“Our annual winter event at the Sheridan Opera House has, traditionally, been a fundraiser,” says Mountainfim’s executive director, Peter Kenworthy. “But, in all honesty, it can be challenging, and unrealistic, to expect people to reach into their pockets, yet again, the day after Christmas. So, this year, we’re making the event accessible to anyone and everyone – especially families – and no one will feel uncomfortable about either the price of admission or expectations to bid on endless auction items. It’s a great way for Mountainfilm to give back at a time when everyone is being asked to give to.”
The show, scheduled to run for an hour and a half, starting at 6 p.m., will highlight films that Mountainfilm’s festival director David Holbrooke thinks best speak to both the season and to the spirit of the Telluride community.
“The films we’ve chosen express in many different ways something we very much understand in Telluride: how great it is to be outdoors – even when it’s cold."
Holbrooke concurs with Kenworthy’s assessment of the holiday audience appetite. “The holidays should be all about family and friends and relaxing together. So, to have a short, fun, really affordable and family–friendly program just makes sense. And it’s a great time for both locals and visitors who can’t make it to our festival in May to experience at least a part of our amazing spectrum of content. It’s a great line up of films with all the elements of inspiration, action and passion that so well characterize what Mountainfilm is all about.”
That lineup includes:
White Out – Master animated filmmaker Jeff Scher’s perfect, painterly collage of the many things we all love about winter.
Sponsor Me Jake – What’s a few core shots to the old rock skis when you’re out schralping it in half an inch of pow–pow? This homage to the early season itch takes snow lunacy to another level.
Deep/Shinsetsu – Filmed in Japan after what appears to be a 100–year storm, this is a melodic and meditative portrait of skiing powder—chest–deep powder – that cuts straight to the essentials—the wash of white and the joy of bounding through bottomless snow.
11 Degrees – You might not think of Scotland as the place to link turns, but despite a warming climate, a little Scottish ski resort continues spinning the motor on its rope tow.
Seasons: Winter – Intrepid climber Brian Ward discovers an unexpected and new–found love for water in its frozen and expanded form.
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.
The Fall Line – On a Wounded Warriors–sponsored trip to Aspen, Heath 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.
Desert River – Set to the haunting Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes song, “Desert Song,” this film provides a glimpse into the beauty of late season skiing in Haines, Alaska, as well as the extreme turns that can still be had as evenings deepen with long spring shadows.
Tickets to “Winter Shorts” are $10 and will be available at the door of The Historic Sheridan Opera House starting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, December 26. Showtime is 6 p.m.
About Mountainfilm: Established in 1979, Mountainfilm in Telluride is dedicated to educating, inspiring and activating audiences about critical environmental, cultural and social issues. Working at the nexus of filmmaking, adventure and activism, its flagship program is the legendary Mountainfilm Festival—a one-of-a-kind combination film festival, ideas summit and jamboree. Mountainfilm also reaches audiences year round through its worldwide tour, on Outside Television, with its online Minds of Mountainfilm interviews and in classrooms through its educational outreach initiative, Making Movies that Matter. Mountainfilm has the power to change lives. To learn more, visit the website. To join the conversation, please visit the blog, follow us on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook.
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