Play list

Play Gravity Part 1

Switzerland — 10 minutes

Two men from Thun, Switzerland, execute breathtaking paragliding acrobatics and freeride lines in Alaska while learning to ski with a parachute. One of them, Mathia Roten, perished recently while testing a new wing. Play Gravity’s motto: “We don’t fight gravity; we play with it.”

Losing the Elephants

U.S. — 23 minutes

At Lek Chailert’s Elephant Nature Park, animals with physical injury or psychological pain can socialize, raise families and develop friendships. These Asian elephants (35,000 left on Earth; half in captivity) live for seven decades, recognize themselves in a mirror and, of course, don’t forget. As elephant caretaker Olivia Daniel says, “They are like people, but nicer.” Festival prize nominee.

The Champ

U.S. — 7 minutes

A diminutive girl with a fierce right hook, Fatima Alcantar, 17, was a fighter and troublemaker until she was noticed by Johnnie Gray, who runs the East Palo Alto (Calif.) Boxing Club. Alcantar, a serious trainee with lightning-quick punches, discovers lessons of life within the ring.

Spray: Window of Opportunity

U.S. — 15 minutes

Portrait of a young climber and his relationship with the rugged coast of Northern California. Chris Lindner, 23, finds solace is on the coast, where the Pacific crashes into land, the air is thick with sea spray and being exposed to something so huge makes his small problems dissolve. Chris explores the coast, climbing difficult boulders with fluidity and strength, before finding his holy grail: a tall and incredibly steep prowshaped rock that juts over the ocean with waves crashing far below.

Cat Man Do

United Kingdom — 2 minutes

You awake abruptly, certain that someone — or something — has roused you. Best cartoon award winner.

Red Gold

U.S. — 54 minutes

At the headwaters of Bristol Bay’s Kvichak and Nushagak rivers, the mining companies Northern Dynasty and Anglo American have proposed to extract what may prove to be the richest deposit of gold and copper in the world. Filmmakers Ben Knight and Travis Rummel spent more than two months in Bristol Bay, documenting the tension between fishermen who oppose the dam and mine officials who say they will build a “clean” mine that will leave the salmon’s habitat untouched. Audience Award and Festival Director Award winner.

SATURDAY

Last Frontier:Conservation, Exploration in Papua New Guinea

U.S. — 16 minutes

First kayak descent of the Pandi River in Papua, New Guinea, includes 50-foot falls, extreme hydraulics and even the odd crocodile. Most of all, there is stunning natural beauty, prolific biodiversity and venerable ancient customs threatened by a modern world.

Pickin’ & Trimmin’

U.S. — 23 minutes

Small-town America is changing fast, and this sweet and lovely short film about the barbershop in Drexel, N.C., shows a bit of what we’re losing.

Shikashika

U.S. — 11 minutes

Peruvian for “snow cone,” shikashika is pure glacial ice from a volcanic mountain. This sweet and simple film offers a cool glimpse of a sweet tradition from a land where constant convenience hasn’t obliterated the culture.

Sponsor Me, Jake

U.S. — 5 minutes

October. Somewhere in the East Coast. The National Weather Service reports that the summit of Mount Mansfield got a third of an inch of snow overnight, first of the year. And skier Justin Woods is hungry for it. Two thousand vertical feet of hiking later, he’s there, standing in what turns out to be more like a half inch of pow pow. Yeow! What’s a few core shots to the old rock skis when you’re out schralping it? This homage to the early season itch takes snow lunacy to another level.

Beyond the Call

U.S. — 54 minutes

Three middle-aged men — all former soldiers — travel the world delivering life-saving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians in some of the most dangerous, yet beautiful, places on Earth, including the front lines of war.

Spiders on Drugs

U.S. — 2 minutes

This is your spider. This is your spider on drugs. In this short, researchers discover odd similarities between human and arachnid behavior after prolonged exposure to common psychoactive drugs.

SUNDAY

Play Gravity Part 2

Switzerland — 10 minutes

Two men from Thun, Switzerland execute breathtaking paragliding acrobatics and freeride lines in Alaska while learning to ski with a parachute. One of them, Mathia Roten, perished recently while testing a new wing. “Play Gravity’s” motto: “We don’t fight gravity; we play with it.”

Presence: 40 Days in Greenland

Japan — 15 minutes

Footage of a helicopter dropping a skier atop a steep mountains is a staple in the ski movie industry. But this expedition of Japanese skiers powers itself on the legs and arms of its members. The crew kayaks through the glassy waters of Greenland’s remote fjord country, seeking lines down towering mountains that rise from the waters. Then they haul themselves up steep, rugged crags. These skiers find is that the time, planning and effort that goes into every brutal step to the top just makes each line more precious.

Via Bearzi

U.S. — 33 minutes

Via Bearzi portrays the simple essence of two-man alpine climbing. In 2002, Michael Bearzi began filming his attempt to climb a new route on Gyachung Kang, a 26,089-foot peak in the Himalayas. When he didn’t return from Tibet, friends Jeff Alzner and Brook Kirklin embarked upon what became a five-year project. The result is an endearing tribute to pure mountaineering.

End of the Affair

United Kingdom — 3 minutes

Any climber who’s ever been shut down — despite repeat attempts — by a problem or difficult line knows frustration. This humorous short captures, in just three minutes, the frustration, intensity, fatigue and, ultimately, the painful realization that it’s just not going to work out.

Carpa Diem

Italy — 2 minutes

What if we could tell, immediately, the direct impact of our consumption habits? A brother and sister playing at bedtime provide a metaphor for the connectedness of the water cycle worldwide.

Asiemut

Canada — 56 minutes

Traveling alone on bike from Mongolia, through Xinjiang and the Taklamakan Desert in China, across the mountains of Tibet and Nepal to the mouth of the Ganges in India, filmmakers Olivier Higgins and Melanie Carrier find themselves severely challenged — both physically and emotionally. But the couple never loses its joy of discovery. In the end, Asiemut is really a love story, simple and sweet.