Film on the Mountain

Despite the plethora of film festivals open to the public in the metro area and beyond, there’s no festival quite like Telluride’s annual Mountainfilm extravaganza. “We’re about a lot more than mountaineering and climbing,” notes executive director Peter Kenworthy. “It started out in that world, and getting into the cultures...

By Amber Taufen

May 21, 2009

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Despite the plethora of film festivals open to the public in the metro area and beyond, there’s no festival quite like Telluride’s annual Mountainfilm extravaganza. “We’re about a lot more than mountaineering and climbing,” notes executive director Peter Kenworthy. “It started out in that world, and getting into the cultures of that world — Tibet, Nepal — so naturally, culture and travel and adventure, it all fits together. And if you’re into that, it’s not a huge leap to get into social issues, social justice and environmental issues. It’s all been pretty organic.”

This weekend will be just as fresh and natural as previous years, featuring an array of highlights, including the premiere of director Ken Burns’s newest documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, and a Mountainfilm food symposium with sustainability advocate Bill McKibben as keynote speaker and chef Ming Tsai as emcee.

“The symposium on food will be incredible,” Kenworthy says. “Scientists, thinkers, food experts and artists talking about the future of food and how we’re going to support as many people as are supposed to be on the planet in fifty years.”

Mountainfilm kicks off today with an official gallery-walk party taking place at twelve different Telluride galleries; other happenings include a special Tibet Room (new this year), breakfast talks, an ice-cream social, live music, a reading frenzy and the closing awards picnic on Monday — plus, of course, an array of film screenings. Individual program tickets are $10 for kids and $25 for adults, with passes starting at $50 for students, $105 for teachers and $305 for the general public; punch cards are also available. For information, visit www.mountainfilm.org or call 970-728-4123.
May 22-25, 2009

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Amber Taufen has been writing about people, places and things in Denver since 2005. She works as an editor, writer, and production and process guru out of her home office in the foothills.

Contact: Amber Taufen

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