Author: Telluwriter TIO

by Daiva Chesonis

JohnFayhee Mountain Gazette resurrectionist M. John Fayhee & contributor B. Frank at Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride on Wed 6/16 at 6pm to read and discuss their new books! 

If you've ever read (or written for) the Mountain Gazette ("When in doubt, go higher." ) then you know it's a classic Mountain Time Zone rag. We are so fortunate to have both John and B in town on the eve of Bluegrass as they hit the road to launch their new books "Bottoms Up: Greatest Hits from the Mountain Gazette" and "Livin' the Dream: Testing the Ragged Edge of Machismo." They'll read, we'll listen, and then swap stories about this West we call home; what's right, what's wrong, what's to be done, and which regional microbrew rules. At the heart of it all are the surroundings we choose to live, work and play in, float through and fight for. Afterward, there'll be live music by Bay Area band Calaveras on the terrace. Storytelling from the gut, then music under the stars; ain't life grand?
 
World Premiere of Tom Shadyac’s "I Am", Record Attendance Highlight 32nd Annual Festival

Telluride, Colorado (June 8th, 2010)Mountainfilm in Telluride enjoyed record attendance this year with more than 15,000 seatings in theaters, up some 25% from 2009. Despite sunshine and warm temperatures, often deterrents to theater-goers, Mountainfilm venues operated at or near capacity throughout the Memorial Day weekend. “We benefited from several factors,” said Mountainfilm Executive Director Peter Kenworthy. “We received very favorable regional press leading up to the event. The weather lured a lot of people within driving range who might otherwise not have come. And, word-of-mouth momentum has been building steadily the past three years.”

Kids_summer Winter in Telluride has melted away, on the mountain and in our hearts and minds, as  the summer season heats up. 

For the summer season, Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts has increased its programming, offering over 140 kids' classes in every medium: sculpting, throwing, painting, beading, jewelry making, cooking, recycled creations, printmaking, theater, drawing and metals.  The idea is to embrace and develop each child’s imagination and creative spirit. 

by Art Goodtimes

Worshiping bouncelight in our alpine cathedral of peaks & clouds

IMG_5178 MOUNTAIN CULTURE … It does seem that high mountain cultures are more about freedoms and ecological sanity than American culture at large, at least if we are to believe TV. Fox News. NBC. CNN.

Luckily, I don’t own one – but only because I’m addicted. At hotels I can’t control myself. Stay up into the wee hours channelling pop culture.

Mountainfilm 32, this year’s spring festival kickoff to Telluride’s summer season, proved far more diverse than its niche origin in climbing and extreme sports. It offered a four-day international immersion in mountain culture.

by Art Goodtimes

BOULDER PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC

IMG_2224 Okay, so I’d never seen a Tesla showroom before. But I saw one in Boulder -- where I went (after my political duties last month) to visit some old friends, who balance Imago counseling with commercial construction and have a cozy condo duplex unit in a carefully manicured residential greenbelt.

Boulder is such a trip. It seems every spot of lawn has a dog baggie dispenser box, and even the street people carry REI sleeping bags.

by Mountainfilm staff

Mountainfilm in Telluride announces a new granting program, the Mountainfilm Commitment. The initiative provides up to five grants of $5,000 each year to filmmakers, photographers, artists and adventurers whose projects are intended to move audiences to action on issues that matter. Individuals who are producing film, video, photography, book, art, and multimedia projects that can be presented in theaters and galleries or, more broadly, on television and online, are eligible. Mountainfilm will also work with grantees to ensure that their stories are heard as widely as possible. Grants will be awarded in the inaugural cycle of the program to individuals who have either participated in a Mountainfilm in Telluride festival as a filmmaker or special guest presenter or have been recommended by participating filmmakers or presenters.


By D. Dion

 

Greg Stump’s “Blizzard of Aahhh’s (1988) is perhaps the most beloved movie ever made about skiing. (Skiing Magazine ranked it #1 in its Top Ten Ski Movies of All Times, and a VHS recording of the film sits on the shelf of every self-respecting ski bum over the age of 30.) The movie also holds a special place in the heart of Telluriders, because it features lots of local footage from the 80s, from powder runs down Mammoth in neon-colored, one-piece ski suits to dreadlocked reggae musician Rasta Stevie waxing philosophical about his stint in Telluride politics and the vibe of the ski town.

It’s fitting, then, that the preeminent filmmaker would preview his newest work in progress, the ski flick “Legend of Aahhh’s,” here in his old Stump-ing grounds, at Telluride’s Mountainfilm festival this Memorial Day weekend. “I spent every winter from 1983 through 1988 in Telluride, with my brother Geoff. I really like it there,” says Stump.

By D. Dion


When Sender Films brings their superior brand of climbing flicks to Mountainfilm in Telluride, they know they are getting an appreciative audience—often one full of climbers and adventurers who have been through the ascetic conditioning of sleeping in the cold at high elevations, burdened with just enough food and water to make the journey possible, or who have scars on their hands from jamming them into a crack as they ascend a wall. Sender has managed to dazzle these likeminded folks at past festivals, winning awards for films like “King Lines,” “Return to Sender” and “The Sharp End.”

But the mountaineering world isn’t the only one sitting up and taking notice of Sender: National Geographic International contracted Sender to produce a television series based on the film company’s popular work “First Ascent.” The film company has finished the six-part series and will show four of the programs at Mountainfilm in Telluride this weekend. “In the past we’ve done a lot of television stuff, but we’ve never produced our own series. It was different working for National Geo, but also similar, in that a lot of our films are sort of episodic. But it was a much bigger budget, more storyline, and we were creating a product that wasn’t just for mountain film enthusiasts and the climbing community,” says Nicholas Rosen, who co-produced the series with his partner Peter Mortimer.