Mountainfilm On Tour To Present Two Days Of Documentary Shorts In The Hamptons

Mountainfilm on Tour’s 5th annual visit to Southampton Arts Center (SAC) will showcase more than 15 captivating documentaries. The Festival, which is held every Memorial Day weekend in Telluride, Colorado, will present a special Hamptons iteration on Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7.

“Mountainfilm’s mission is to use the power of film, art & ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world,” Elyn Kronemeyer, program curator, explained. “This year’s theme is EQUITY and the films were specially selected to shed light on inspiring people and important issues around the world.”

Friday’s screenings will kick-off at 7 p.m. with Ben Knight and Travis Rummel’s Life of Pie (12 minutes), which takes a look at Fruita, a small Colorado town that used to be a sleepy hub of agriculture and oil and gas development, but when single-track shredders and pizza chefs Jen Zeuner and her partner Anne Keller open the Hot Tomato Café, it turns into a Grand Valley outdoor recreation industry hotspot. Next, Forest Woodward’s (People) of Water (23 minutes) follows the U.S. Men’s Raft Team’s attempt to break the Grand Canyon speed record.

Ben Moon’s Grizzly Country (12 minutes) centers around Doug Peacock, who inspired The Monkey Wrench Gang‘s iconic character George Washington Hayduke. Early in his life, the eco-warrior and author spent time as a Green Beret medic in the Vietnam War. To seek comfort, he would study a map of the Montana and Wyoming wilderness, vowing if he survived, he would travel to those serene spots firsthand. While finding solace in nature, Peacock documented the time he spent with his only companions – grizzly bears. Palmer Morse and Rachel Weinberg’s Detroit Hives (6 minutes) revolve around Tim Paule and Nicole Lindsey’s flourishing Detroit Hives, which has helped resurrect seven of Detroit’s nearly 90,000 abandoned lots by utilizing them for thriving beehives. Dane Jackson’s Tenaya Creek Kayak Run (3 minutes) takes a look at Yosemite’s world class kayaking.

Forest Woodward, Anna Callaghan, and Marie Sullivan’s Sacred Strides (13 minutes) follows runners from the Hopi, Navajo, Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes, who in March 2018 ran relay-style on four courses that met near the rock spine of Comb Ridge. The trek was held in support of Bears Ears National Monument, whose area of protection was reduced under the Trump administration. Tim Kressin’s Safe Haven (8 minutes) focuses on Memphis Rox, the nation’s sole nonprofit climbing gym, which opened in March 2018. Darren Durlach and David Larson’s R.A.W. Tuba (29 minutes) tells the story of Richard Antoine White, who despite many challenges, went on to become a world-class symphony musician, professor and the first African American in the world to receive a Doctorate in Music for Tuba Performance. “I like the tuba because it reminds me of my life, it’s the underdog,” Antoine White explained. The final screening of the evening will be Scott Gaffney’s All In: Alaska Heli Skiing (4 minutes), a must for ski fans.

Saturday films commence with Killian Bron’s Mission Dolomites (6 minutes). The French freerider documents his jaw-dropping mountain bike Dolomites exploration, complete with hair-raising courses. David Darg’s Lazarus (2 minutes) explores the risks that people with Albinism in Malawi face on a daily basis. Those with the condition are at risk of kidnapping and even murder, due to unsubstantiated beliefs in the power. Marek Partys’ Jágralama (2 minutes) shares the tale of a young boy from Little Tibet who forms an unlikely obsession: ice hockey.

Anna Callaghan’s Dawa (3 minutes) follows Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, who at age 9 informed her teacher she wanted to climb Mount Everest. While that may seem like a lofty goal, Yangzum Sherpa becomes the first woman from Nepal’s Rolwaling Valley certified by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations and is one of only about 100 women among IFMGA’s nearly 7,000 guides. Taylor Rees’ Ashes to Ashes (26 minutes) tells the story of Winfred Rembert, an African American artist who survived a lynching and has sought out art to help process his trauma. Rembert lived on a plantation, and as a teen joined the civil rights movement. “That lynching is on my back, and it’s dragging me down, even today,” Rembert reflected.

Ben-Alex Dupris’ Sweetheart Dancers (14 minutes) follows Sean and Adrian, a Two-Spirit couple that set out to rewrite the rules of Native American culture through their participation in the ‘Sweetheart Dance.’ Andrew Michael Ellis’ The Wild Inside (15 minutes) documents a group of prisoners at the Arizona State Prison in Florence that take part in the prison’s innovative Wild Horse Inmate Program. Participants spend five days of the week training wild mustangs saved from slaughter to become saddle horses. While inmates typically face a 49 percent chance of reincarceration within five years, just three of the prison’s 53 WHIP trainers are back behind bars. Finally, in Roberta Mancino and Sebastian Alvarez’s Coming in Hot (2 minutes), Mancino takes fearless to a whole new level.

“We are thrilled to host Taylor Rees Director of Ashes to Ashes, a profile of Winfred Rembert a lynching victim who is using the power of art to heal the scares of his childhood trauma,” Kronemeyer noted. “And Andre Ellis and Ben Stamper, Directors of The Wild Inside – an inside look at a program in Arizona prisons where prisoners are ‘gentling’ wild mustangs.”

Prior to the viewings on Saturday, Mountainfilm on Tour will host a soiree in celebration of the filmmakers.

“The Filmmakers Party on Saturday at 6 p.m. gives audiences an opportunity to meet these gifted filmmakers,” Kronemeyer added.

Tickets for Mountainfilm on Tour in Southampton range from $15 to $25, and $5 for children and students.

Southampton Arts Center is located at 25 Jobs Lane in Southampton. For more information, visit southamptonartscenter.org.