Mountainfilm 2014: Lincoln Center, New York

20 Nov Mountainfilm 2014: Lincoln Center, New York

In the run-up to Thanksgiving, a treat for denizens of the Big Apple: for the 5th year, Mountainfilm in Telluride returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center  with a weekend of documentaries about adventure, environment, and culture. But mainly adventure. From wrangling buffalo in the American West to bull-riding in a very different kind of rodeo; from fly-fishing in France 60 years after the Liberation to liberating another, much smaller creature in Europe; from a nail-biting rescue story in the Grand Tetons to the history of climbing in Yosemite Valley—Mountainfilm in New York promises to educate, inspire, and motivate audiences about adventures worth pursuing.

Included in the series:

“Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo.” The film follows a year in the lives of a number of extraordinary cowboys and cowgirls as they follow their dreams, no matter how wild or daunting. Q&A with director Matt Livadary and producer Erin Krozek.

“Valley Uprising.” Narrated by Peter Sarsgaard, Valley Uprising tells the story of the bold men and women who broke with convention and redefined the limits of human possibility in America’s legendary national park.

“Crossing Boundaries” Shorts. Whether a boundary is real or imagined, crossing over is usually left to mavericks, visionaries, and the exceptionally brave. The lead characters in these three documentaries all cross different kinds of boundaries. In 14.c, a young black athlete excels in a sport that normally has little diversity: climbing. Duke from Duke and the Buffalo is a rancher who has made an alliance with a large conservation group. Frank Moore envisioned returning to fly-fish in France 60 years after landing on the beaches of Normandy, and his dream became a reality in Mending the Line.

Q&A with Duke and the Buffalo director Alfredo Alcantara and subject & executive producer Duke Phillips, Mending the Line director Steve Engman and subjects Frank & Jeanne Moore, and 14.c subjects Kai & Connie Lightner.

“Emptying the Skies.” Just as The Cove exposed the tragic slaughtering of the dolphins of Taiji, Emptying the Skies serves European migratory songbirds with a similar purpose.

Q&A with co-director Roger Kass.

“The Grand Rescue.” All great adventures potentially have an equally great price. For those who make adventure sports a career, the rewards can be great as well. The protagonists in this group of short films, culminating in the featurette Walled In, live on the line between risk and reward.

Q&A with Off-Width Outlaw subject Pamela Shanti Pack and Likebomb Skiing director Erik Henriksson.

“Water Shorts.” They say whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting, but we would respectfully add that water is also for playing. Who Owns Water highlights the conflicts that can arise when water becomes scarce, but all three films in this program are broadly about finding joy in and above water.

Q&A with Who Owns Water directors David Hanson, Michael Hanson & Andrew Kornylak.

Special thanks to Ronnie Planalp for her support of Mountainfilm in New York.