Jackson, Wyoming – January 10, 2008 – The Alpinist Film Festival announced today that Dan Malloy will be the Master of Ceremonies for Surf Night on January 18 at the Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, WY. A man of many talents, Malloy will also present the world premiere of the surf film Sliding Liberia on Surf Night; present the People’s Choice Awards on behalf of Patagonia each evening; and act as the ambassador for the 2008 AFF’s non-profit, SurfAid International.
Dan, the youngest of three surfing Malloy brothers, is a professional surfer and ambassador for the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. The star of numerous award-winning surf films (including Step Into Liquid, which will have a matinee screening at 2 p.m. at the Walk Festival Hall earlier in the day), Malloy will present the world premiere, with director Britton Caillouette, of Sliding Liberia, a powerful surf film/social documentary that follows a group of young surfers to war-torn West Africa in search of more than perfect waves, capturing a glimpse of hope despite the devastation.
“Dan Malloy is more than simply a great surfer,” said AFF Producer Leslie Bahn. “He has a conscience as well, as evidenced by his representation of our non-profit, SurfAid International.”
SurfAid International is a non-profit organization dedicated to the alleviation of human suffering in Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands through community-based health programs. Money will be raised for SurfAid International through silent auctions held throughout the three nights of the AFF, and with Friday and Sunday’s 2 p.m. matinees.
In addition to acting as ambassador for the non-profit, Dan volunteered to auction himself off for a day of snowboard instruction (though a world-class surfer, he has only snowboarded three times). The winning bid will give an AFF attendee the opportunity to ride with Malloy, providing instruction along the way. Despite Malloy’s inexperience as a snowboarder, AFF director Christian Beckwith believes, “With Dan’s incredible athleticism and fearlessness, we anticipate that he’ll be doing aerials into Corbet’s by the end of the lesson.”
The third hat Malloy will wear at the 2008 AFF will be as presenter of the People’s Choice Awards. Each evening’s films will be eligible for that night’s People’s Choice Awards, with the winning filmmakers to receive a Patagonia gift certificate worth $750. The Festival’s grand prize winner, which will be chosen at the conclusion of Sunday’s People’s Choice Ceremonies at the Center for the Arts in Jackson, will receive another Patagonia gift certificate worth an additional $1,500. (The Grand Prize winner will be announced Monday, January 21 on www.alpinist.com.) Each night, Malloy will present the People’s Choice Awards from the preceding evening’s films.
“We’re psyched to bring Dan to Jackson for the Festival,” said AFF Director Christian Beckwith. “His brother Chris presented Surf Night in 2005, the first year of the festival, and we know Dan will get the Aloha spirit going for us this year as well.”
Tickets for The 2008 Alpinist Film Festival are $18 for the Snow, Surf and Stone nights and $20 for the People’s Choice Ceremonies. Tickets and additional information can be found online at www.alpinist.com/film_festival. To date, every event in The Alpinist Film Festival’s three-year history has sold out.
About The Alpinist Film Festival
The Alpinist Film Festival celebrates the adventure lifestyle across disciplines and generations with three nights of film in skiing, surfing and climbing. The Festival’s mission is to advance the art of cinematographic storytelling as it underscores the unity among the adventure lifestyle communities. A portion of every year’s proceeds are donated to charities that help preserve the places of our inspiration. Because one of these places is our planet, beginning in 2008, the Festival will purchase carbon offsets to counteract its carbon footprint.
About Alpinist Magazine
Hailed by Italian climbing legend Reinhold Messner as “The best climbing magazine in the world today,” Alpinist Magazine is an archival-quality, quarterly publication dedicated to world alpinism and adventure climbing. The pages of Alpinist capture the art of ascent in its most powerful manifestations, presenting an articulation of climbing and its lifestyle that matches the intensity of the pursuit itself. Alpinist has been awarded three Maggie Awards, for Best Quarterly/Consumer Division, Best Overall Design, and Best Electronic Newsletter, and was featured in a seven-page article in Outside Magazine (“The Purists”) in March 2005. The magazine’s editorial and publishing offices are based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and online at www.alpinist.com.