In 1979, a group of Colorado climbers and friends got sick of film festivals that merely glorified actors and recycled age-old story lines. Telluride locals Bill Kees and Lito Tejada-Flores teamed up to gather fellow mountaineers who cared more for their environment than fat wallets and topping box office charts. They started with a simple name and mission statement: Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating and inspiring audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving, and conversations worth sustaining.
When the festival first began, attendees spent the days climbing and three nights watching a dozen or so films while enjoying the company, food, and drink. Now, Mountainfilm is celebrating its 31st year and was named America’s premier festival of adventure, cultural, and environmental film. It has grown to a four-day event held in Telluride over Memorial Day weekend, screening about 100 films and hosting speakers, exhibits, seminars, and galleries.
In 2000, the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride decided to share their magic with the rest of us by starting Mountainfilm on Tour. Every year, a random selection of films hits the road to bring Telluride’s most celebrated festival to us. Each show is designed to specifically speak to the community in question. This year, Champaign Surplus brings us Mountainfilm on Tour at Parkland Theater, on Tuesday, March 10th at 7:00 p.m. The line-up in Champaign includes Stephen Hyde’s film Shiashika, a short documentary giving us a rare glimpse of life in the Andes mountains of Peru. Shiashika was named Best Cultural Film 2008 and is continuing to inspire cultural curiosity and wonderment for those of us grounded in the U.S.
Along with a handful of other moving films, Parkland will be screening filmmaker Ben Knight’s gem, Red Gold, which was named the People’s Choice Award and Director’s Award last year. This film follows the two largest sockeye salmon runs on the planet at the headwaters of the Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers in Bristol Bar, Alaska. The controversy there has gone unnoticed to the rest of the U.S., but Knight shines light on the tension between mine officials who believe the area is the richest deposit of gold and copper in the world and the native fishermen who have sworn to protect the sockeye’s journey.
Mountainfilm on Tour’s motto boasts “celebrating indomitable spirit”. With that in mind, come out to Parkland Theater on March 10th at 7:00 p.m. to see these films and to celebrate our environment and the people who go to great lengths to care for it.
For more information on the Mountainfilm festival, visit Champaign Surplus or www.mountainfilm.org.