENTS Saturday #1 The Greg Mortenson Story
There are two primary questions currently being asked about Greg Mortenson: the veracity of his book, Three Cups of Tea, and the allegations of financial impropriety at his nonprofit, the Central Asia Institute. Mountainfilm Executive Director Peter Kenworthy discusses the many aspects of this difficult story with anthropologist Ted Callahan (who was interviewed by 60 Minutes in its story on Mortenson), National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis and Outside Editor Chris Keyes. #2 Can Bikes Save the World? GUS GUSCIORA
coffee T A L KS Locations
(see the map on page 9) #1—Ah Haa School, West Wing #2—Ah Haa School, East Wing #3—Honga’s Lotus Petal Restaurant #4—The Silver Bell Building
8:00 to 9:15 a.m.
Start your day off with hot coffee and compelling
conversation at the Mountainfilm Coffee Talks, where you can engage with festival guests in a more intimate setting. Please note that we are NOT serving food at the
Coffee Talks. We suggest getting breakfast at a local establishment.
Conversations start at 8 a.m., so please be sure you are seated before then.
#5—Sheridan Opera House
Dan Austin of 88 Bikes, Jacey Depriest who started Telluride Townies—our local bike borrow program, former Mountain bike racer Shannon Galpin (Mountain2Mountain), and Jacob Seigel-Boettner who directed With My Own Two Wheels all believe in the power of two wheels. What role can and should bikes play in this world? #3 The Food Movement
We are witnessing some fundamental shifts in the way the world eats, but the more some things change, the more they stay the same. Dennis Dimick of National Geographic sits down with Curt Ellis (King Corn, Truck Farm, and Symposium Speaker for Food Corps), Dave James of James Family Ranch in Durango, and author Bill McKibben to try and figure out how the food movement keeps its momentum.
#4 Making Movies in the Mountains
Photographer Jimmy Chin (On Assignment), pro skier Lynsey Dyer, pro climber Alex Honnold (subject, Alone on the Wall), Renan Ozturk (director, Towers of Ennedi) and Nick Rosen (Sender Films) discuss the tricks of their trade. #5 Remembering Tim Hetherington
War photographer Tim Hetherington (Mountainfilm 2010, director, Restrepo) was killed in Libya on April 20 by an RPG attack. Photographer Aaron Huey (Pine Ridge exhibit) discusses the kind of danger war reporters face with two writers for the New York Times: Roger Cohen who was recently in Libya for the paper; and David Rohde who was held hostage in Serbia and Afghanistan and wrote about those experiences in his book, A Rope and a Prayer. #6 K2
Authors Freddie Wilkinson (One Thousand Summits) and Jennifer Jordan (The Last Man on the Mountain) join mountaineers Jake Norton and Dr. Geoff Tabin to talk about the second biggest, and arguably the baddest, mountain in the world.
#6—The Lodge in Mountain Village
merrick chase
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EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 77
EVENTS
EVENTS
coffee T A L KS continued
Sunday
Monday
#3 One Word — Plastic
#1 On-the-Edge Environmentalism
At Mountainfilm 2010 Jeb Berrier starred in the film Bag It, the easygoing exposé on our plastic world. David deRothschild, Andy Heller of Chico Bags and artist Judith Selby Lang (One Plastic Beach) join Berrier to talk about the perils of plastic. #4 Remembering Wes Skiles
GUS GUSCIORA
#1 Happiness
“Depression is the surest way to evil” is a truism uttered by Rabbi Nachman and yet another reason to be happy. Who better to get happy with than Roko Belic, director of Happy, Speed Levitch (Live from Shiva’s Dance Floor) and Tom Shadyac, director of I Am, all in conversation with Festival Director David Holbrooke. #2 The Arab Spring
As the Arab Spring moves into summer (and does so without Osama Bin Laden), Roger Cohen of the New York Times and Vali Nasr, an author and advisor to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, along with Koran By Heart director Greg Barker, try their best to figure out what this means for the New Middle East.
Last year Mountainfilm exhibited Wes Skiles’ breath taking photographs of Blue Holes in the Bahamas. Sadly, two months after the festival, Skiles was killed in a diving accident. A month later, his luminescent photos graced the August cover of National Geographic. Photographers Jim Balog, Antrim Caskey, Chris Rainier and George Steinmetz talk about the risks they take to make the photos that move us—and at what cost. #5 Coal
For some it is a way of life, for others it is a four-letter word. Emma Bee of the Beehive Design Collective, mountaintop-removal opponent Maria Gunnoe, and teen activist Alec Loorz talk about the human cost of this energy source. #6 The Outside Team
Rob Faris, who is in charge of programming at Outside TV, Chris Keyes, editor of Outside magazine, and Joe Spring who runs Outside online, will talk about how these connected, but also distinct, entities work together. Then, these brave men will take pitches for story and show ideas from the audience.
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How far would you—or should—you go for something you believe in? Filmmaker Marshall Curry (If a Tree Falls) questions convicted climate activist Tim DeChristopher, author Bill McKibben, and Goldman Prize winners Maria Gunnoe and Hilton Kelley about their limits. #2 Making Movies That Matter
You have made an important film. How do you make sure it maximizes its impact? Suzan Beraza (Bag It), Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men, Richard Fitoussi, (producer, The Perfect Soldier) Ben Knight (Red Gold), and Beth Gage (Bidder 70) talk about their experiences of turning awareness into action. merrick chase
#3 The Abolitionist Movement
The scourge that is modern day slavery can be abolished in our lifetimes, but it is going to take work. Hear how you can help from actress and United Nations Human Rights Ambassador Julia Ormond, author and abolitionist Ben Skinner, and filmmaker Tom Shadyac (director, I Am). #4 Health Care in Africa
Dr. Rick Hodes who fixes children’s spines in Ethiopia (Mountainfilm 2009, Making the Crooked Straight,); singer and disability advocate Prudence Mabhena (Mountainfilm 2010, Music By Prudence p. 60); and former pro basketball player and humanitarian Dikembe Mutombo (p. TK) who also has built a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo explain the particular challenges of delivering health care in Africa.
#5 Run River Run
Across the world, free-flowing rivers are being dammed, rerouted and polluted. Author Craig Childs (Power in the Pristine), Wade Davis, the inimitable Katie Lee, and Peter McBride (Chasing Water) examine the future of these ancient waterways and what can be done to preserve them. #6 The Extinction Crisis
Josh Bernstein speaks with National Geographic Editor Dennis Dimick and M. Sanjayan of the Nature Conservancy about the Sixth Extinction and what we can do about it.
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 79
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events
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Between the Covers bookstore moves to The Peaks for the afternoon. Get your book signed and continue the conversation face-to-face with your favorite Mountainfilm authors. Beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served, compliments of JanSport. Note: David de Rothschild, David Rohde and Terry Tempest Williams will not be able to attend the Reading Frenzy. Instead, de Rothschild and Tempest Williams will sign books after their presentations (pages 56 and 57, respectively) and Rohde will sign books after the tribute to Richard Holbrooke at the Palm.
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general contractors p.o. box 303, telluride, Co 81435 970-728-3596 • Fax: 970-728-5179 bonezone@rmi.net [Thank God Ledge (1968 style)] EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 85
awards
awards
moving mountains prize
charlie fowler award
judges
judges
This award of $3,000 goes to one nonprofit that is featured in a film at the festival. The judges watch nominated films and examine the mission of each nonprofit, considering its scope, impact and need in their decision. Note that the quality of the film itself is not a deciding factor for this prize. Runners-up all receive $200, and if you would like to add to the collective pool to increase this amount, there will be opportunities to contribute.
Karenna Gore Karenna Gore grew up around and in Washington D.C., but with the exception of working on her father Al Gore’s campaign in 2000, she has largely avoided politics. Gore is author of Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America and has used her law degree to help provide services for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence.
Chris Keyes Christopher Keyes started as an intern at Outside. Now he is that magazine’s editor and making his first trip to Mountainfilm. Besides running the magazine for the last five years, he more recently helped foster the publication’s new relationship with Outside TV.
Dikembe Mutumbo Playing for several basketball teams, including the Denver Nuggets, Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo is primarily known as a fierce defender and tireless competitor on the court. Recently he has been just as determined off the court, donating more than $15 million–and raising much more–for a hospital in the Congo. He also speaks nine languages.
Julia Ormond Julia Ormond is not afraid. As an actress, she has worked with some of the most unsettling film directors of our time, including David Lynch, David Fincher and Peter Greenaway. Off screen, she has committed herself to one of the most deeply unsettling issues of our time: modern day slavery. In 2005, Ormond was appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador focusing on human trafficking.
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Charlie Fowler was a mainstay of Mountainfilm for many years, and while we miss him terribly, we find some comfort in knowing his presence is with us for this award. The judges try their best to discern which mountaineering or climbing film Charlie would have liked most for this $1,000 prize.
Ted Callahan Ted Callahan is an anthropologist who has spent years in the Himalayas. He was also one of the first people to be on the scene when Charlie Fowler tragically died in China in 2007.
Lynn Hill Lynn Hill, a frequent guest at Mountainfilm, has long been considered to be one of the finest climbers in the world with a first free ascent on the Nose Route on El Capitan in Yosemite
Sarah Holbrooke Sarah Holbrooke is a filmmaker/TV producer who has worked at ABC News, CBS News and CNN for more than two decades. Married to Festival Director David Holbrooke, she has been an avid climber since she won a silent auction at Mountainfilm 2006 for a Lynn Hill Climbing Camp.
Jake Norton Jake Norton has been a professional mountaineer for nearly two decades, spending more than a year of his life collectively on Mount Everest alone. As part of Eddie Bauer’s Guide Team, he is setting out to climb the Triple Seven Summits (the three highest peaks on each of the seven continents) and raise more than two million dollars for Water for the People, a non governmental organization that works on potable water projects around the world.
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 87
awards
awards
cinematography award
In the hands of capable visual story tellers, the new tools of the digital cinematography trade can produce stunning images on almost any budget. For 2011, this new $1,000 cash award is sponsored by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel of Felt Soul Media, and it honors the film that excels most in the craft of creating moving pictures.
judges
James Balog James Balog is a longtime Mountainfilm guest and photographer whose work always challenges not only conventional thinking, but conventional looking. He has photographed animals, trees and most recently, glaciers with the “Extreme Ice Survey,” which uses a series of time-lapse cameras to chronicle their rapid recession around the world.
Ben Knight Ben Knight grew up in North Carolina where he learned to eat ketchup with every meal. Inspired to start making films after attending Mountainfilm in the mid 2000s, he has created in the time since a ridiculously strong oeuvre of films, including The Hatch (Mountainfilm 2006) and Red Gold, (Mountainfilm 2008).
Sam Moulton Sam Moulton is a features and gear editor at Outside Magazine and a former editor at Skiing Magazine.
Travis Rummel Travis Rummel is a partner with Ben Knight in the production company, Felt Soul Media. The rest of their ridiculously strong oeuvre includes Running Down the Man (Mountainfilm 2007) and Eastern Rises (Mountainfilm 2010).
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audience award Please vote for the Audience Award by secret ballot at the Closing Picnic and Awards Ceremony.
student award
Students in the Movies That Matter program decide this award from a select group of films.
festival director’s award This award is chosen by David Holbrooke.
Awards will be announced at the Closing Picnic on Monday, May 30, in Town Park, at approximately 2:00 p.m.
< This year’s awards were made by artists Judith Selby Lang and her husband Richard Lang who are featured in the film, One Plastic Beach. All the material used to make the awards has been picked up off a one kilometer stretch of sand in California.
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 89
board
donors
Honorary Board of Trustees Dick & Susan Saint James Ebersol Tully & Elise Friedman Vincent & Anne Mai Ann & Rich Teerlink Board of Directors Susan Dalton / President Beth Gage / Vice President Bettie Hastings / Secretary Travis Spitzer / Treasurer Ruth Bender Bonnie Cohen Cathe Dyer Alex Gregory Liz Manne Jeff Price Mike Shimkonis Rick Silverman Brian Werner Advisory Board John Ackerly Conrad Anker Arlene Burns Wade Davis Lynn Hill Pico Iyer Chris Jordan Ace Kvale Frans Lanting Katie Lee Maya Lin Rebecca Martin Hilaree O’Neil Doug Peacock Chris Rainier Beth Wald Paul Watson
EVEREST
Susan & Mark Dalton Dick and Susan Saint James Ebersol, Honorary Trustees Tully & Elise Friedman, Honorary Trustees Vincent & Anne Mai, Honorary Trustees Ann & Rich Teerlink, Honorary Trustees K2 Anonymous Stuart & Joanna Brown Jim & Kay Mabie
JENNIFER KOSKINEN
MERRICK CHASE
MERRICK CHASE
90 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
DENALI Shushana & Jack Castle Chip & Cathe Dyer Judy & Steven Gluckstern Dr. Hill & Bettie Hastings Joseph & Lynne Horning Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen John Kirkendoll Suzanne LaFetra Casey & Megan McManemin Chris Riley EIGER Bonnie & Louis Cohen Bill & Sally Estes Bruce & Bridgitt Evans Janine & Tom Hill Karen & Jeff Katz John & Bridget Macaskill Tristin & Martin Mannion John McCall Amy Nauiokas & Michael Harrison Anu & Michelle Parekh Susan Rockefeller Terry & Susan Tice Kathleen & Ken Tropin Sheila Wald EL CAPITAN Anne & Mike Armstrong Ruth Bender Josh Bernstein Nancy & Duncan Burke David & Nancy Cale Steve & Kendall Cieciuch Bill & Debra Gershen Garrett Gruener & Amy Slater Family Fund Clare Hart & Greg Baer Sandy Hill Larrine Holbrooke Joanna & Daniel Kanow Meg & Lawrence Kasdan
Fred & Gail Kittler Paul Lehman & Ronna Stamm Jim & Jamie McNulty Merle & Jerry Measer Kelli Petersen Genny Plamondon Susan Ringo & Barry Sonnenfeld Frances Ashley Rubacha Barry & Barbara Shaffer Dinny Sherman Jim & Joanne Steinback Tom & Donna Stone Zelda & Sheldon Tenenbaum Dale Vrabec Robert & Kathleen Whitby Dale Zulauf & Jonette Bronson AJAX Josh Aronson Karl Fallenius Beth & George Gage Anonymous Kathy Green Loomis Jay Grossman Michael Hanson Ginny Jordan Diane & Irwin Levy Christopher Michel Moe Family Scholarship Fund The Daniel M. Neidich and Brooke Garber Foundation Penelope Peterson Bob & Veronique Pittman Jeff Price & Jennie Franks Price Nancy Rosenthal Mike & Jennifer Shimkonis John Steel & Bunny Freidus Scott & Carol Swank Philip H. & Jean H. Wagner Fund Peter Welles BELAYER Paul & Mary Anderson Joel & Betty Bechtel Warren (Doc) Blanchard Angela & Roger Box Wendy Brooks Clark’s Market
Mike & Norma Jean Clifton David & Deborah Cohen Marcia & John Cohen Marvin Cohen & Jane Richman Michael Connelly Phil & Cathie Evans Joslin Kimball Frank Michael & Risa Freedman Lael Fruen David Gast & Elena Schmid Gerber Construction Lisina Hoch Trina Johnsten & Dennis Trotter Travis & Jennifer Julia Liliane Kates Irwin Kula John Leahey & Mary Uchida Linda Lockhart Liz Manne Becca & Jay Markley John & Sara Marshall Betsy & Wight Martindale Lou Mintz & Beverly Crilly Sam & Francesca Rehnborg Bee & Frank Reichel Jane Reldan, M.D. Amanda Vandeveer Brian Werner Jack S. Zoller SHERPA Megan Collins Nancy Craft & Rob Schultheis Fish Out of Water Barbel Hacke Judy Hall & Warner Paige Joel Kaufman Amy Levek Ray & Harriet Levy Gloria Miller Lisa & Victor Nemeroff Bill ONeill Tania Petrulis Peter Pilafian Bob & Mary Rubadeau Ming Tsai Peter Yarrow
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staff
MOUNTAINFILM STAFF Peter Kenworthy Executive Director David Holbrooke Festival Director Stash Wislocki Festival Producer Justin Clifton Director of Mountainfilm on Tour Emily Long Program Director Karen Overn Operations Director Ellen Shelton Education Director Jenny Jacobi Operations Manager Lexi Tuddenham Office Wizard Patti Duax Lodging and Travel Coordinator Drew Ludwig Gallery Coordinator Ellie Pope Volunteer Coordinator David Byars Pass Coordinator/Hospitality Manager Beth Roberts Hospitality Assistant Manager Tami Hodges-Malaniak Food and Beverage Coordinator Nicole Nugent Food and Beverage Assistant Tim “Stuntman” Territo Production Manager Eric “Viking” Cooper Festival Logistics Scott Upshur Rigger Ted Wilson Field Crew Manager Jim Hurst Field Crew Brian Gilmore Field Crew Mark Froehlich Lighting Designer Johnny “Rotten” Bulson Communications Manager Sean McNamara Communications Assistant Anne Reeser Graphic Design, Program Design Casey Nay Graphic Design Steve Johnson General Counsel John Fitzgerald Musicians Heather Flaker Musician Douglas Chard Musician
volunteers
Festival intro films created by Justin Clifton Jenny Jacobi Aaron Kehoe Ben Knight Casey Nay Technical Production Curt Rousse Video Tech Director Greg Babush Video Inspection Barbara Grassia Film Inspection Ross Krantz Chief Film Technician Marc Burrows Video Technician Mike Babb Video Technician Karl “K2” Mehrer K2 Imaging Peggy Russell Film Traffic Manager Karen Zenger Film Traffic Assistant Dean Rolley Audio Manager Gypsie Frank Theater Sound Technician Juliet Berman Captain Mayhem Social Media UnderSolen Media Anna Brones & Emily Nuchols
Festival Photographers Jeremy Baron Gus Gusciora Jennifer Koskinen Melissa Plantz 92 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
theater staff Lynne Beck Ru Biener Mark Davis Marc Froehlich Heather George Erin Hamilton Rob Huber John Kelly Ben Kerr Amy Levek Peter Lundeen Julie McNair Michael Moore Michelle Montigue Julia Nave G Douglas Seitsinger Jeff Shannon Felix Snow Luci Reeve Mason Rich John Rosenberg Mat Zelezen THEATER MCs Seth Berg Ashley Boling Karla Brown Thom Carnevale Sasha Cucciniello Art Goodtimes Hilary Peddicord Jim Pettegrew Peter Shelton Colin Sullivan Lance Waring Brian Werner Hilary White
Projectionists Greg Babush Nate Balding Darrick Castro Filip Celander Mattieu Chester Barbara Grassia Peter Halter Sergio Laureano Patty Lecht Karen Long Keith Madden Scott Rahilly Luke Reid-Grassia Jacob Reuter Dave Riepe William Rousse Tom Wardaszka Travis Young Screening Committee Suzan Beraza Ashley Boling Justin Clifton Mary Duffy Beth Gage James Harvey Jenny Jacobi Peter Kenworthy Ben Kerr Katie Klingsporn Judy Kohin Lucy Lerner Rick Mendel Karen Overn Sam & Marilyn Siegel Stash Wislocki
Special Thanks Jim Bedford Gary Bennett Ana Coe Scott Coe Elizabeth Covington The Dinwoodie Family Deanna Drew Brandt Garber Karla Gonzales Garcia Eliza Goodall Rick Harrington Honga Im Stephanie Jaquet Marki Knopp Heather Knox-Rommel Jim Kolar Meghan Langford Rachel Loomis-Lee Casey Nay Night and Day Cleaners Robbie O’Dell Ronnie Palamar Lucas Price Cinda Simons Telluride AIDS Benefit Terry Tice Town of Mountain Village Town of Telluride Eric Undhjem Lise Waring Christine Wilson Michael Wingfield
Volunteers Charlene Acevedo Laurie Adams Caroline Alden Lisa Allee Robert Allen Nancy Andrew Matthew Armstrong Renee Athay Jonathan Augello Ray Bailis Heather Baltzley Jim Berkowitz Georgina Bishop Patti Bonnet Cody Borden Codi Borner Ron Borrego Aimee Bourget Jason Bourget David Brankley Norman Brones Blair Brown Karen Brown Lynette Brown Stephen Burns David Byers Alex Cacciola Lindsey Campbell Madeleine Carey Susan Chapman David Chew Courtney Childe Laura Colbert Rachael Cooke Maisy Cooper
>>>
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volunteers
lodging sponsors Summit
Camp III
>volunteers cont.
Anne-Marie Cox Chelsea Criss Tova Davis Wade Davis Sean Deland Elissa Dickson Dan Ditzler Carol Dix Brad Donaldson Lindsey Donaldson Alain Douchinsky Hong Duong Angela Dye M Kathleen Erie Rita Flemming Teresa Frank Mary Fuller Ricia Gaber Beth Gallagher Christine Gamage Tom Gearheart Todd Gehrke Seth Glen Brad Green Rhoda Green Nicole Gruttadauria Deb Guarino Thomas Hall David Hallowell Mo Hanna Linda Heiderer Annie Henninger Takeo Hiromitsu Dave Hodges Teddy Hoffman Diana Hokit Eli Horowitz
Brianne Hovey Hilary Hudson Hadley Jensen Anne Johnson Lani Jones Donna Joywalker Bob Justis Davene Kaplan Meagan Ketterlin Marki Knopp Angel Kothe Dale Kramer Sean Krentsa Emily Kuehn Kim Kuresman Nancy Landau Joshua Landis Marty Langion Nicholas Leclaire Bill Leenheer Jared Lewis Michelle Liljegren Jim Lilly Susan Lilly Alfredo Lopez Stephanie Lowe Alex Maenchen Ann Mason Beth McCall Dara McDevitt Rudy McEntire Doug McLaughlin Zach McManus Len Metheny Gloria Miller Don Mitchell Melanie Montoya
Joann Moon Peter Moore Teija Mortvedt Eliot Muckerman Daniel Murray Diana Murray Ryan Nanni Patrick Neely Louise Nelson Keith Nichols Alyson Nicklas Lisa Nielsen Janet Niichel Veneta Nikolova Cindy Obrand Jacob O’Brien Rogan O’Herlihy Kelly O’Laughlin Allison Otto Andrew Otto Karen Parks Heidi Peirce Gregory Pettys Lizzy Plotkin Shirley Purdy Jennifer Radge Megan Rainnie Paul Read Kristen Redd Peg Redford Stephanie Reigh Mary Rios Willie Rios Christina Robohm Rick Rotsch Betsy Rowbottom Amy A. E. Russell
Sarah Sandack Deia Schlosberg Victoria Schmitt Michael Schoenfeld Kaiulani Schuler Jackie Shane Geneva Shaunette Sharon Shuteran Kevin Simpson Susie St. Onge Jake Stankey Matt Stjernholm Steve Sullivan Jesse Swing Lori Syme Anne Mariah Tapp Amy Taylor Carson Taylor Erin Thompson Fiona Thompson Jon-Michael Tucci, D.C. Bruce Van Buskirk Asa Van Gelder Robyn Van Gelder John Verbeck Kate Wadley Ed Warner Casey Welch Savanna Whitcher Jason White Chip Wilson Wyatt Wilson Hilary Witzleben John Wontrobski
94 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
Camp II
Camp I
hotel telluride • latitude 38 vacation rentals Base Camp hotel columbia • lumière • new sheridan hotel • victorian inn
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 95
Base Camp Outdoor Theatre
TOWN PA R K
IN K R PA
Honga’s Nugget Butcher 3 La & Baker Cocina Steaming MAIN STREET Bean Telluride Gallery Masons of Fine Art POST Schilling Silver OFFICE 4 Studio Gallery Bell
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96 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
FILMS Amazonia 43 Animal Beatbox 43 The Barber of Birmingham 22 Berber Turns 42 Bidder 70 22 The Big Uneasy 22 Buck 23 Chasing Water 23 The City Dark 23 Coal 24 Cold 24 Dark Side of the Lens 42 Deadliest Catch 24 Desert River 25, 42 Dinosaur Ballet 43 Down and Out and Under 25 eel / water / rock / man 25 The Fall Line 26 From the Ground Up 26 The Green Wave 26 The Grid 27 Hammer and Flame 27 Happy 27 Heliotropes 28 Human Terrain 28 I Am 51 I Am a Paleontologist 43 If a Tree Falls 28 In the Shadow of the Mountain 29 Interviews 50 Cents 29 Into Darkness 29 Into Eternity 30 Kadoma 30 Killing in the Name 30 Koran By Heart 31 Life Cycles 31, 42 Live from Shiva’s Dance Floor 31 Lundberg Loses It 42 Magic Trip 32 Mbambu and the Mountains of the Moon 32 Moving to Mars 32 Mustache Song 43 Mr. Happy Man 33 My Toxic Reality 33 The Nature of Battle 33 Nostalgia for the Light 34 On Assignment: Jimmy Chin 34 On Coal River 34 One Plastic Beach 35 Ormie 43 A Perfect Soldier 35 Power in the Pristine 35 Prayers for Peace 36 Remigration 36 Revenge of the Electric Car 36 Seasons: Winter 37 Shakespeare High 37 The Shark Riddle 43 Skateistan 37, 43 Spoil 38 The Snake Show 43 Summer Snapshot 38 Swiss Machine 38
Tadpole 43 Towers of the Ennedi 39 Truck Farm 39 Undercity 39 Waiting for a Train 40 Way Back Home 42 We Come From Jambiani 40 We Still Live Here: As Nutayunean 40 WildWater 42 With My Own Two Wheels 41 Yelp 41 Yosemite Falls High-Line 41, 42 PEOPLE Ali Samadi Ahadi 26 Skip Armstrong 37 Dan Austin 18, 77, 82 James Balog 18, 78, 82, 88 Greg Barker 31, 78 Hugh Barnard 29 Steve “Crusher” Bartlett 82 Emma Bee 18, 72, 78 Thom Beers 24 Roko Belic 27, 78 Suzan Beraza 18, 79 Jeb Berrier 78 Andy Bichlbaum 18, 58, 79 Erin Boehme 29 Ethan Boehme 29 Judy Bonds 99 Bonzom 43 Warren Brown 43 Oscar Bucher 40 Ross Butter 43 Ted Callahan 77, 87 Antrim Caskey 34, 73, 78 Francine Cavanagh 34 Sam Chen 43 Ian Cheney 17, 23, 39 Craig Childs 35, 82 Jimmy Chin 34, 77 Hal Clifford 25, 82 Hendri Coetzee 30, 99 Roger Cohen 55, 77, 78, 82 Paul Colangelo 73 Marshall Curry 28, 79 Nat Dart 33 Wade Davis 17, 64, 73, 77, 82 Tim DeChristopher 3, 17, 19, 22, 57, 61, 63, 73, 74, 79 James Der Derian 28 Dennis Dimick 77 Vevie Lykes Dimmit 75 Steven Duncan 39 Tom Dusenbery 33 Lynsey Dyer 19, 77 Orlando von Einsiedel 37, 43 Curt Ellis 17, 39, 77 Alison Ellwood 32 Rob Faris 78 Oscar Fernandez 37 Dean Fleischer 43 Richard Fitoussi 35, 79 Anson Fogel 23, 24, 42 Derek Frankowski 31, 42 Rob Frost 25
Robin Fryday 22 Beth Gage 22, 26, 79 George Gage 22, 26, 73 Jenny Gage, 73 Shannon Galpin 10, 73, 77 Damon Gameau 43 Ryan Gibb 31, 42 Alex Gibney 32 Adam Goddard 43 David Gonzales 19 Dustin Grella 36 Maria Gunnoe 17, 34, 79 Patricio Guzman 34 Tosh Hall 37 Kim Havell 42 Andy Heller 78 Tim Hetherington 3, 77, 99 Ginny Fowler Hicks 82 Lynn Hill 87 Toshio Hirano 40, 71 Rick Hodes 60, 66, 79, 82 Anthony Holbrooke 55 David Holbrooke 3, 31, 78 Richard Holbrooke 3, 55, 78, 99 Sarah Holbrooke 87 Alex Honnold 38, 77 Jason Houston 25, 74 Aaron Huey 18, 74, 77 Charlotta Janssen 74 Barry Jenkins 36 Trip Jennings 38 Jennifer Jordan 77, 82 Charlotte Lykes Jorgensen 75 Chris Kassar 35 Hilton Kelley 19, 79 Mary Jane Kenworthy 3, 99 Peter Kenworthy 77 Chris Keyes 77, 78, 86 Ben Knight 79, 88 Chris Korbulic 30, 74 Allison Kreutzen 99 Ace Kvale 74 Judith Selby Lang 35, 75, 78, 89 Richard Lang 35, 75, 89 Michael Langan 28 MJ Lat 40 Kenny Laubbacher 19 Katie Lee 17, 82 Speed Levitch 31, 78, 82 Alec Loorz 19, 78 Kenny Luby 42 Drew Ludwig 75 Prudence Mabhena 60, 66, 79, 82 Michael Madsen 30 Anne Makepeace 40 James Q Martin 35 Peter McBride 23, 75, 82 Sean McBride 43 Ian McCluskey 38 Bill McKibben 17, 63, 77, 79, 82 Cindy Meehl 23 Matt Morris 33 Peter Mortimer 25, 38 Bobby Moser 40
Dave Mossop 42 Sam Moulton 88 Chris Moyes 42 Lucian Muntean 32 Natasa Muntean 32 Dikembe Mutombo 79, 86 Vali Nasr 55, 78, 82 Jake Norton 77, 87 Kristin Folsland Olsen 54 Timmy O’Neill 35, 62, 67, 71 Julia Ormond 79, 86 Renan Ozturk 34, 39, 41, 42, 77 Christopher Paine 36 Will Parrinello 27 Vaughan Pilikian 27 Ronnie Planalp 37 Corinne Platt 82 Chris Rainier 65, 78, 82 Zac Ramras 25 Kasha Rigby 82 David Rohde 55, 77 Nick Rosen 25, 38, 77 Alex Rotaru 37 David de Rothschild 56, 78 Jed Rothstein 30 Travis Rummel 88 Laura Sams 43 Robert Sams 43 M Sanjayan 17 Joel Sartore 43 Karenna Gore Schiff 82, 86 Tiffany Schlain 41 Max Segel 29 Tom Shadyac 17, 51, 78, 79 Harry Shearer 22, 82 Jacob Siegel-Boettner 41, 77 Rob Silvestri 43 Emma Simonsson 54 Vera Simonsson 54 Wes Skiles 78, 99 Ben Skinner 18, 55, 79, 82 Eric Slatkin 35 Mickey Smith 42 Joe Spring 78 Tyler Stableford 26 George Steinmetz 59, 75, 78, 82 Ben Stookesberry 30 Rob Story 82 David Strauss 82 Ben Sturgulewski 25, 42 Geoff Tabin 62, 74, 77, 82 Tess Thackara 35 Ingebjoerg Tollefsen 54 Nick Waggoner 25 John Waller 29 Mat Whitecross 32 Freddie Wilkinson 77, 82 Terry Tempest Williams 57, 63 Andrew Wonder 39 Adams Wood 34 Gary Wright 99 David Udris 28 Michael Udris 28
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 97
notes mountainfilm 2011
in memoriam
in memoriam
(clockwise from top left) Mary Jane Kenworthy, Richard Holbrooke, Allison Kreutzen, Wes Skiles, Tim Hetherington, Judy Bonds, Hendri Coetzee, Gary Wright 98 welcome / toc / sponsors / festival tips / symposium / FILMS / schedule / PRESENTATIONS /
EVENTS / judges & awards / donors / staff & volunteers / map / index / in memoriam 99
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