Mountainfilm on Tour Screening at Southampton Arts Center

Mountainfilm on Tour brings a selection of culturally rich, adventure-packed and incredibly inspiring documentary films curated from the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colorado. The tour will make a stop at the Southampton Arts Center on Sunday, August 25, at 7 p.m. with a lineup of shorts that explores themes connected to Mountainfilm’s mission of using the power of film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world.

Mountainfilm on Tour is hosted by Elyn Kronemeyer in partnership with Paula Angelone and Jerry Rosengarten. Kronemeyer has been organizing Mountainfilm on Tour for 10 years and has also been on the board of SAC during that time. She believes in sharing exciting and informational films with the East End.

Mountainfilm is held every Memorial Day weekend in Telluride, Colorado. Along with documentaries, the festival goes beyond the film medium by bringing together world-class athletes, change makers and visionary artists for a multi-dimensional celebration of indomitable spirit.

Tickets to Mountainfilm at SAC are $10 (members free) at southamptonartscenter.org. Southampton Arts Center is at 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton.

Mountainfilm on Tour Southampton Films:

“Desert Wings” - Nathan McBride

The film brings the unique sport of paramotoring to light showcasing talented pilots exploring the dramatic landscapes of the American Southwest.

“Asking Less” - Pete McBride

The Colorado River is one of America’s most valuable and iconic rivers. Photographer and author Pete McBride has been following this river for over two decades. He shows the stark reality of the water crisis within this river and the remarkable beauty and resilience of this ephemeral source of life.

“Dancing Warrior” - Rachel McDonald and Peter Goetz

On windswept hills surrounded by the bluffs of the Lakota Badlands sits the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. For the Native youth, living here can be a struggle — the teen suicide rate is among the highest in the country. But many have found hope and purpose in the unlikeliest of places: the traditional sport of horse racing known as Indian Relay. The film follows one teen racing team named Dancing Warrior, who come together to compete and support each other as they face the challenges of life on the reservation. This short film is a coming of age story of Lakota teens as they find strength in tradition and passion in competition.

“I Am the Nature” - Taliesin Black-Brown

This poetic documentary honors 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.

“Cham” - Raunak Kapoor and Gen Liu

Every winter, monks across India travel to the Thiksey Monastery to participate in a ceremonial dance called Cham, a sacred ritual transporting viewers into the divine realm. Dancers wear masks and use a deep, resonant chant to purify the environment and dispel negative forces.

“Near the River” - Darby A. McAdams

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.

“To Scale: Time” - Alex Gores

On a dry lakebed in California, a group of friends attempt 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 our lives are a gift from the universe that we must spend wisely.

“The Silverback” - Andrew Ackerman

It’s no surprise that we call a group of gorillas a family, since we share 98 percent of our DNA with them. African safari guide Richard De Gouveia is deeply familiar with the draw we feel towards gorillas. The film follows De Gouveia along his journey marked by tragedy and self-discovery, as he connects lessons learned while tracking wild gorillas to his own life.

“The Ugandan Quidditch Movement” - Ben Garfield

In Uganda, a sport is driving social change. That sport is quidditch. After a chance encounter with a Harry Potter novel, a dedicated teacher brings the magic world of chasers, beaters, seekers, quaffles, bludgers and the golden snitch to the students at Good Shepherd Primary School in Katwadde Village. As they train for an upcoming tournament, the quidditch community they create helps the kids smash taboos about gender, learn teamwork and overcome poverty.

“The Rock Pool Waltz” - Marlon Denning

Directed and created by 14 year-old Marlon Denning, this film is a story of the unlikely friendship Marlon discovers while looking to nature for connection during the solitude of COVID.

“The Shit-thropocene”- David Garrett Byers

Thousands of years ago, human brains evolved to seek to acquire unlimited resources. No longer a survival adaptation, this tendency, turbocharged by the speed and ease of online shopping, now results in closets full of cheap, fast fashion, the making of which exploits workers and harms the planet, and most of which quickly ends up in a landfill. The film recounts outdoor clothing company Patagonia’s quest to fix a leaky pair of waders and their contrarian philosophy of creating durable garments that last a long time. The film is a wacky and darkly funny look at how we got here and asks if there is a better way to fill the modern-day hole in our caveman hearts.