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Mountainfilm in Houston

The Mountainfilm in Telluride Film Festival takes place annually in the Colorado town on Memorial Day Weekend. Subsequently a tour of the festival’s highlights hits the road, and this week comes to Houston.

Mountainfilm on Tour – Houston, Texas rolls into the Asia Society Texas Center (1370 Southmore) this Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22. Each night kicks off at 6:30 pm., with several short films interspersed with presentations, breaks for food and drink at the ASTC’s spacious second level, and guest speakers. Guests include Henry Lysad (on both nights), director of Mountainfilm on Tour, and David Morton (Saturday night) who will discuss his multiple expeditions to Mt. Everest.

High & Hallowed trailer: http://youtu.be/6vsB8O0kOWE

Mountainfilm, er, films are specifically sports and environmentally themed. This event always draws a capacity crowd and the early bird gets, shall we say a better choice of seating. Discussions abound no doubt spurred on by the combination of libations, healthy morsels of food and exciting climbing footage.

Some of the more interesting titles include the following: SLOMO connects the viewer with the world of rollerblading; The Burn looks at the cycle of forest fires and how it impacts the given area throughout the year; Duk Country follows climber and doctor Geoff Tabin who devotes times to an eye clinic in South Sudan; Split of a Second is a 9-minute doc on wingsuit flying; Honor the Treaties examines the Lakota Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota; Je Veux documents French singer Zaz performing the titular song on top of the 15, 781-foot Mont Blanc. And that’s just the first night.

Je Veux trailer: http://youtu.be/qewtI8vwVZA

Additional titles explore various species of birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea (Paradise Found); while High & Hallowed tells the story of a 1963 expedition that attempted to ascend the then previously unclimbed West Ridge of Mt. Everest.

- Michael Bergeron

by Michael Bergeron