Telluride Film Festival

The Telluride MountainFilm Festival will be returning for its eighth year to the Portland area at Hannaford Theater at the University of Southern Maine beginning at 7:00 PM on Friday, October 22. These films are produced by some of the world’s best outdoor cinematographers on a broad range of mountain themes celebrating traditional mountain sports, dramatic adventure, global environmentalism, indigenous cultures, and the astonishing beauty of the natural world. MountainFilm is about cultures and the landscape they occupy. It is about a world where adventure is alive, history is important and people are zealous about what they believe. It is about environmental integrity and about a rich spirit of celebration. Tickets are available at several local retailers and will also be available at the door. Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), 87 Marginal Way, Portland (207.541.1919); Nomads, 100 Commercial Street, Portland (207.347.7464), and Horny Toad, 11 Bow Street in Freeport (207.865.0082). Tickets will also be available at the door after 6:00 PM on October 22. Tickets: $12 in advance, $9 students w/ ID and $15 at door (students $12).

Telluride playlist for Portland Friday, October 22, 2010:
The Blueline
Bryan Smith; 2009; Canada; 5 min; Focus: Adrenaline
Take a rope, stretch it taut across a yawning gorge and then walk across it
while tethered by only a leash and harness. This is the formula for high
lining—an intense and highly exposed sport that athlete Robin Avery and
friends practice over a precipitous canyon in this short film about heights,
exposure and the relationship between man and a thin blue line.

Eastern Rises
Ben Knight & Travis Rummell; 2010; USA; 37 min; Focus: Adventure
The Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East may as well be at the
end of the earth. Its enormous, wild landscape is threaded with rivers,
swimming with massive mouse-eating trout and swarming with bugs and
bears. In other words, this place is the Holy Grail for truly obsessed, halfway
insane fly fishermen.

Hawaii Wave Ski
Mike Douglas; 2009; 7 min; Focus: Adventure
Pro freeskier Cody Townsend grew up surfing in Santa Cruz and skiing in Lake
Tahoe, and ever since he was a kid, he’s been harboring a crazy dream to combine
the two sports. In Hawaii Wave Skiing, he does just that.

Last Paradise
Clive Neeson; 2010; New Zealand; 10 min; Focus: Adventure
Director Clive Neeson, armed with footage from 45 years of extreme sports pioneers
in the wilds of New Zealand, has made a film about the unique time when
such outdoor sports as bungee jumping were created. We’re showing just one of
these amazing stories from the film: It involves Telluride local Jeff Campell, skiing,
glaciers and Levi’s jeans.

Fishman
Kathy Kasic; 2009; USA; 11 min; Focus: Adventure
For Mike Kasic, the Yellowstone River represents the West as it’s meant to be—
wild, fast and free flowing. Mike should know: He spends a lot of time swimming
the Yellowstone, looking for fish and almost becoming one himself. In particular,
he looks for the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout that represents, for him, the soul
of the river.

Man vs. Eiger
Peter Mortimer & Nick Rosen; 2009; USA; 25 min; Focus: Adrenaline
The famous North Face of the Eiger is revered among climbers, not only for the
quality of its rock but also for its intimidating dimensions and technical challenges.
This lethal exposure has tested the limits of climbing for the past century.

Signatures
Nick Waggoner; 2009; USA; 10 min; Focus: Adventure
Nick Waggoner, a talented young filmmaker, captures the essence of deep powder
skiing in Hokkaido, Japan

Waypoint Namibia (Festival cut)
Chris Alstrin; 2009; USA; 7 min; Focus: Adventure
The goal of this climbing expedition to Namibia was to find a way up an explored
face, but also to delve deeper into the culture of southern Africa. Climbers Majka
Burhardt, Peter Doucette and Kate Rutherford attempt a trip that is as much about
experiencing a way of life as it is about feeling the adrenaline rush of adventure