{"id":2447780,"date":"2019-08-20T22:13:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T04:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311466"},"modified":"2019-08-20T22:13:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-21T04:13:00","slug":"rebranded-aspen-mountain-film-festival-dives-deep-into-stories-journeys-and-issues-at-wheeler-opera-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/rebranded-aspen-mountain-film-festival-dives-deep-into-stories-journeys-and-issues-at-wheeler-opera-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebranded Aspen Mountain Film Festival dives deep into stories, journeys and issues at Wheeler Opera House"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The documentary “Mr. Jimmy” will screen Thursday night at the Aspen Mountain Film Festival, and the film’s subject will perform Sunday night at Belly Up Aspen.<\/strong>
Courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Along with classical music, dance, theater and art of every stripe, film festivals are part of the regular cultural diet of the Roaring Fork Valley. But when the house lights dim at the Wheeler Opera House on Wednesday for the kickoff evening of the Aspen Mountain Film Festival, it\u2019ll be the start of an altogether unique film-centered celebration of stories, adventure and meaningful action.<\/p>\n

Distance hiker and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Jennifer Pharr Davis will not only emcee the opening Evening of Adventure shorts film program (which includes a film she\u2019s the subject of, \u201cIs This the Top?\u201d), but also lead a free trail run the next day. Watching \u201cDetroit Hives,\u201d local bee enthusiasts can learn about how beekeeping is being used to rebuild an inner-city community, then talk to experts from the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies about the challenges and issues facing local bee populations. And for legions of local Led Zeppelin fans, the opportunity to see Akio Sakurai, aka Mr. Jimmy (as in Page), in an intimate acoustic teaser at D\u2019Angelico Guitars will give more meaning to the feature documentary of the same name Thursday evening and his full concert at the Belly Up on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing to set this festival apart from others is to really put you into the community, with the option of a 5K race or an environmental hike \u2014 and make (this series of events that relate to the films) free to the community,\u201d said Wheeler Opera House executive director Gena Buhler. (Single tickets and three pass options for the films, including a lunchtime series that includes lunch, are available through the Wheeler box office.)<\/p>\n

This year, Buhler and her team are producing the full festival, which follows in the tradition of Telluride Mountainfilm but has been rebranded in its 11th year in Aspen<\/a>. For the past decade, Telluride Mountainfilm\u2019s traveling arm scouted and approved the films for Aspen\u2019s August event, while the Wheeler handled everything else operationally. The Wheeler and Mountainfilm split in January when their contract expired, and the Wheeler opted to make the film festival a 100% locally produced experience.<\/p>\n

And while, like other \u201cmountain\u201d film festivals, the Aspen Mountain Film Festival often veers away from mountainous settings or themes, Buhler explained that the films her team sought out and chose for this festival \u201ctie into what makes life in Aspen so unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were trying to find real stories about real people,\u201d she added. \u201cYou can see beautiful landscapes or someone skiing a killer line anywhere, but you don\u2019t know the person behind the ski mask. We were looking for what\u2019s the journey the person is going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story of longtime Woody Creek resident Janet Guthrie, the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, is being told in the film \u201cQualified.\u201d The topic of mental health, which resonates particularly deeply in Aspen and other mountain towns, is explored in \u201cErnie & Joe,\u201d a portrait of two Texas police officers\u2019 quest to change the way police respond to mental health calls. Following the screening is a panel on community policing, including members of San Antonio Police Department\u2019s Mental Health Unit, Aspen Police Chief Richard Pryor and a local mental health counselor.<\/p>\n

A work-in-progress version of \u201cRios to Rivers,\u201d by Aspenite Weston Boyles about his nonprofit connecting youth from imperiled river basins in the U.S. and South America, will screen in the shorts program Wednesday. Boyles will be on hand to discuss the film.<\/p>\n

In the past few years, the Wheeler has gradually built up its programming of off-screen events \u2014 making a traditionally indoor event an \u201coutside inside\u201d event, in Buhler\u2019s words, a nod to Aspen\u2019s traditionally active population and typically pleasant late-August weather.<\/p>\n

The Aspen Mountain Film Festival also presents a \u201chuge opportunity,\u201d according to Buhler, to be among the first to see the films and meet the subjects and filmmakers. Three world premieres and four Colorado premieres are part of the lineup, in addition to several films that won\u2019t be seen on the big screen again except at other festivals. And this year\u2019s festival hosts 29 special guests for the 35 films.<\/p>\n

All of this relates to the festival theme, \u201cDeep Dive,\u201d which speaks to the deeper focus of some of the films and \u201cpeeling back the onion a little bit more\u201d through both the films and related events.<\/p>\n

So while ocean-loving Aspenites, who flock to beaches and surf breaks every offseason, will be attracted to the stunning visuals of \u201cDiving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy,\u201d this appropriately named film honoring the late filmmaker\u2019s career also provokes deep questions about humans\u2019 degradation of the oceans. They can probe this and other conservation questions with deGruy\u2019s widow and partner filmmaker, Mimi deGruy, during a discussion and guided walk through ACES\u2019s Hallam Lake Preserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt either causes you to act in that moment, or when things come up in life you can reflect upon the information the film gave,\u201d Buhler said. \u201cThat\u2019s what documentary film is all about: telling true stories of real people doing things, and talking about it in a real sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The documentary “Mr. Jimmy” will screen Thursday night at the Aspen Mountain Film Festival, and the film’s subject will perform Sunday night at Belly Up Aspen.Courtesy photo Along with classical music, dance, theater and art of every stripe, film festivals are part of the regular cultural diet of the Roaring Fork Valley. But when the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 11:17:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}