May 23, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
McCosh Hall, Room 10

OA presents the Telluride Mountain Film Festival, which brings together a community of filmmakers and change makers, showcasing documentary films that celebrate adventure, activism, social justice, environment and indomitable spirit. Here are the films:

• “Asking Less” (4:24)
  The Colorado River is one of America’s most valuable and iconic rivers. Photographer and author Pete McBride has been following this river for more than two decades. He shows us the stark reality of our water crisis within this river and the remarkable beauty and resilience of this ephemeral source of life.

• “Footprints on Katmai” (21:49)
  Following his grandmother’s footsteps to one of the most remote and bear-strewn beaches in Alaska, painter Max Romey discovers that an ocean of problems is closer to home than he could have imagined.

• “Freya” (4:00)
  Leo Houlding’s daughter, Freya, uses climbing as a practice to lean into discomfort and fear to help navigate her neurodiversity and harness its strengths.

• “Healy” (14:00)
  For millions of years, the Arctic Ocean has been covered by a permanent sheet of ice. During the summertime in the near future, it will melt in its entirety for the first time in human history. “Healy” follows a crew of scientists and sailors through a two-month research mission to try to understand why the northern ice cap is melting even faster than climate models have predicted — and how the transformation is altering life on Earth.

• “I am the nature” (5:20)
  “I am the nature” is a poetic documentary honoring the philosophy and cultural expression of the Achuar people from the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. Narrated by Chumpí Washikiat, a local leader, the film dives into the insights of a man who has walked between worlds, echoing ideas of unity, empathy and harmony.

• “Judy’s Creek: Discovering the Secret Life of the Streambed” (5:00)
  Follow ecologist, educator and author Judy Li into the world of caddisflies, the artisans of the aquatic world. With contagious passion, Judy shares how her childhood curiosity led to a career in freshwater science and how she has found ways to share the joys of science with audiences of all ages.

• “Leaving a Tread” (5:32)
  As the popularity of mountain biking grows across Mexico, riders like Israel Carrillo work to blaze the trail — literally. Carrillo shares the challenges athletes face in a growing sport, financially and otherwise, while showing off his hometown of Guanajuato.

• “Near the River” (11:15)
  In the tourist town of Livingstone, Zambia, a group of local men who make their living portering kayaks aspire to become safety kayakers on the Zambezi River. However, the proposed Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Scheme threatens to flood the famous rapids of the Zambezi and eliminate river-related jobs.

• “Re” (5:47)
  Twenty years ago, Re forged a new path in the outdoor sports community as one of the few women in her field. As an action sports photographer, she is dedicated to working with and showcasing the strength and individual personalities of female athletes. Re landed the first cover shot of a woman for Backcountry Magazine and the first all-female cover shot for Skiing. She views her work as a catalyst, fostering a social shift in the perception of female athletes in popular culture.

• “The Wintering Grounds” (21:00)
  For most of the year, bands of world-class freestyle kayakers roam the land in search of waves. But when the rivers freeze, they find their way to a special spot on the Chattahoochee River on the Alabama-Georgia border. Squatting in an abandoned parking lot, they spend the winter training for the next world championships on North America’s best winter whitewater. Although called “certifiable lunatics” by the locals, this tight-knit group is proof of the power of family and that, indeed, everything is more fun with friends.

• “To Scale: Time” (10:00)
  On a dry lake bed in California, a group of friends attempts to build a scale model of time: a true illustration of cosmic evolution and our place within it. Over miles, they lay out tiny lights representing important moments in the history of the universe: the Big Bang, the meteor that killed the dinosaurs and the beginning of human civilization. The result is time represented by distance and the recognition that although we are alive for the briefest moment — in this demonstration, the width of a hair — our lives are a gift from the universe that we must spend wisely.

• “Unseen Peaks” (7:00)
  After enduring discrimination and trauma due to her blindness, Addie seeks freedom through skiing, ice climbing and rock climbing, facing both the challenges of these activities and the need for acceptance within the outdoor community as a disabled person. She believes exposure is the most powerful antidote to fear and dreams of a world where everyone has the safety and freedom to experience the outdoors.

Sponsored by the Outdoor Action Program