Mountainfilm on Tour Stops by Southampton Arts Center

This weekend, Mountainfilm on Tour comes to Southampton Arts Center (SAC) with a selection of culturally rich, adventure-packed and incredibly inspiring documentary films curated from the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colorado.

The tour will visit SAC on Sunday, August 27, with films that explore 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 in Southampton is hosted by Elyn and Jeff Kronemeyer and sponsored by Paula Angelone and Gerry Rosengarten in partnership with Southampton Arts Center. Elyn Kronemeyer has been organizing Mountainfilm on Tour for nine years and has been instrumental in expanding the documentary film program at SAC. The Southampton Arts Center believes in building community through the arts. While hosting an inspiring collection of films, the show is also an opportunity to support the film program at SAC.

Mountainfilm is a documentary film festival that showcases stories about environmental, cultural, climbing, political and social justice issues. Mountainfilm is held every Memorial Day weekend in Telluride, Colorado. Along with exceptional 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. Mountainfilm’s mission is to use the power of film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world. To learn more about Mountainfilm, visit mountainfilm.org.

Mountainfilm on Tour kicks off on Sunday, August 27, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Mountainfilm on Tour in Southampton can be purchased online at southamptonartscenter.org. Tickets will also be available the day of the event at Southampton Arts Center, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. The cost for each show is $10 per adult and free to SAC members and children under 12.

Here’s the Mountainfilm on Tour line up:

“Walking on Clouds” – directed by Renan Kamizi, Brazil, 2021, 7 min.

This film reveals the breathtaking and dizzying highline crossing between two hot air balloons above the city of Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil. At 1,901 meters off the ground, athlete Rafael Bridi achieved the highest highline record in the world.

“Apayauq” – directed by Zeppelin Zeerip, USA, 2022, 16 min.

Dog musher Apayauq Reitan is on a journey of gender, mental health and purpose to become the first out, transgender woman to complete the legendary Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska. Named for her great-grandmother, Apayauq defies stereotypes as she travels over the starkly beautiful, frozen landscape in the same manner as her ancestors. Her four-year-old self, who wanted to be a girl when she grew up, would be proud.

“Leo & Chester” – directed by Andrea Wing, Canada, 2023, 9 min.

Disillusioned with his life of rock and roll, Leo Downey sojourns into the desert of the Sierra Madre Mountains and sleeps beneath the stars. Deep in the desert, Downey undergoes a spiritual experience that changes his life forever. Following his intuition, he leaves his life in California behind and becomes a first-generation buffalo rancher. To gain the acceptance of an animal four times stronger than an ox and faster than a horse, he must face his fears and embrace the herd’s gift.

“Mink!” – directed by Ben Proudfoot, USA, 2022, 20 min.

Told by her daughter Wendy, “Mink!” is the story of the remarkable Patsy Takemoto Mink, a Japanese American from Hawaii who became the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Congress, on her harrowing mission to co-author and defend Title IX, the law that transformed athletics for girls and women in America.

“Nina & Irena” – directed by Daniel Lombroso, USA, 2023, 22 min.

On the verge of her 90th birthday, a grandmother reveals to her grandson the painful story of her sister’s disappearance during the Holocaust. Nina lost 25 members of her extended family, but never talked about it after she moved to America in 1951. In this heartbreaking and heartwarming story, a filmmaker turns the camera on his own family as his matter-of-fact grandma explains the realities of war and human nature.

“The Orchestra Chuck Built” – directed by Christopher Stoudt, USA, 2023, 23 min.

In 2016, the League of American Orchestras conducted a study that revealed a shocking statistic: only 1.8 percent of the professional orchestra workforce in the U.S. is Black. From an old church rec room in the inner city of Los Angeles, former lawyer-turned-conductor Chuck Dickerson is on a mission to change that. With his majority Black and Latino youth orchestra — the largest of its kind in the country — Dickerson is creating opportunities for his community that did not previously exist. “The Orchestra Chuck Built” is a loving portrait of a tireless mentor and the orchestra members whose lives have been transformed by music.