SESSION 5 – Local’s Focus (October 10th, 9-12:30) 

Director/Producer:  Chris Gunn

USA, 2009, 8 min.

Flagstaff’s children are clear: We all sink without H2O. This rippling short film is awash with splashing voices of sparkling children and thought-drenching facts.

IN PERSON:  Chris Gunn

USA , 2007, 19 min.

Directors: Patricia Thio, Kent Allison

Producer: Patricia Thio

Armed for the Challenge features a week in the life of “One Arm” Willie while training for the physically challenged triathlon USA championships. Determined to help others with disabilities, this world-class athlete takes you on a ride through humor and passion, proving that disability doesn’t mean inability.

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USA , 2009, 18 min.

Director: Michael Brown

Producer: Erik Weihenmayer

Blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer gives an inside look into the world of blind skiing; the guides, the mountains, the skiers and the spirit.

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SESSION 5 – Local’s Focus (October 10th, 9-12:30)

USA, 2008, 57 min.

Director:  Anne Fischel

Producer:  Lin Nelson

For over 100 years Asarco operated a metals smelter in El Paso. The plant stands at the juncture of Texas, New Mexico, and Juarez, Mexico, just above the Rio Grande River.

Asarco was an important contributor to El Paso’s economy, employing almost a thousand workers at its peak. But the company also contaminated both sides of the border with lead, arsenic, cadmium and sulfur dioxide. This film documents the efforts of citizen activists to educate their community about the dangers to public health and the environment posed by Asarco.

SESSION 11 (October 11th, 7-10pm)

USA, 2009, 5 min.

Shot/Edited by: Nick Waggoner, Ben Sturgulewski,Ian Nock, Yuki Miyazaki

Produced by Sweetgrass Productions, Nicholas Waggoner

Set to music, with no spoken words, Ni-Gatsu demonstrates that film is all about the imagery. Beautifully shot in Hokaido, Japan by the same team that was responsible for “The Art of Riding Snow,” Sweetgrass Productions again displays their unique take on outdoor filmmaking.

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 SESSION 11 (October 11th, 7-10pm)

USA/Peru, 2008, 24 min.

Director/Producer: Adam Goldstein

A couple in Moyobamba, Peru, struggle to maintain a reserve for an endangered species of monkey. During the course of an especially trying month, they focus their efforts on the survival of two infant monkeys (Yumi and Tumai), both rescued from illegal captivity. Highlighted by the energetic music of Sonido Verde de Moyobamba (Green Sound of Moyobamba), and against the backdrop of a group of orphan monkeys being readied for a return to the wild, “Yumi Means Rain” is set in the little-known towns and native communities of Northern Peru’s disappearing cloud forests.

 SESSION 11 (October 11th, 7-10pm)

Somalia, 2007, 7 min.

Director:  Nathan Collett; Producer:  Fatima Jibrell

What happens when coal becomes the most valued commodity?  A drama of two brothers caught in a conflict over natural resources.  This is the first fiction film to come out of Somalia in 15 years.

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 SESSION 11 (October 11th, 7-10pm)

Australia, 2008, 52 min.

Director:  Mark Gould; Producer:  Sally Ingleton

In September 2006, two unlikely groups of people crossed paths in the snow-capped Himalayas, one seeking freedom, the other adventure.  In an incident that shocked the world, a teenage nun was killed when the Chinese border police opened fire on a group of pilgrims, as they fled Tibet over the famous Nangpa Pass, the gateway to Nepal and to freedom.  The shooting was winessed by international mountain climbers, some of whom photographed the events, helped rescue survivors, and sent the story out to the world.

** IN PERSON:  LUIS BENITEZ (featured climber in the film)

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 SESSION 11 (October 11th, 7-10pm)

Canada, 2008, 90 min.

Director:  Jacques Russo

Producers:  Marc S. Grenier, Jacques Russo

Ever wonder how ‘knuckle draggers’ came to be?  Follow this funny, exhilarating and tragic story, about the sport of snowboarding and the culture that made snowboarding what it is today.  A stunning visual experience!

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 SESSION 10 (October 11th, 2-5:30pm)

USA, 2008, 16 min.

Director/Producer:  David Thanh

Ten years after his leukemia diagnosis, Ryan is a survivor who is reluctant to take risks and move forward with his life. The opportunity to take a backpacking trip through the Andes Mountains changes him and the perception of his cancer experience from one of Survivor to Thriver.

** IN PERSON:  David Thanh

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