2022 Winner
Jury Award Best Documentary Feature - The Lake at the Bottom of the World
Audience Award Best Documentary Feature - Precious Leader Woman
Jury Award Best Documentary Short - Myrtle Simpson - A Live on Ice
2022 FILM LINE-UP
All Screenings are at the MLRT ANNEX
126 Old Mammoth Rd. #101
Opening Night
Thursday April 28 - 5pm and 7:30pm
A CRACK IN THE MOUNTAIN
Director Alastair Evans
Run Time 104 mins
Deep in the jungle of Central Vietnam, lies a magnificent underground kingdom. Hang Son Doong, which translates as mountain river cave, is the largest cave passage in the world and a place of spectacular beauty. In 2014, Son Doong's future was thrown into doubt when plans were announced to build a cable car into the cave. With many arguing that this would destroy its delicate eco-system and the local community divided over the benefits this development would bring, the film follows those caught up in the unfolding events. Beautifully shot and scored, A Crack In The Mountain is a powerful exposé about how both good and bad intentions can ultimately lead to one of the worlds greatest natural wonders being trampled for money.
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Shorts Block
Friday April 29 - 5pm and 7:30pm
WITHOUT WATER
Director HYLA
Run Time 20 mins
Without Water is a film that documents the ongoing dispute between the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and various stakeholders in Long Valley, California. Filmed by acclaimed director Jonathan Hyla, Without Water dives into LADWP’s plan to reduce or eliminate irrigation allotments on leased lands in Long and Little Round Valleys - lands that have been irrigated for over one hundred years. Now under pressure from climate change and ever-growing needs of Los Angeles county, ranchers, community members, and even the land itself, are facing an uncertain future.
MYRTLE SIMPSON - A LIFE ON ICE
Director Leigh Anne Sides
Run Time 34 mins
In 1965, Myrtle Simpson became the first woman to cross Greenland on foot but you probably won't find her name written down in history books. She's a trailblazer, mountaineer, skiing pioneer, adventurer, writer, mother and polar explorer. In 2017, over fifty years since her crossing of Greenland, she was awarded the Polar Medal - a gift from Queen Elizabeth as thanks for her services in the Arctic. Myrtle's life has taken her around the globe from Spitzbergen to Greenland, from the Northpole to Surinam, from the Alps to New Zealand she has ventured off the beaten track on journeys most people only dream about, all while writing 13 books, collecting plants for museums and raising four children. Today, at the age of 91, she still competes in downhill ski racing, swims hikes and bikes and believes more adventures await.
ALL THE WAY UP
Director Lucas Wilkinson
Run Time 39 mins
Australian Paralympian Sam Tait undertakes a journey to become the first paraplegic to summit and then ski down Australia's highest mountain Mt Kosciuszko. A story of unrelenting power-of-will, and endless optimism coupled with fast-paced downhill action and breathtaking imagery from the roof of Australia.
Saturday April 30 - 5pm and 7:30pm
PRECIOUS LEADER WOMAN
Director Cassie De Colling
Run Time 46 mins
Olympic snowboarder Spencer O’Brien dedicated her life to becoming a world champion. Until an unexpected diagnosis changed everything. Precious Leader Woman tells Spencer’s story from childhood to the world stage, revealing how her Indigenous heritage played a role in her journey to surmount the impossible.
SPIRIT OF THE PEAKS
Directors Connor Ryan & Tim Kressin
Run Time 41 mins
Produced in partnership with REI Co-op Studios, Wondercamp and NativesOutdoors, and co-directed by Hunkpapa Lakota skier Connor Ryan, Spirit of the Peaks is a film about the struggle for balance between two worlds. For Connor, skiing in Ute Territory has always raised questions about being in reciprocity with the land and its people. As a skier who connects with the land through sport, he empathizes with the injustices that have displaced the Utes and ongoing colonization, erasure and extraction impacting the Ute people. This story connects conflicted pasts to an awakening in cultural awareness that can create an equitable future for Indigenous people and skiers. Connor's mission with the film is to do his part in restoring balance with all inhabitants of these mountains by illuminating the Utes' culture and traditional knowledge that can benefit everyone in the fight to preserve the land and dissipating snowpack.
Closing Night
Sunday May 1 - 5pm and 7:30pm
THE LAKE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD
Director Kathryn Kasic
Run Time 91 mins
An international team of scientists venture into the virtually unknown interior of Antarctica to explore a lake buried 3,600 feet beneath the ice. Their success hinges on the performance of their custom-built hot water drill and their ability to work as a team in the harshest climate on the planet. As they struggle against the ferocity of the ice and wind to unravel mysteries buried deep under Antarctica, they consider how our relationship with nature – and with one another — will impact humanity’s future and the future of all life on our rapidly changing planet.
