04 May Mountainfilm 2026: World Premiere, “Submitting Tigers”!
For the 48th edition, Mountainfilm welcomes an exceptional roster of guests, filmmakers and speakers to Telluride over Memorial Weekend, May 21–25. One of those filmmakers bringing a world premiere short is Luke Kellerhouse, who also happens to be Festival Producer.
Luke’s “Submitting Tigers,” is a classic tale about wrestling triumph out of defeat. The doc underlines a major goal of Mountainfilm to celebrate indomitable spirits.
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For more information about Mountainfilm 2026 and upcoming program announcements, visit mountainfilm.org.
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And please scroll down to listen to Telluride Inside…and Out’s podcast with Luke.
Luke & Co., courtesy Luke Kellerhouse.
Luke’s “Submitting Tigers,” is centered on Julija Pajic, a professional MMA fighter with a remarkable – albeit challenging – personal story: she survived horrific childhood trauma before rising as a competitor. The film finds its star at an unexpected crossroads, suggesting a moment of personal and professional instability that challenges the identity Julija has built in the ring.
Julija speaks openly about her many gnarly scars, even claiming at one point that they are in fact from a tiger attack: “When I say I had a fight with a tiger, many think I’m not normal, but let them think that.”
Luke’s title for this project, “Submitting Tigers,” works on multiple levels. “Submitting” is an MMA term for forcing an opponent to tap out, while tigers carry personal symbolic weight for Julija herself.
Julija Pajic, courtesy director Luke Kellerhouse.
Julija with student. Courtesy Luke Kellerhouse, director, “Submitting Tigers.”
Julija in action, courtesy Luke.
Julija again in her element as a teacher. Courtesy Luk.
A close look at Luke Kellerhouse’s resume shows he earned his BFA in Film and Television from the Savannah College of Art and Design and later received a master’s degree in Documentary Directing from Metfilm School Berlin.
And, as it turns out, a sports-themed documentary with a deeply personal, deeply painful yet hopeful human story like “Submitting Tigers” is squarely in his wheelhouse.
Why?
Well, Luke’s freshman project, “You’re A Man,” is a conversation-driven documentary about sexual abuse. The doc serves up a general understanding of that horrific form of invasion of privacy, while addressing the stereotypes of who abuse can impact and what that experience feels like.
And “You’re A Man,” is explicitly autobiographical.
A through line that connects powerfully to the harrowing, yet hopeful “Submitting Tigers.”
Luke is not just a documentary filmmaker drawn to interesting subjects. He is a person clearly drawn to survivors and to the body as a potential site of both wound and strength. For more, check out our talk.
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