Mountainfilm: More Than Films, a guide to artists, authors & more!

21 May Mountainfilm: More Than Films, a guide to artists, authors & more!

Mountainfilm is just around the corner and is so much more than films. The event is a celebration of artistic inspiration, big ideas and indomitable spirit. The directors have gathered a compelling lineup of authors, artists and adventurers to spark conversation, connection and a little bit of wonder at this year’s festival. Below is your whistle-stop tour of what’s happening beyond the screen.

See Mountainfilm’s full lineup of films here.

Go here to purchase your 2025 Mountainfilm pass. 

Go here to donate to help Mountainfilm create a better world.

Go here for more about Mountainfilm (going back to 2009).

ARTIST EVENTS:

Twenty(by)Telluride: Wed, 7 PM, The Alibi

Twenty(by)Telluride is back! This is a fun, free event hosted in collaboration with Telluride Arts. This program brings five creatives to the stage to share their stories using 20 slides, each shown for just 20 seconds, offering a glimpse into the lives and work of artists across all mediums.

Art Walk: Fri, 4–7 PM, downtown Telluride

In partnership with Telluride Arts, the annual Art Walk showcases work by photographers, activists and artists. Artist talks begin around 6 PM at Telluride Arts HQ and Telco.

Caroline Clark – Telluride Arts

Colorado Springs-based Caroline Clark is Mountainfilm’s 2025 poster artist. Her quirky, colorful art captures the spirit of the American West. In 2024 Clark opened Long Lost Studio, a creative space reminiscent of gathering around a campfire with friends.

Greg Fiske – Telco + Heard Gallery

Greg Fiske is Mountainfilm’s 2025 mural artist. As lead cartographer at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, Fiske translates climate science into maps. His mural “Cartographies of Arctic Change” visualizes how a warming Arctic reshapes communities and our planet.

Dana Tiger – Telluride Arts

Dana Tiger, of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation with Seminole and Cherokee heritage, is known for watercolors and acrylics celebrating Native American women. Her work appears in institutions across the country. She co-founded Legacy Cultural Learning Community to support Native youth through art.

R. Nelson Parrish – Fringe Gallery (formerly Slate Gray)

Created by artist R. Nelson Parrish, Mountainfilm’s festival awards will be on display for Art Walk.

Parrish’s tactile, dynamic pieces represent a fusion of natural and synthetic, through sculpture and painting. The main body of his work implements the language of color and the tactility of space in making the memory of moments and visceral experiences tangible. Each work investigates the expansion and contraction of time, aiming to disengage the viewer from the peripheral and focus on the present moment, eliciting a calm among the chaos that is rare in today’s world.

AUTHOR EVENTS & BOOK SIGNINGS:

Book-signings are hosted in partnership with Between the Covers Bookstore andl take place Thursday, Saturday & Sunday at various venues.

The annual Town Read, 5:30–7 p.m. Thursday at the Wilkinson Public Library. This special literary event features Cassidy Randall in conversation about her book “Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali.” Copies will be available at the library. Go here for more.

Following the Coffee Talk at Camel’s Garden on Saturday morning, Peter Hessler will sign “Other Rivers: A Chinese Education” and Abe Streep will sign “Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance and Hope on a Reservation in Montana.”

Several authors will sign copies of their books at Hotel Telluride following the Women Writing for Change Coffee Talk. Participating authors include Cassidy Randall, author of “Thirty Below”; Leslie Chang, “Egyptian Made: Women, Work, and the Promise of Liberation”; Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, “The Unfolding”; and Shelby Stanger, “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life.” Signed copies of Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild” will also be available.

Following the Speaker Series, “Beyond Boundaries: Explorations from the Himalaya to Antarctica,” High Camp at noon, Edmund Stump will sign “Otherworldly Antarctica: Ice, Rock, and Wind at the Polar Extreme.” This signing is for Speaker Series attendees.

Bonus! Join author Craig Childs for a dark sky storytelling session under the stars, Saturday night at 9 p.m. Meet at Elks Park.

On Sunday, meet authors at Between the Covers for more book-signings. At 9:30am Hampton Sides will sign copies of “The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.” Craig Childs will sign “The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light.” At 11:45 a.m., Abe Streep will sign “Brothers on Three” and Edmund Stump will sign “Otherworldly Antarctica.”

OTHER FESTIVAL HAPPENINGS:

In addition to films, presentations and panels, Mountainfilm squeezes in a few surprises: a morning cold plunge in the San Miguel River; The North Face happy hour athlete chats in Elks Park; Ice Cream Social on Main Street (because who doesn’t like free ice cream?); late-night dance party; a big-hearted Closing Picnic; and so much more!

The Base Camp Theater (Telluride Town Park) screen lights up nightly at 8:45 p.m. for free outdoor films. Don’t forget your camp chairs and warm layers. Screenings at Base Camp are free and open to the public.

Back by popular demand, Mountainfilm’s Adrenaline program is held on Saturday. Fair warning, this event can get rowdy!

About Mountainfilm: