Mountainfilm Festival
Listen: “Superposition” by Young the Giant
May of 2023 turned out to be super busy month culminating with a trip back to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado to do some writing on my memoir and hang out with some new friends at the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado over Memorial Weekend. It was an amazing weekend with Rod and Alli Colburn and several of their friends who are former Seventh Day Adventists along with one former fundamental Baptist pastor and one former Vineyard pastor (me). The Colburn’s rented a big house which overlooked the town of Telluride, and Samir Selmanovic created some of the best brunches I have ever eaten. I would have never guessed I could have so much fun with a bunch of recovering Adventists!
First of all, an update on my memoir. I spent several days before and after the Mountainfilm Festival in the beginning stages of writing my memoir at the Cimmaron Coffee & Books in Ridgway, Colorado. I have felt compelled to write my memoir, and I am working with an editor that Brian McLaren suggested. Things may change but my working title is Becoming a Prodigal Pastor. Currently, I am thinking it will have three parts: Part 1–Southern Baptist Fred; Part 2–Vineyard Fred; and Part 3–Prodigal Pastor Fred.
As I was shaping up the outline for the memoir, I remembered seeing a movie on the life of Bob Dylan called “I’m Not There,” in which six different actors depict different facets of Dylan’s public personas. It got me thinking about how we grow, deconstruct, and evolve over a lifetime—navigating change, episodes of darkness, transitions, and new beginnings. I’m hoping to have it out by next year.
Secondly, a brief description of the festival. The Mountainfilm Festival has been running since 1979. I first heard about it years ago because some of my favorite rock climbing, mountaineering, and outdoor adventure documentaries have been released at Mountianfilm. It’s the longest running documentary film festival in the country and focuses on outdoor adventure, environmentalism, social justice, and culture.
I loved it. There were times when I was crying due to a featured social injustice or an environmental crisis; there were times when I was crying due to inspirational stories of the indomitable human spirit exhibiting love, courage, and beauty.
Here are my top picks. I would encourage you to watch these documentaries when they get released.
Wild Life. Jimmy Chin and his wife, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, are hands down my favorite outdoor adventure filmmakers. From Meru to Free Solo, Jimmy is not only one of the best climbers in the world, but also one of the best filmmaker. Wild Life is a tribute to Doug Tompkins, who is founder of The North Face who spent most of his wealth buying up over a million acres in Patagonia to preserve nature, re-wild, and create National Parks.
By the way, if you are not familiar with the story of the friendship between Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia & Black Diamond, and Doug Tompkins, founder of The North Face, then you need to check out two documentaries: 180 Degrees South (2010) and the newly released Wild Life (2023). Their friendship and life work is an American treasure and truly inspirational on multiple levels.
It was so fun to see Jimmy Chin introduce his new documentary, Wild Life, and then do a Q & A afterwards, which was a highlight for me. I have admired Jimmy from a distance, so it was a joy to see him up close and in-person.
The Grab. This one was sobering and disturbing from filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The Grab is a global thriller that takes you from Arizona, Zambia, China, and Russia and follows investigative journalists as they uncover how governments, private investors, and mercenaries are seizing food and water resources at the expense of entire populations.
Patrol. Another sobering documentary which uncovers the threat to the last remaining rainforests of Central America due to the illegal activity of cattle ranchers who steal acreage and raze large swaths of rainforest to graze their herds. Brad Allgood and Camilo De Castro Belli have literally risked their lives to expose this illegal activity.
Bill McKibben. Not a documentary, but Bill gave the opening talk for Mountainfilm. I hope to meet Bill in the near future and do a podcast interview with him. I have always had a love for nature, outdoors, and environmentalism as a side-gig to my pastoral career. Bill’s main gig and life work is as an American environmentalist, author, and journalist who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. I wish all of you could have heard his thirty minute talk—a sober evaluation of the current state of our planet mixed with some hope if we act boldly. If you care about our planet and are over the age of sixty, check out his most recent project, Third Act, which organizes people over the age of sixty to work on climate and racial justice.
I was only able to view a small number of the feature documentaries and missed out on all the shorts, but I hope to go again. I came away from the event with a sense of renewed purpose around my lifelong love for nature, mountain biking, rock climbing, and the Rocky Mountains.
Nature is a source of inspiration and spiritual renewal. It’s good for what ails us. Make sure you get a regular dose of immersion into the beauty of nature, and let’s do what we can to heal and save our planet.
Shalom
©realfredherron, 2023
