Mountainfilm in Telluride

Held every Memorial Day weekend since 1979, Telluride Mountainfilm is a documentary film festival that showcases nonfiction stories about environmental, cultural, climbing, political and social justice issues in Telluride, Colorado. In addition to documentaries, the festival also brings together world-class athletes, change makers and artists via interactive discussions, free community events, a gallery walk, an all-day symposium, outdoor programming and presentations. Mountainfilm aims to educate, inspire and motivate audiences.

In 2000, Mountainfilm started touring its films and speakers internationally with Mountainfilm on Tour. Mountainfilm has since added Mountainfilm for Students, an educational component for schools across the country with free screenings of festival films that are supported by customized educational materials. Mountainfilm also funds Mountainfilm Commitment Grants, annual grants for filmmakers, photographers, artists and adventurers whose projects align with the organization’s mission to move audiences to action on important issues.

Telluride Mountainfilm is not to be confused with Telluride Film Festival, which is a different festival that is held in Telluride over Labor Day weekend.

Mountainfilm began in 1979 when Telluride was completing its transition from a hard-rock gold and silver mining community to a destination resort and ski town. Lito Tejada-Flores, after screening his adventure and mountaineering film Fitzroy at the Trento festival in Italy, and Bill Kees, a local climber and avid outdoorsman, inaugurated the event. Over three nights, at the historic Sheridan Opera House, they screened a dozen films about mountain sports, mountain cultures and mountain issues. During the daytime, audience members took to the mountains for adventure themselves.

The first festivals attracted leading names in mountaineering and exploration: Royal Robbins, Yvon Chouinard, David Breashears and others. With their help, the event became a tradition for a circle of pioneers in diverse fields — from athletes and environmentalists to scientists and poets. Mountains soon became a metaphorical theme, and the festival expanded in size and recognition, its programming stretching into contemporary issues. The festival’s tagline is "celebrating indomitable spirit."

Telluride Mountainfilm has hosted such speakers as Bill McKibben, Chris Sharma, Wade Davis, Sandra Steingraber, Sir Edmund Hillary, Richard Holbrooke, Dianne Feinstein, Galen Rowell, George Schaller, Phil Borges, Frans Lanting, Lynn Hill, David Brower, Pete Athans, Timmy O'Neill, Subhankar Banerjee, David Breashears, Norman Vaughan, Martin Litton, James Balog, Maurice Herzog, Gretel Ehrlich, Timothy Treadwell, David James Duncan, Julia Butterfly Hill, John Grunsfeld, Angela Fisher, Rick Ridgeway and Carl Pope.

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