Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating, inspiring and motivating audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving, adventures worth pursuing and conversations worth sustaining. Started in 1979, Telluride Mountainfilm is one of America’s longest-running film festivals. Through the years, in and out of trends and fads, the festival has always been best described by one unchanging word: inspiring. Far more than any other adjective, that’s how festival audiences describe their experience.
In addition to screening leading independent documentary films from around the world, the festival includes a full-day symposium on a contemporary issue, art and photography exhibits, early morning coffee talks, outdoor programs, a book-signing party, an ice cream social, student programs and a closing picnic/awards ceremony. Presentations and panels are scheduled throughout the Memorial Day weekend event with a wide diversity of special guests, ranging from artists to adventurers and academics to activists.
Just as the festival is made up of many moving parts, so is the organization overall. Here's a brief rundown on what else we do:
Mountainfilm on Tour: Year-round and worldwide, we take a selection of festival films on the road. We present both single-event and multi-day shows, hosted by a wide array of organizations, including schools and colleges, corporations, community groups and theater operators. Through the tour, we touch the lives of some 40,000 people every year and visit more than 100 locations on five continents.
The Mountainfilm Commitment Grant:In the interest of helping individuals tell important stories — and help those stories be heard — we award five $5,000 grants annually. The recipients are filmmakers, artists, photographers and adventurers whose projects are intended to move audiences to action on issues that matter. This is our way of giving something to the amazing community of filmmakers and others who have supported Mountainfilm over the decades.
Mountainfilm for Students: We believe that school-age children are the most important audience we can reach, so it's up to us to share our inspiring mission with them because they may never otherwise experience it. Toward this end, we take a free student program on the road, collaborating with Mountainfilm on Tour hosts to find k-12 schools across the country where we can screen films for students. For the older grades, we also provide customized educational materials in support of the films that include interviews with the filmmakers, discussion topics and links to additional readings and viewings. Mountainfilm for Students also offers educational opportunities for students at the festival and year-round school programs in the region.
