the films
Heliotropes Michael Langan
(Saturday, 3:30 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., NUG)
Carefully crafted by director Michael Langan, this short piece is a lovely filmic rendition of a poem by Brian Christian that speaks of sunflowers seeds, flight patterns and Fibonacci sequences. Yes, it’s odd, but appealing. —DH (USA, 2010, 3 min)
The Films
Human Terrain James Der Derian, David Udris & Michael Udris (Saturday, 3:45 p.m., LIB)
“Anthropologists as Spies?” was the headline of a recent article in The Nation about a controversial U.S. Army program that enlists academics to serve in a war zone. Their mission: to help soldiers gain an understanding of and then access to the people whose country has been invaded. Human Terrain focuses on one of these professors, Michael Bhatia from Brown University (a colleague of Human Terrain co-director James Derrian). Sent to Afghanistan by the military, Bhatia hopes that he can help reduce casualties on both sides; instead the academic finds an alien world, and things do not go as planned. As a colleague discussing Bhatia’s work explains, “People become anthropologists because they want to reach out to the other. They want to understand the other and think that understanding each other enhances the dignity of the other.” As this compelling film shows, that is almost impossible to do in a war zone. —DH (USA, 2010, 56 min)
If a Tree Falls Marshall Curry
Interviews 50 Cents Erin & Ethan Boehme
(Friday, 9:15 p.m., PALM; Saturday, 6:00 p.m., LIB; Sunday, 7:00 p.m., HC)
(Friday, 9:15 p.m., PALM; Saturday, 12:15 p.m., MAS; Saturday, 6:00 p.m., LIB; Saturday, 9:00 p.m., SOH; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., SOH)
IN PERSON: Marshall Curry
In the early 2000s, the Earth Liberation Front was making news by setting fire to various targets including a Hummer dealership, a logging company and an expansive, new dining hall at the Vail ski area. The first-rate If a Tree Falls, focuses on the sad story of Daniel McGowan who committed acts of arson for the Front and takes an incisive look at this shadowy group in the aftermath of a series of arrests and plea bargains. Director Marshall Curry came across the story serendipitously when McGowan–who worked with Curry’s wife–was arrested without warning at their office. Comprised of activists who have good intentions but who also seem confused, cops who mean well (and some who don’t), and a snitch who seems nothing but low-down, this intense, and at times graphic, film will stay with you. It is a compelling and cautionary tale that smartly delves into the complexity of extreme action. —DH (USA, 2011, 85 min)
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In The Shadow Of The Mountain Hugh Barnard & Max Segal
(Saturday, 9:45 a.m., MAS; Sunday, 4:00 p.m., MAS)
Prompted by the death of a climbing friend, mountain guide and filmmaker Hugh Barnard sets out to discover just what it is that drives a certain type of person into the mountains. Who is it that ignores risk and responsibility for the thrill of the ascent? His exploration uncovers some surprising revelations, such as the fact that climbers–who often describe their endeavors in terms of spirituality and transcendence–rank very low in terms of religious sentiment. —EL (New Zealand, 2010, 25 min)
IN PERSON: Ethan & Erin Boehme
This marks the third year that Interviews 50 Cents, the quirky series of conversations with Alex Chadwick, will screen at Mountainfilm. Even though Chadwick can’t be in Telluride this year, we will show four of his 2010 pieces, all filmed by Ethan and Erin Boehme with guests from last year’s Festival. Chadwick chats with: climate activist Tim DeChristopher who talks about the mall cop that wanted to administer the ultimate punishment; artist Erica Nelson who discusses the beauty of Kansas and the virtues of that state’s art scene; Andy Keller of Chico Bag who talks about plastic; and climber Alex Honnold (Mountainfilm 2010, Alone on the Wall) who explains how climbing films are made. —DH (Telluride, 2010, 5 min)
Into Darkness John Waller
(Saturday, 4:00 p.m., HC; Sunday, 6:45 p.m., SOH)
Amazing what wonders can lead from an unassuming hole in the ground: crystal spires, cathedrals of calcite, gypsum cascades. To access this magical cave, however, a certain suffering must be endured and one must overcome more than a little fear. For the cavers of Into Darkness this means squeezing through impossibly constricted spaces, exhaling everything in their lungs to make their bodies improbably flat, feeling their heartbeats thud into intractable rock, or holding themselves up by nothing more than their armpits. The contortion and pain is worth it, though, as they emerge into a dazzling underworld chamber of secrets and experience one of our world’s few final frontiers. —PK (USA, 2010, 15 min)
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