Mountainfilm Blog

FREE films at the Opera House December 23, 2008 With tight budgets and endangered paychecks on the minds of so many going into the holidays, Mountainfilm hopes to provide a short escape from the worries of the world with a free family-friendly show on December 26. The program will comprise a selection of fun and funny short films culled from Mountainfilm festivals past, present and future. There will also be a free raffle for prizes from Mountainfilm sponsors and an all-access Wilson Pass for the 2009 festival in May.

December 15, 2008 Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times op-ed columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, was one of the first guests confirmed for Mountainfilm 2009. So this column from last week got our attention: "Obama's 'Secretary of Food.'" He argues that the Department of Agriculture is grossly out of line with the needs of American citizens. "Today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat." Read more...

December 12, 2008 Yesterday was the designated International Mountain Day, and this year the theme was presciently connected with our festival: food security.

"International Mountain Day 2008, with its theme of Food security in mountains, is an apt occasion to reflect on how hard it is for mountain people to consistently get adequate and nutritious food to lead healthy and active lives." ...read more here

December 8, 2008 One event that happens in the film festival world, but actually gets mention outside of it as well, is the announcement of the Sundance line-up. For some reason, this is the moment that most film festival calendars revolve around. So it should come as no surprise that David and I started perusing the list of Sundance competition films last week. I was impressed by the diversity of topics. Or maybe it's just that more of the films this year seem to be about actual issues in the world, rather than naval gazing art-for-art's-sake (which can be fascinating, don't get me wrong). One film that particularly stood out for me, and potentially for Mountainfilm, is called The Cove. Colorado filmmaker and former National Geographic photographer Louis Psihoyos went undercover to reveal the horrific dolphin slaughter that takes place routinely in a hidden cove in Japan, under the radar of international scrutiny.

December 3, 2008 posted by David Holbrooke This year at Mountainfilm we will probably end up screening about 75 films or so (up from the 65 we played in 2008). How do we find those films - really, through any number of ways. More than 600 films will be submitted this year from people who know the festival and want to come to Telluride. An untold number of other films will come through tips from friends of the festival. Another important way to find films is through other festivals, which is why I recently found myself on a plane to Amsterdam. The city is host to IDFA - the biggest documentary film festival in the world, where they play more than 300 non-fiction films. I had always wanted to go and two years ago, submitted my film, Hard As Nails. Sadly it wasn’t accepted and I couldn’t rationalize the cost to just go to check it out. Now as Festival Director of Mountainfilm, I had plenty of reasons to be there and bring back some films for our festival. What was I looking for? Keep reading and you will get a pretty good sense …

November 12, 2008 Dr. John Francis was a big opening night hit at Mountainfilm 2008, selling out the Opera House with his talk about spending 17 years silent and 22 years motor-free, walking across the country raising awareness about environmental causes long before celebrities started tackling the topic. TED has just published a video of his talk. Click here to check it out.

November 7, 2008 Paul Devlin (Power Trip), who presented his new film Blast at Mountainfilm last May, recently shared with us a link to an article he wrote for Independent Magazine. From the perspective of an independent filmmaker not backed by one of the major distributors, festivals have always been a key component of outreach. However, in his article Paul discusses whether or not festivals will continue to play that role for filmmakers in the future.