Telluride Mountainfilm Festival

Telluride is home to three creative, inspiring, and fun film festivals throughout the year. The first of these to take center stage is the Mountainfilm Festival. This festival, according to its website, is “a dynamic organization and festival of films, people, stories, and ideas that celebrates indomitable spirit, educates and inspires audiences, and motivates individuals and communities to advance solutions for a livable world.”

Mountainfilm Festival is held every year during Memorial Day weekend, and showcases documentaries featuring stories concerning topics that really make a difference such as culture, environment, and social and political justice. In addition to these films, innovators, world-class athletes, and game-changing artists all come together to revere the unflinching spirit.

Mountainfilm works to spark a fire in audience members to become proactive in worthy causes through several free community events, outdoor presentations, and interactive talks. This experience is taken on the road worldwide every year to share their message globally. The tour kicks off January 13th in Girdwood, Alaska and concludes in Hong Kong on April 24th. You can catch the festival when it passes through Telluride during the tour on March 23rd or attend the Memorial Day weekend festival.

Several initiatives are taken on my Mountainfilm through their film work. These include: grants to aid photographers, artists, and filmmakers who work to create media that inspires audiences to take action on important issues, education for students through the use of inspiring content that they might not have been exposed to otherwise, and motivating people to take action for positive change in the world by getting audience members involved in causes that are presented throughout the festival.

The theme for this year’s festival is “National Parks”. Commonly considered to be America’s best idea, national parks will celebrate their one hundredth anniversary this year. Telluride will be showing their support for the national parks in their May 26th symposium during the festival. Mountainfilm Festival Director David Holbrooke states that “Mountainfilm has always had a deep and abiding relationship with wilderness, and national parks contain some of America’s finest wilderness.”

The final date to submit films for the festival is fast approaching on February 8th. Information on what you need to submit, fees, schedules, and processes can be found here. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online on the festival website or by phone. Donations are also being accepted at this time. Don’t miss out on your chance to be exposed to numerous inspirational and innovative films as well as learn how to make a serious impact on the world around you.