Rick Hodes

Last year at Mountainfilm, the Moving Mountains Prize, which goes to the subject of a film in the festival, was awarded to Dr. Rick Hodes, who stars in Making the Crooked Straight. Rick lives in Ethiopia and treats children with spinal tuberculosis, which horribly twists the spine of those afflicted by the disease. When he won the $5,000 award, he said he wanted to use the prize money to treat one child, a 13-year-old girl named Mieraf, who speaks English and wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

This year, Rick is returning to Mountainfilm and bringing Mieraf with him. He’ll show a brief presentation about the surgery that made such a dramatic change in Mieraf’s life.

The Moving Mountains Prize money totaled only $3,000 last year, and the judges decided upon two winners: Rick Hodes and the brave Burmese activists in Burma VJ. Through the generosity of Mountainfilm audiences, who supplemented the fund, Mountainfilm was able to award two separate cash prizes of $5,000. Thank you all for making this happen.

Rick will also be a judge for the Moving Mountains Prize this year.