To the
uninitiated, a "mountain film festival" might sound like one of those
high-altitude annual showbiz markets held in Park City, Utah, or Telluride,
Colorado. Hollywood -or Cleveland - movie wannabes dressed in their
florescent-colored parkas, matching sunglasses and loads of cocaine, try to be
"discovered" by Hollywood talent scouts. Don’t forget to pack lip balm
and lots of staples to affix the handouts on your sucky-ass digital BLAIR WITCH
knockoff to every available phone pole, bill board, bystander or caribou who
don't get out of the way enough.
No, not quite.
Mountain Film Festivals, held at different venues around the world, are curious
oxymorons, celebrations of adventure-sports movies whose primary message is to
get up from your auditorium seat and OUT. Here is where real-life adventurers
bring the fruits of their passion for skiiing, rock climbing, cycling, kayaking,
BASE jumping, fishing, caving, snowboarding, dogsledding etc. No dealmaking
over some hot "Hulk" script cranked out.
