Join the Vail Symposium and emcee Jim Butterworth for a family-friendly evening of inspiring and captivating films handpicked from the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colorado.
Founded in 1979, Mountainfilm is one of America’s longest-running film festivals. The annual festival is held every Memorial Day weekend in Telluride, CO. Mountainfilm is a dynamic nonprofit organization and festival that celebrates stories of indomitable spirit and aims to inspire audiences through film, art and ideas.
Mountainfilm on Tour in Beaver Creek will feature a collection of culturally rich, adventure-packed and engaging documentary short films that align with Mountainfilm’s mission to use the power of film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world. The evening will feature a diverse custom film list showcasing “Resilience” across experiences, sectors, cultures and time. The films will include “Ghost Resorts: Japan,” “Dancing Warrior,” “Never Too Old,” “Footprints on Katmai,” “Unseen Peaks,” “Planetwalker,” and “To Scale: TIME.”
“Ghost Resorts: Japan”
Michael J. Brown, Zeppelin Zeerip
With ski lifts no longer spinning and buildings falling into disrepair, abandoned ski areas are nestled among the snowdrifted peaks of Japan. The country’s massive economic boom in the 1980s fueled a wild demand for skiing and an explosion of new mountain resorts. The financial collapse that followed in 1991 decimated both the Japanese economy and the ski industry. Today, hundreds of ghost resorts span the mountains as silent witnesses to the pace of change. Yet the deep powder beckons those who seek to experience an unconventional backcountry adventure.
“Dancing Warrior”
Peter Goetz, Rachel McDonald
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 traditional sport of horse racing known as “Indian Relay.” We follow 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. Witness the coming of age story of Lakota teens, as they find strength in tradition and passion in competition.
“Never Too Old”
Patty Jen Arndt, Stash Wislocki
At one time Libby James held more running records than Flo-Jo and Usain Bolt combined, yet most likely you have never heard of her. She is considered the grandmother of women’s competitive running despite not having started running until she was 35. Libby is proof that you can be almost famous—and still lead a fulfilling life.
“Footprints on Katmai”
Max Romey
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.
From a student: “After seeing beautiful sketches from his grandmother, artist Maxwell Romey decides to bring them to life. Romey unexpectedly finds his journey interrupted by ocean debris in the form of single shoes. He decides to leave his own footprint on Katmai and bring the footprints home to his own child in a way that honors his grandmother.” — Joe Galbo, age 18
“Unseen Peaks”
Roo Smith
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.
“Planetwalker”
Dominic Gill, Nadia Gill
In 1971, John Francis (Mountainfilm 2008) witnessed an oil tanker collision in the San Francisco Bay. The sight of oiled birds on the shoreline caused him to give up motorized transport and speaking, convinced that listening was the way forward. He spent the next 17 silent years earning the name Planetwalker. Over the many miles, his idea of environmentalism was changed by the people he met and broke bread with. At 77 years old, Francis now both talks and rides in cars. “Planetwalker” recounts much of his internal journey and explores the weblike and sometimes deeply personal consequences of his decades of pilgrimage.
“Planetwalker” was formerly titled “A Symphony of Tiny Lights.”
“To Scale: TIME”
Alex Gorosh
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 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.
