BESTSELLING AUTHOR TO PRESENT AT MOUNTAINFILM

06 Mar BESTSELLING AUTHOR TO PRESENT AT MOUNTAINFILM

New York Times bestselling author Dan Buettner is scheduled to speak at Mountainfilm in Telluride, May 25 – May 28. Buettner, also a National Geographic Fellow and internationally recognized researcher author “Blue Zones: Lesson for Living Longer from People Who’ve Lived the Longest.” The book identifies five cultures in which people live the longest and analyzed why the denizens of these regions live such healthy lives.In 2009, Dan Buettner partnered with AARP to apply the principles of Blue Zones to Albert Lea, Minnesota, and successfully raised life expectancy and lowered health care costs by 40 percent there. He’s currently working with Healthways to implement the program in targeted Los Angeles communities.

“We’ve been talking about having Dan Buettner at Mountainfilm in Telluride for several years,” said David Holbrooke, Mountainfilm in Telluride’s festival director, “and with our 2012 focus on population, he’s a perfect fit. By traveling around the world to study longevity, he’s come to understand how people experience not only a long life, but a happy and productive one, as well.”

Buettner’s second book addresses some of the themes of happiness that have been explored at Mountainfilm in Telluride recently with such films as “I Am.”

Holbrooke predicts that Buettner can “crystallize some of the life lessons from those films, while also looking at the issue from a scientific perspective.”

Buettner joins an exciting roster of Mountainfilm in Telluride guests, including among others, filmmaker Ken Burns, world-famous climber Chris Sharma, wildlife photographer Joe Riis, Earth First! co-founder Dave Foreman and ecologist and author Sandra Steingraber.

For more information about this year’s festival, visit www.mountainfilm.org. Early Bird passes to the 2012 event are available now.

About Mountainfilm in Telluride: Established in 1979, Mountainfilm in Telluride is dedicated to educating and inspiring audiences about environments, cultures, issues and adventures. Working at the nexus of filmmaking and action, its flagship program is the legendary one-of-a-kind combination of films, conversations and inspiration. Mountainfilm also reaches audiences year round through its worldwide schedule.