Mountainfilm World Tour - Bellevue

Mountainfilm World Tour - Bellevue

Mountainfilm -- one of the premier outdoor-themed film festivals -- visits Bellevue for the first time ever on Saturday, September 29th. Join us for an evening of inspiring and captivating films handpicked from the Mountainfilm festival in Telleuride, Colorado.

Mountainfilm on Tour visits Bellevue for the first time ever on Saturday, September 29th at the Bellevue Youth Theatre - Crossroads.  Join us for an evening of inspiring and captivating films handpicked from the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colorado.

Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating, inspiring and motivating audiences about outdoor recreation and wilderness issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving, adventures worth pursuing and conversations worth sustaining.
Founded in 1979, Mountainfilm is one of America’s longest-running film festivals. Mountainfilm is a dynamic organization and festival of films, people, art, stories, and ideas that celebrate indomitable spirit, educates and inspires audiences, and motivates individuals and communities to advance solutions for a livable world.
Mountainfilm on Tour in Bellevue will feature a collection of culturally rich, adventure-packed and enlightening documentary short films that align with Mountainfilm’s mission to use the power of film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world. A Mountainfilm presenter will guide the audience through the program providing insight on the films, filmmakers and subjects.
Doors open for the event at 6:15 and the show will kick off at 7:00 p.m.
Mountainfilm on Tour in Bellevue is hosted by the Foothills Branch of the Mountaineers in partnership with the City of Bellevue, Department of Parks and  Community Services.
To purchase tickets, click on the "more information..." tab immediately below.

===============================================================

2 ½ hours of films !!!  Here's a description of each film:

LETTER TO CONGRESS

Christopher Newman’s short, lyrical visual poem was inspired by and is an homage to Wallace Stegner’s 1960 “Letter to Congress,” in which the writer advocated for the preservation of the wilderness that then remained. “Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed,” Stegner wrote. In hindsight, the 1960s were hopeful; today, the exhortation is more urgent than ever.

BREAK ON THROUG

In the world of climbing, the 5.15 grade is a rarefied realm reserved for only the strongest and most precise sport climbers. Most never achieve it, legends like Alex Honnold won’t go near it and for women, it’s long been out of reach. Until now. Meet Margo Hayes. This petite former-gymnast surprised the world in 2017 when she tackled Spain’s La Rambla — a brutal 5.15 that features giant moves, tiny crimpers and a small chance of success — and sent it, shattering the glass ceiling. Instead of resting on her laurels though, this driven climber immediately set her sights on an even bigger objective.

BROTHERS OF CLIMBING

Go to a typical climbing gym and you’re not likely to see many people of color. But Brothers of Climbing co-founder Mikhail Martin says if young black people never see someone who looks like them, they will think a rock wall is no place for them. His organization aims to change that. With a mission of boosting minorities’ involvement in outdoor activities, the group’s positive energy is increasing diversity and challenging stereotypes in the climbing world.

CLIMBING OUT OF A DISASTER

Bryant Huffman spent his days deep water soloing, sport climbing and bouldering as founder of Climbing Puerto Rico. Then Hurricane Maria dropped a nuclear bomb of water and wind, which destroyed much of the island. With his work as a guide temporarily suspended, Huffman and his climbing buddies put their skills to good use by morphing into emergency arborists. And out of the devastation comes a glimmer of something positive. The hurricane peeled huge chunks of limestone from cliffs, creating scores of new routes. Climbing Out of a Disaster is about shifting your perspective to see the silver lining in calamity.

CORBET’S COULOIR SEGMENT of ROGUE ELEMENTS

A rite of passage for any Jackson Hole skier, Corbet’s Couloir is conquered here not on two planks, but two wheels.

DROP EVERYTHING: MICHELLE PARKER SEGMENT

Fast, fearless, steep and deep. That about sums up Michelle Parker as she carves graceful lines into the spines of Alaska.

ESCAPE

There is something gloriously incongruous — and almost incomprehensible — about a risk-averse, non-athletic, native Rwandan DJ finding the real meaning in his life by pedaling across Canada to its frozen Arctic Ocean shore in an attempt to break the record for the longest, continuous, fixed- gear bike ride. Through the course of this unlikely adventure, the protagonist, Jean-Aime Bigirimana, also finds that the truth about escaping is not as black and white as, say, his spandex silhouette against the cold Canadian snowscape.

HAYLEY: 90 SECONDS ON FEAR

 “I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear.” That’s the mantra of Hayley Ashburn as she walks a 170-foot highline between outcroppings in the wintry Dolomites.

HOW TO RUN 100 MILES

In 2017, Brendan Leonard signed up to run a 100-mile race, despite not being much of a runner. Why? Because his longtime friend and hero, Jayson Sime, convinced him to. And part of him wanted to test out Sime’s life philosophy, which is that you can do anything you dream up, so long as you put in the work and refuse to quit. It had worked so far for Sime, who grew up impoverished, one of six children without a father, and dyslexic. Together, they trained for endless hours, through tedium, exhaustion, joy and gluttony. And when they arrived at the starting line of the race — the notoriously challenging Run Rabbit Run 100 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado — what unfolded was about more than just a crazy dream. It was about one extraordinary friendship.

INTERSECTION: MICAYLA GATTO

Professional mountain biker and artist Micayla Gatto recreates in her paintings the sweeping vistas of ridgelines she rides on her bike. Both cornering berms and putting paint brush to canvas allow Gatto to achieve that magical flow state where she exists completely and happily in the present moment. Intersection takes us inside the vibrant space where artist and athlete collide, as Gatto pedals through her artwork with a splash of color.

LOVED BY ALL: THE STORY OF APA SHERPA

“I wouldn’t wish this for anyone,” says Apa Sherpa, who summited Everest 21 times, having started as a porter at the age of 12 following the death of his father. Eric Crosland’s Loved By All leaves no doubt that for many Sherpa, the hard, dangerous work of hauling gear and guiding westerners on Everest is undertaken not for glory, but to provide for their families. Apa Sherpa is now devoted to providing educational opportunities to children of the Khumbu Valley, hoping to spare them his fate. “The true beauty of Nepal is not the mountains, but the people who live in their shadow,” he says, calling into question the Everest industry, fueled by Sherpa labor.

THE MIRNAVATOR

Teacher, blogger and mom Mirna Valerio is an endurance runner whose weekends are packed with marathons, 50Ks and other races. But she doesn’t fit into the typical mold of ultra-runner; Mirna is black, and she’s not stick thin. Which means that along with being a runner, she is a great stereotype exploder. It can be a harsh world of cruel internet trolls and insensitive competitors, but where others might relent, Mirna keeps her head up. She chooses to focus instead on the freedom, joy and feeling of accomplishment. As she puts it, “my body got this.”

THE WOLF PACK

High in the San Juan Mountains above Silverton, Colorado, a pack of runners roams, jogging through meadows, hiking over mineral-stained peaks, ducking through forests and exploring the rugged landscape of their backyard. It’s the Braford-Lefebvre family — mom, dad and three kids — who have used running both as a healing mechanism and a tool to help them experience life together. The Wolf Pack chronicles a family raised the right way — on fresh air, high peaks and the wonder of the outdoors.

 

More information about this event…

Location
Bellevue Youth Theatre - Crossroads
16051 Northeast 10th St., Bellevue WA 98008

Roster