Just Back: Mountainfilm in Telluride

If you’re anything like me you enjoy watching independent documentary films and hanging out in laid-back mountain towns—like Telluride, Colorado, where I recently spent a string of days filming Outside Television’s coverage of Mountainfilm alongside my co-host, Lynsey Dyer. Admittedly it’s the most anticipated weekend of my year filled with inspired conversations, chance encounters (like sharing a gondola ride with famed environmentalist Bill McKibben) and of course, groundbreaking films. After all, Mountainfilm in Telluride has been screening socially conscious documentary films since its inception in 1979. The festival is ground zero for big ideas and this year was no exception.

Like the film, On Coal River. Directed by Adams Wood and Francine Cavanaugh, the documentary traces the harmful effects of mountain top removal (MTR) on a rural West Virginia town. More specifically, on a secondary school in Coal River Valley that’s threatened by toxic waste from an MTR operation run by coal mining company Massey Energy. It’s heartbreaking and triumphant and like most films at the festival, one hundred percent thought provoking.

Another documentary that got Telluride talking was Bidder 70, Beth and George Gage’s work-in-progress about climate activist Tim DeChristopher. The pair started filming him soon after he was arrested for disrupting a federal oil-and-gas-lease auction in December 2008 and have followed him through his recent conviction in March. To the Gage’s credit, they debuted several scenes from their uncompleted film—a bold move that delighted Mountainfilm audiences, myself included.

Of course, the festival is also known for great adventure films and this year didn’t disappoint. Crowds were treated to Towers of the Ennedi, a film by Renan Ozturk that follows four climbers as they scale clusters of rock spires in the Ennedi Desert deep in northeastern Chad; Chasing Water by Peter McBride, about his 1,500-mile journey down the slowly-drying Colorado River; and Kadoma, from kayaker Ben Stookesberry about the death of legendary waterman Hendri Coetzee while paddling for a first descent of the Congo’s Lukuga River.

With so many inspiring films to choose from, it’s hard to pick a favorite but I did have two. Trip Jennings’ film Spoil, which follows the International League of Conservation Photographers in their search for the elusive spirit bear in British Columbia, offered a rare glimpse of a stunningly beautiful landscape. And Matt Morris’ short film Mr. Happy Man just made me smile, since it follows Bermudian Johnny Barnes as he greets morning commuters each day with a wave and a kiss (don’t forget, I live in Bermuda; Johnny’s a living legend on the island).

Truly, it was another inspirational weekend in Telluride and the good news is you’ll be able to watch these films and more on the Outside Film Festival, which begins airing new episodes this fall.