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The 2008 Alpinist Film Festival
The fourth annual Festival, which introduced matinees and a fourth evening of film--the People's Choice Award Ceremonies--was a resounding success at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, WY. In addition to showcasing and premiering some of the world's best adventure films, the four-day event helped raise over $7,000 for SurfAid International. Archive of Tami Knight's Festival blawgs 2008 Festival Featured Non-Profit: SurfAid International Complete List of 2008 Festival Film Entries Read the January 23, 2008 Weekly Feature on the 2008 Festival Read about the 2008 Ski/Film Getaway Winner Learn about the 2008 AFF Green Initiatives
The 2008 Alpinist Film Festival Highlights Walk Festival Hall, Teton Village Doors open at 5 p.m. One-hour floor show features music by DJ Rocky Vertone. Pizza, non-alcoholic drinks and New Belgium beer will be served. Films begin at 6 p.m.
Versus Dominique Perret's world tour continues, this time in Turkey, where the slashing couloirs and undulating shadows provide the perfect backdrop to his agressive freeride style. North American premiere.
Let It Ride: The Craig Kelly Story A funny, exhilarating, powerful, and tragic story of snowboarding's most influential and intriguing rider, Craig Kelly. Kelly's maturation from competition to soul riding influenced snowboarding's development. The film captures the parallel evolution of a lifestyle and its icon. Winner, Best Film, Mountain Culture Award, Whistler Film Festival. Best Film, X-Dance Film Festival, Park City, Utah. Best Soundtrack, X-Dance Film Festival, Park City, Utah.
Solilochairliftquist A comical short film of a ski-bum's ridiculous inner monologue while riding a chairlift. This hilarious glimpse into the mind of a modern-day skier will prove delightfully familiar to all area skiers.
Speed Riding: Attack a Popow Land Speed Riding is a thrilling new sport involving the combination of paragliding and skiing. Attack a Popow covers this multi-faceted sport bound to capture the attention of thrill-seekers from gentle slopes to extreme terrain. Winner, Best First Film, Coupe Icare Film Festival, France. North American Premiere.
Speed Riding: Attack of the Gringos What happens when Speed Riding gets applied in the Tetons? Why, wild hucks and acrobatic air, of course. Hold onto your seats as one of the Valley's leading practitioners takes us through the paces. Presented in person by Matt Coombs.
Mountain Town: The Grasshopper This excerpt from the feature-length film Mountain Town--which will be shown in its entirety on Sunday, January 20, at 2 p.m. at the Center for the Arts as part of the Mountain Town Matinee--focuses on the charming and humble Nick Devore. Devore, one of the myriad Aspen, Colorado, locals captured in the feature-length film, is the future of telemark skiing, and the excerpt follows him through his remarkable life story as a simple, if extraordinary, tele skier trying to make it all work. When Devore begins his apprenticeship under Chris Davenport, who is attempting to ski all fifty-four 14,000-foot peaks in a calendar year, the descent of Capital Peak results. World premiere. Friday, January 18: Surf NightWalk Festival Hall, Teton Village Doors open at 5 p.m. One-hour floor show features music by DJ Rocky Vertone. Pizza, non-alcoholic drinks and New Belgium beer will be served. Films begin at 6 p.m.
Special 2 p.m. Screening
Step Into Liquid Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called it "the best surfing documentary ever made." The New York Times said it will "send you into a dream state." It has been called "the perfect fantasy." It has also been called the greatest surf film of all time. Come see for yourself in this special matinee screening of one of surfing's most hypnotic, spectacular films: Step Into Liquid. Presented in person by Dana Brown. $5 suggested donation goes to SurfAid International.
Sliding Liberia United States/2006/7 minutes Director: Dean Hamer Production Company: bboarderdoc.com Hawaii is the birthplace of both ancient and modern forms of bodyboarding, one of the world's most exciting and overlooked ocean sports. This short, exciting documentary on the underdog of surfing captures the infectious joy of the sport as displayed by influential pioneers such as Tom Morey and Mike Stewart.
Bra Boys "Bra Boys" is a film about the cultural evolution of the inner-Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle of its youth--the tattooed and much maligned surf community known as the Bra Boys. Central to the story is the true-life struggle of the Abberton brothers--Sunny, Koby, Jai and Dakota--one charged with murdering a Sydney standover man, another pursuing a professional surf career but charged as an accessory in his brother's legal fight. Bra Boys is a riveting story combined with explosive surfing. Winner, Best Documentary and Best Wipe Out, Surfer Poll Awards, Los Angeles.
High Water It's hard to think of a family who has been more influential to surf than the Browns. Bruce Brown defined the genre with Endless Summer in 1966. His son, Dana, collaborated with him on Endless Summer II in 1994. In 2003, Dana contributed the seminal surf film Step Into Liquid "the greatest surf documentary ever made." Wes Brown, Dana's son, brought us Chasing Dora at the 2007 AFF and promptly won Grand Prize. Now, Wes and Dana weave together the most spectacular, and evocative, footage the family has ever captured in a presentation of three generations of surf films and cap it off with an excerpt from their yet-to-be-released new film High Water. Presented in person by Wes and Dana Brown.
Saturday, January 19th: Stone Night, featuring Steph Davis
The Beckoning Silence The Film adaptation to Joe Simpson's bestselling book and follow up to Touching the Void. The film follows Simpson to the perilous north face of the Eiger where the notorious and tragic story of Toni Kurtz's 1936 attempt unravels alongside Simpson's own horrifying experience in the Peruvian Andes. An unbelievable tale by one of the great storytellers of our day. Winner, Best Mountaineering Film, Kendall Mountain Film Festival, UK. Special Jury Award, Banff Mountain Film Festival. US premiere.
Sentinel: The West Face In the late 1960s climbing was in its formative years, and its crucible was Yosemite Valley. Royal Robbins and Yvon Chouinard were two of the best climbers in the world, and their ascent of the West Face of the Sentinel proved a perfect exploration of the poetry of this nascent sport. The film was written and narrated by Barry Corbet, the inspiration for The Alpinist Film Festival, after the accident that paralyzed him. "His soul shows in the words," says director Roger Brown. Winner, Best Film, 1966 Trento Film Festival. Presented in person by Yvon Chouinard.
By a Thread (De Un Milo) The only way to truly feel your life is by risking it. This incredibly thrilling short film features a determined climber in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, with an ironic twist that can only be called heaven-sent. Winner of ten film festival awards including Jury Special Mention, Graz International Mountain Film Festival, Austria. Best Fiction Film Award, Moscow International Mountain Film Festival, Russia.
Climber When a solo alpinist takes on a difficult peak, he comes face to face with his fears. He must conquer them before he can confront the mountain. An incredible feat of animation. US premiere.
Diamonds are Forever 1500 feet of dead vertical alpine granite, one chalk bag, two shoes with sticky rubber, one woman. World renowned rock climber Steph Davis takes the art of free soloing to breathtaking new heights on the Diamond face of Longs Peak--America's premier alpine rock wall. World Premiere. Presented in person by Steph Davis and Peter Mortimer.
Sew it Up A short and hysterical film about the climbing term used when placing a large amount of pro (protection) in a short amount of distance. Sewing it up is usually done when you have several crappy placements, really sketched out, or you have simply collected too much pro over the years and you are trying to lighten the load before the crux.
Great White Fright The chalk cliffs of Dover, England, are far more than just a tourist landmark. To climbers, they represent one of the most frightening and bizarre forms of the pursuit: chalk climbing, which is accomplished with an arsenal of weaponry ordinarily reserved for ice climbing. When Ian Parnell and Chris Cubitt tackle the awesomely classic route Great White Fright, the outcome is far from assured: it is Chris�s first bold adventure after a serious accident, and his confrontation with his own fears becomes the definition of courage. North American premiere.
The Western Lands--Hoy A poetic documentary of love, loss, and landscape on writer Jim Perrin's climb of The Old Man of Hoy, a famous British seastack, on his 60th birthday. Winner, Best Short Mountain Film, Banff Mountain Film Festival. Sunday, January 20: People's Choice CeremoniesCenter for the Arts, Jackson Doors open at 5 p.m. One-hour floor show features music by DJ Rocky Vertone. Pizza, non-alcoholic drinks and New Belgium beer will be served. Films begin at 6 p.m. The People's Choice Ceremonies will feature the People's Choice award-winning films from the Festival's previous three evenings at the Center for the Arts' 525-seat Performing Arts Pavilion in downtown Jackson. Preceding the final films will be a "mountain town matinee" that emphasizes the overlap of enviromental concerns and mountain towns. These films will begin at 2 p.m. Tickets for the matinee are $5 suggested donation; all proceeds will go to SurfAid International, the 2008 AFF's featured non-profit.
Mountain Town Matinee Featured Films
Special 2 p.m. Screening Jonathan Schecter, founder of 1% for the Tetons, will MC this special afternoon of mountain town films that explore the intersection of a community at play and development. At the conclusion of the films, Schecter will moderate a panel discussion that includes Teton County Commissioner Andy Schwartz, Jackson Mayor Mark Barron, and Mountain Town director Frank Pickell. The half-hour panel will allow audience members and Teton County elected officials to discuss what we can do to help preserve Jackson Hole's unique mountain town characteristics.
The Lost People of Mountain Village When a lost backcountry skier high in the Rocky Mountains stumbles on a monumental complex of structures--apparently completely uninhabited--the only thing that experts agree on is that we may never know what really happened to "The Lost People of Mountain Village." This hilarious mockumentary explores the soul of the modern mountain towns and the elusive species who have them built.
Resorting to Madness As skier days plateau, a new business model focused on real estate development has emerged within the ski industry with varying degrees of success. This informative and provocative film addresses the impact of the modern conglomerates on environments and communities, and how citizens across North America are responding to save their beloved mountain towns.
Mountain Town, featuring Nick Devore This mountain culture documentary explores the reality of the Mountain Town in all its glory and inherent contradiction as seen through the prism of Aspen, CO. From an aspiring Olympian to an 82-year old artist, to a newly arrived Mexican immigrant, each character pursues their dreams as this small, vibrant community weaves seemingly disparate lives together in surprising and often poignant ways. Presented in person by Frank Pickell. Sponsors of The 2008 Alpinist Film Festival: 
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