We were set to go on February 24, but Ma Nature herself intervened with some of her own winter wildness. But we are not deterred. The film fest is on! The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness are teaming up with the Idaho Conservation League, Spokane Mountaineers and Gonzaga Outdoors to bring the Winter Wildlands Film Festival to Gonzaga University in Spokane on March 18th.
The thrill and joy of human-powered pursuits in winter’s backcountry – from Alaska to Antarctica – will be on display at the Winter Wildlands Alliance’s Backcountry Film Festival Friday, Mar. 18, at Gonzaga University’s Jepson Center.
Now in its sixth year, the Winter Wildlands Alliance’s Backcountry Film Festival highlights the beauty, diversity, and fun of the human-powered winter backcountry experience. Submissions come from world-renowned filmmakers who travel every corner of the globe to submit their best backcountry work, and from grassroots filmmakers who take a video camera out on their weekend excursions and submit their best film short.
The top films are juried and assembled into a night of fun for all—whether you like to ski, snowboard, snowshoe, or even just stay indoors and drink hot cocoa by the fire, there is something for everyone – including the chance to win door prizes. These films are as diverse as the backcountry experience and will put a smile on the face of even the most winter-averse viewer.
The Film Festival benefits Winter Wildlands Alliance’s efforts to preserve and conserve winter landscapes for quiet users. The festival travels to more than 30 communities throughout the United States, all the way from Alaska to New Hampshire.
The inaugural Spokane showing is sponsored by Gonzaga University’s Outdoor Program in partnership with The Spokane Mountaineers Foundation, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness and the Idaho Conservation League, supporters of conservation and human-powered recreation efforts locally.
Admission is $3 for students, $5 for the general public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and films begin at 7 p.m. in the Jepson Center’s Wolfe Auditorium. Tickets will be available at the door, or in advance through Gonzaga University Outdoors website:
www.commerce.cashnet.com/guoutdoors
Winners of the festival this year include:
• Best of Festival, Teton Gravity Research’s “Deeper” follows legendary snowboarder Jeremy Jones and other top riders as they forsake helicopters, snowmobiles and lifts to venture deep into untouched terrain under their own power.
• Best Short Film, “Desert River” from Sweetgrass Productions, is a beautiful ski adventure into Alaska.
• Best Environmental Film, “Whitebark Warrior” from TreeFight and Snaz Media, chronicles the decline of thousand-year old whitebark pines due to climate change and efforts underway to save these iconic high alpine trees.
For more information about the Backcountry Film Festival go to:
www.backcountryfilmfestival.org
For directions to the Jepson Center, go to www.gonzaga.edu/about/campus-map.asp
