Mountainfilm on Tour - Bend

We are excited to announce Mountainfilm on Tour - Bend, an annual fundraiser for The Environmental Center. For the 21st year, this highly anticipated program showcases incredible documentary films, thoughtfully curated for our Central Oregon audience. This film event features stories of adventure, climate change, culture, and resilience from around the world. The Wild Within - Logan Lambert (USA, 2022, 3 min.) 700 miles north of the US-Canada border sits Churchill, Canada. Lying along the migration path of polar bears and beluga whales, Churchill draws wildlife enthusiasts from all over the globe. It’s been coined the “Polar Bear Capital of the World” by many for its furry neighbors who occupy the town along with humans. For the likes of Drew Hamilton and Alex de Vries, Owners of Discover Churchill, It's heaven on earth. It's the only place on earth where you can see Polar Bears, Northern Lights, and Beluga Whales in one place. Not only is this what makes Churchill unique, but it's brought Drew Hamilton here, one of the most respected guides in the world on bear behavior. Transenders - Diane Russo Cheng (USA, 2022, 10 min.) Transenders explores how the power of community allows you to be your true self, overcome failure, and transcend fear. In its 22-year existence, Skate Like a Girl has utilized skateboarding as a vehicle to promote confidence, leadership, and social justice by creating space for stories like Alexa’s and countless others. The work this nonprofit organization has been doing for decades, and the accomplishments of non-traditional skaters, are boundless and timeless. Apayauq - Zeppelin Zeerip (USA, 2022, 16 min.) Dog musher Apayauq Reitan is on a journey of gender, mental health and purpose to become the first out, transgender woman to complete the legendary Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska. Named for her great-grandmother, Apayauq defies stereotypes as she travels over the starkly beautiful, frozen landscape in the same manner as her ancestors. Her four-year-old self, who wanted to be a girl when she grew up, would be proud. Inseparable: Myia - Andrew Harrison-Brown (USA, 2022, 12 min.) As one of only 30 fluent Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) language speakers left in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Myia Antone teaches as a way to preserve her language for generations to come. Seeking to learn more about her culture and language, Antone uses her mountain bike as a needle weaving through her ancestral lands and language. While biking with other Indigenous women, Antone utilizes the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language to point out geographical features and native plants on rides. Weaving complex conversations through nuanced layers of generational trauma, Inseparable: Myia ultimately paints Indigenous joy and community as vital elements for a path forward. Walking on Clouds - Renan Kamizi (Brazil, 2021, 7 min.) Walking on Clouds reveals the breathtaking and dizzying highline crossing between two hot air balloons above the city of Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil. At 1,901 meters off the ground, athlete Rafael Bridi achieved the highest highline record in the world. Rosalie Fish - Faith Briggs Rose, Tim Kemple (USA, 2021, 10 min.) For Rosalie Fish, Indigenous student-athlete and activist, running isn’t just a sport — it’s how she represents the strength and resilience of Indigenous women within her tribe and beyond. Rosalie’s story is told in the second episode of “Who is a Runner,” a docuseries collaboration with Brooks Running. Waiting, Hoping - Tim Kressin (USA, 2022, 10 min.) For many migrant families stuck along the U.S.-Mexico border, staying in their home country was never an option. After traveling heroic distances to escape threats of violence, Claudia and her family have been waiting at a shelter in Juárez for nine months. Battling episodes of depression, Claudia wonders if she can continue to care for her son and remain a beacon of hope. As they await the phone call to have their asylum case heard, English classes and cooking with friends become bright spots in her life. This deeply personal story echoes the thousands of migrant families who are stuck along the border, waiting for a phone call from immigration that could change everything. The Orchestra Chuck Built -Christopher Stoudt (USA, 2023, 22 min.) In 2016, the League of American Orchestras conducted a study that revealed a shocking statistic: only 1.8% of the professional orchestra workforce in the US is Black. From an old church rec room in the inner city of Los Angeles, former lawyer-turned-conductor Chuck Dickerson is on a mission to change that. With his majority Black and Latino youth orchestra — the largest of its kind in the country — Chuck is creating opportunities for his community that did not previously exist. The Orchestra Chuck Built is a loving portrait of a tireless mentor and the orchestra members whose lives have been transformed by music. Tear Down The City - Hugo Dubé-Bouchard (Canada, 2022, 5 min.) Mountain biker Xavier Massicotte tears around the streets, stairs, parks, and subways of Montreal in this fast-paced, flowy adventure.