SJIFF2017-program-condensed

FRIDAY, APRIL 14TH

Noon - 9:15pm Box Office Open – Pavilion Lobby
VIP All-Access, Gen Admission Full Festival, Student,
and Friday-only passes can be picked up during this time.

3:00 - 9:30pm SJIFF Cafe Open - Pavilion Lobby

3:00pm Pavilion Theater Opens

3:30 - 5:30pm FAMILY FRIENDLY FILM BLOCK
Q&A with Harold Mintz (1-800-Give-Us-Your-Kidney)

5:30 - 6:30pm VIP Party / SJIFF Cafe & Bar Open

6:30 - 8:30pm FEATURE FILM BLOCK
Q&A with Johnnie Jameson (Mile 19)
Life Animated sponsored by The Center for Mental Health

8:30 - 9:00pm BREAK - SJIFF Cafe & Bar Open

9:00 - 11:00pm ADRENALINE FILM BLOCK
PREMIERE: JOHN SHOCKLEE: A FAIRY TALE

2 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

SATURDAY, APRIL 15TH

10am - 10pm Box Office Open – Pavilion Lobby
VIP All-Access, Gen Admission Full Festival, Student, and
Saturday-only passes can be picked up during this time.

10:00am SJIFF Cafe Open - Pavilion Lobby

10:00 - 11:00am Coffee Talk - Downtown Montrose at the Coffee trader with with
Film Makers and Special Guests, 845 East Main

10:30am Pavilion Theater Opens

11:00am - 12:00pm KIDS KINO FILM BLOCK

12:00 - 1:30pm LUNCH BREAK

1:30 - 3:00pm PREMIERE: THE PERFECT FLIGHT
FEATURE: THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK

3:00 - 3:30pm BREAK - SJIFF Cafe & Bar Open

3:30 - 5:45pm CULTURE & COMMUITY FILM BLOCK
Q&A with Harold Mintz (1-800-Give-Us-Your-Kidney)

6:00 - 7:00pm BREAK - SJIFF Cafe & Bar Open

7:00 - 9:00pm MOUNTAINFILM SHORTS BLOCK
Q&A with Johnnie Jameson (Mile 19)
--Intermission--

9:00 - 11:00pm AFTER PARTY WITH DJ TECHMAN

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF 3

FRIDAY: FAMILY FRIENDLY BLOCK

ACE AND THE DESERT DOG 2016 USA / 9 min
Directed by: Brendan Leonard, Forest Woodward, Stefan Hunt.
Ace Kvale, a veteran photographer, and Ghengis, a blue heeler
“dogger”(that’s canine for“blogger”), live together in the Utah
desert. Their backyard: 2 million acres of canyons, redrock cliffs,
dry washes, empty landscapes and desert wilderness. For his
60th birthday, Kvale decided to go on a 60-day backpacking trip.
Ghengis, naturally, joined him, along with friends who tagged
along for sections.

OFFSEASON 2016 USA / 8 mins 
Directed by: Ben Moon. For Daniel Norris, baseball has been a
passion, career, patient teacher and cruel master. But becoming a
professional athlete means life in a high-stakes world of intense
pressure where players are constantly under the microscope. That’s
why, during the offseason, Norris lives in his VW van, Shaggy. It’s a
simple life.

THE WRESTLING CHOLITA 2016 UK / 9 mins
Directed by: Harri Grace. In Bolivia, the indigenous Cholita women
are easily recognized by their bowler hats, pollera skirts and plaited
braids. Cholitas have long been mistreated in this South American
country, but that’s changing, thanks to anti-discrimination
legislation and new progressive politicians. It’s also thanks to
individuals like Teresa Huayta, the wrestling Cholita. This diminutive
woman is a force of nature in the ring, proving with each match that
it’s a badge of pride — not a mark of shame — to be a Cholita. 

6 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

3:30PM - 5:30PM FILMS

WALT 2015 USA / 6 mins
Directed by: Justin Clifton. At 85 years old, organic raisin farmer
and lifelong river advocate Walt Shubin is not slowing down. He
has dedicated the last 65 years of his life to restoring California’s
once-mighty San Joaquin River to the wild glory he remembers as
a boy. Driven by his passion for the river, he takes us on a journey
to help us understand why this river is so important to the future of
our country.

PRONGHORN REVIVAL 2016 USA / 7 mins
Directed by: Ben Masters.
In parts of West Texas, pronghorn antelope populations have been
in decline due to habitat fragmentation, drought and urban sprawl.
Unwilling to let an iconic species disappear from its natural habitat,
conservationists, government agencies and ranchers developed a
restoration program in the northern panhandle of the state.

IN SEARCH OF ZOTZ 2016 Mexico / 10 mins
Directed by: Jason Jaacks, Anand Varma. Deep in the Yucatan
rainforest, densely inhabited for 1,500 years by the Maya,
University of Mexico Professor of Ecology Rodrigo Medellin and
National Geographic Photographer Anand Varma work together
to research and photograph two rare species of Vampire bat,“the
jaguars of the bat world.”These large, elusive, carnivorous bats
— called“Zotz”in the Mayan language — evoke a deep sense of
mystery, not least because they now inhabit the ruins of the lost
Mayan civilization.

14 WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG

3:30PM - 5:30PM FILMS

NAMULI 2016 USA / 24 mins 
Directed by: Sarah Garlick, Paul Yoo, Majka Burhardt. With their
vertical aptitude, climbers go places few others can. Often that
results in a first ascent, but, occasionally, it also leads to exciting
new discoveries. That’s certainly the case with the expedition at the
center of Namuli, a film named for the second-highest mountain in
Mozambique.  

Q&A with 1-800-GIVE-US-YOUR-KIDNEY
Harold Mintz 2016 USA / 17 mins 
following film Directed by: Samantha Smith.
“If I don’t give my kidney to somebody this week, will somebody
die waiting for it?”The answer to this question, posed in Samantha
Smith’s film, is unequivocally“yes.”Despite that, ethical and
practical riddles surround the willingness of a living donor to
undergo surgery and bodily mutilation to help a complete stranger.
Smith doesn’t delve deeply into these questions. She simply tells
the story of a kidney donor and recipient — individuals strikingly
different from one another — leaving the audience to ponder the
conundrum of more people needing kidneys than kidneys available.
As the final credits roll, the viewer may wonder:“What am I doing
walking around with two healthy kidneys?”

VIP PARTY /
SJIFF CAFE & BAR OPEN

5:30 - 6:30
FIND YOUR SEATS @6:15

8 WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG

Q&A with 6:30PM - 8:30PM FILMS
Johnnie
Jameson MILE 19 2016 USA / Duration: 10 mins 
following Directed by: Vincent DeLuca. Since the inception of the Los Angeles
the film. marathon in 1986, 178 runners have completed every race. They’re
called“Legacy Runners.”Johnnie Jameson is a member of this
special group, but he’s not an elite runner: He’s a working man,
a postal employee. But what he lacks in speed, he makes up in
creativity. He ran his first marathon backward, finishing in last
place. He dribbled a basketball the next year. Each race, wearing
his signature Payless shoes, he stops and talks and takes his sweet
time. And over the years, the marathon has become a form of
therapy for Jameson, who was scarred deeply from serving as an
infantryman in Vietnam. The annual challenge of running 26.2
miles has helped him cope, grow and recover from those traumatic
experiences.“It’s not about how long you out there, it’s about
completing the race,”he says. This poignant film from Vincent
DeLuca conveys a lifetime of lessons in 10 short minutes, spinning a
powerful story of resilience, humor and healing. 

LIFE ANIMATED 2015 USA / 91 mins 
Directed by: Roger Ross Williams. Director Roger Ross Williams has
brought Mountainfilm audiences a pair of memorable movies:
Music by Prudence and God Loves Uganda, which won the festival’s
Audience Award in 2013. Now, he returns with another incredible
documentary, this one about a boy named Owen Suskind whose
autism made it impossible for him to communicate when he was
young. When he became upset, which happened frequently, the
best avenue to calm Owen was to let him watch animated Disney
films. One day, Owen’s father, the renowned political writer Ron
Suskind, went into his 8-year-old son’s room and grabbed a puppet
of Iago, the parrot in Aladdin. Doing his best impression of the
Gilbert Gottfried-voiced character, the father asked his son,“Owen,
how does it feel to be you?”And Owen answered, providing the first
conversation the two ever had. The film takes it from there, showing
how story, imagination and the magic of movies can forge a family.

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF 9

9:00PM - 11:00PM FILMS

JOHN SCHOCKLEE, A FAIRY TALE PREMIERE
2016 USA 8 min

Production: Talweg Creative, Directors: Ryan Heffernan & Grayson

Schaffer. Refusing to act his age has worked out well for John

Shocklee. The 52 year old has devoted his life to doing what he

loves, and what he loves more than anyone else is skiing (just

ask him). Powered by old school hip hop and a passion for fresh

powder, Shocklee makes turns down untrodden and untamed

slopes with the vigor and freedom of a man half his age. He’s found

the fountain of youth along a foot and a half of powder, and has no

plans to grow up anytime soon. — Yeti

THE MYSTERIES 2015 USA / 8 mins
Directed by: Skip Armstrong. The vision came to Krystle Wright in
a dream: a bird’s-eye view of BASE jumpers in flight over a stark
desert landscape. When she awoke, the adventure photographer
resolved to make that vision into reality. And with that, the dream
turned into an obsession — one that led her on a four-and-a-
half-year journey of failed attempts, uncooperative weather,
disappointments and inward examination. The Mysteries follows a
tenacious, and perhaps crazy, quest to chase down an elusive image
and provides a glimpse into the kind of singular passion that drives
people to reach their goals, regardless of what stands in the way.

HEAVENS ELEVEN 2016 USA / 7 mins
Directed by: Wes Coughlin.
Matthias Giraud — aka Super Frenchie — is a pro skier and BASE
jumper who was the first person to ski BASE the Matterhorn. Six
years ago, he skied off of Ingram Peak in Telluride and returned to
do the same on the Heavens Eleven in 2016. The line, which can be
seen from the top of Lift 9, features a narrow, rocky, hairy descent,
made even more so when the egress of choice is flying. Local
filmmaker Brett Schreckengost worked on this film and local skier
Herb Manning guided Giraud into the Elevens.

8 WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG

9:00PM - 11:00PM FILMS

ADVENTURE DISPATCH 2016 USA / 6 mins
Directed by: Warren Kommers. He’s no Instagram star or sponsored
athlete, but longtime Durango resident Steve Fassbinder — aka
Doom — is a true explorer. Using fat bikes, climbing gear and
inflatable packrafts to access and link up remote destinations,
Fassbinder sets out deep into the desert country of the Four
Corners, experiencing places few of us will ever see and pioneering
a new way of travel. This short film follows Fassbinder and a friend
on an adventure that combines tower climbing, narrows biking,
canyon camping and rafting with the emptiness of landscapes that
are too far off the beaten path for most people. 

THE ACCORD 2016 Iceland / 18 mins
Directed by: RC Cone.
Iceland is an island in the very north Atlantic where the wind
is unpredictable at best, where perfect waves are almost as
rare as albino elephants and where frigid temps require a full
wetsuit arsenal. In other words, being a surfer in Iceland requires
a particular mix of hardiness, patience, passion and insanity.
And more than anything, it requires befriending that mercurial,
capricious, wildly drunken and occasionally benevolent wind.

FAST FORWARD 2016 USA / 8 mins 
Directed by: Ryan Heffernan, Grayson Schaffer. Ultra-long-distance
bikepacker Lael Wilcox has spent six months of each year pedaling
around the world and drinking in the bounty of travel from the
special vantagepoint of her bike seat. She shattered the women’s
course record by two days in her first-ever attempt of the epic
2,745-mile, self-supported Tour Divide. Following that win, she
attempts to break the women’s record for the 800-mile Arizona
Trail, a recently designated National Scenic Trail. Fast Forward
follows Wilcox as she pushes her limits in the Arizona desert. 

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF 15

9:00PM - 11:00PM FILMS

WHEN WE WERE KNIGHTS 2016 USA / 12 mins
Directed by: Anson Fogel. Understanding that his life was threaded
with risk, climber and BASE jumper Matt Blank embarked on a
project: writing letters to his closest friends and family to let them
know how much they meant to him. That way, he figured, if his life
were cut short he’d leave something behind to express his affection.
What he didn’t expect was that one of the recipients — his best
friend and longtime climbing partner Ian Flanders — would
go first.When We Were Knights, an elegiac film by Anson Fogel,
explores friendship, partnership, adventure and the many iterations
of love that give meaning to our lives.

ICELAND. PROVEN HERE 2015 USA / 6 mins
Directed by: Craig Grant, Joey Schusler. The moss and mountains of
Iceland make for an otherworldly landscape. Add Yeti ambassador
Sam Seward,riding swooping singletrack, and you’ve got yourself
mountain biking eye candy at its best.

SHOWDOWN AT HORSESHOE HELL
2015 USA / 20 mins
Directed by: Zachary Barr, Peter Mortimer, Nick Rosen
Horseshoe Canyon Ranch is a sleepy patch of rural Arkansas where
nothing much happens. Except for once a year, when hundreds
of climbers descend on the place for 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell,
a climbing competition that’s a bizarre mix of Burning Man and
Climbing magazine. When elite climber Alex Honnold shows up, he
brings his A game. But he might not be prepared for two things: the
level of rowdiness and a pair of underdog climbers.

16 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

9:00PM - 11:00PM FILMS

JAMES KELLY BURN IT DOWN USA / 4 mins
Directed by: Jack Boston.
Too fast to be sorry, James Kelly. Thanks for skating that
one so we never have to.

May 17
your next
adventure

be full
of smiles!

(970) 249-6955
601 S. 3rd St. Montrose
www.coloradosmiles.com

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF

NVAIEEWW

with Elevate Fiber internet.
Preregister today at join.elevatefiber.com /
4 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

SATURDAY, APRIL 15TH

10am - 10pm Box Office Open – Pavilion Lobby
VIP All-Access, Gen Admission Full Festival, Student, and
Saturday-only passes can be picked up during this time.

10:00am SJIFF Cafe Open - Pavilion Lobby

10:00 - 11:00am Coffee Talk - Downtown Montrose at the Coffee trader with with
Film Makers and Special Guests, 845 East Main

10:30am Pavilion Theater Opens

11:00am - 12:00pm KIDS KINO FILM BLOCK

12:00 - 1:30pm LUNCH BREAK

1:30 - 3:00pm PREMIERE: THE PERFECT FLIGHT
FEATURE: THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK

3:00 - 3:30pm BREAK - SJIFF Cafe & Bar Open

3:30 - 5:45pm CULTURE & COMMUITY FILM BLOCK
Q&A with Harold Mintz, star in 1-800-Give-Us-Your-Kidney

6:00 - 7:00pm BREAK - SJIFF Cafe & Bar Open

7:00 - 9:00pm MOUNTAINFILM SHORTS BLOCK
Q&A with Johnnie Jameson, Mile 19
--Intermission--

8:30 - 11:00pm AFTER PARTY WITH DJ TECHMAN

WWW.BUILD - 5

INGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF

KIDS KINO: 11:00AM - 12:00PM

FINCONCEIVABLE 2014 USA / 5 mins
Directed by: Lily Williams. This short film explores the human use of
natural shapes to create smart and useful things. 

SKY HIGH 2015 United Kingdom / 2 mins
Directed by: Stewart Powers. Sky High is an awesome set up because
a random guy is drawn onto a whiteboard using an Expo marker,
and he uses different objects to go into the sky. It’s funny to watch
because there is a hand from another random girl or boy who helps
him if he falls. I hope you enjoy it! 

TO SCALE: THE SOLAR SYSTEM
2015 USA / 7 mins 
Directed by: Alex Gorosh, Wylie Overstreet. In an attempt to give
Earthlings a new perspective of the universe, filmmakers Wylie
Overstreet and Alex Gorosh head to the Black Rock Desert to build
the first to-scale model of the solar system.

PAPA 2016 USA / 8 mins 
Directed by: Natalie Labarre. The short film Papa is about a little girl
and her father. The sweet message is that you can always find a
compromise to any situation and still have fun together.

UMBRELLA GIRL 2015 USA / 2 mins
Directed by: Monika Norcross-Cerminara. Umbrella Girl shows us that
you can turn a cloudy situation into a colorful and fun exploration
by using your imagination. This film’s animation style, and going
from black and white to beautiful water colorful, gives you a feeling
of catharsis at the end. 

SWEET COCOON 2014 France / 6 mins
Sweet Cocoon is about a caterpillar that is trying to get into a
cocoon, and she gets help from some other bugs. But when she
finally gets to a cocoon, it takes a turn! I hope you laugh like I did! 

30 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

11:00AM - 12:00PM FILMS

GENERATION UP 2015 USA / 5 mins
Directed by: Nick Rosen, Peter Mortimer
Two of the best young climbers in the world are Kai Lightner and
Ashima Shiraishi. In this fun film, they go climbing together in
Norway to see what they can achieve. 

RUNNING WILD 2016 USA / 7 mins
Directed by: Danny Schmidt. The wolverine is a rugged and
resourceful animal that lives in isolated arctic and alpine regions
of North America. When a wolverine was photographed in Utah’s
Uinta Mountains, scientists installed remote-baited camera
stations across 80 miles to learn whether the notoriously ferocious
carnivores are expanding their range. Who better to tend the
cameras than ultra runners? Able to travel great distances through
the mountains quickly and lightly, runners check the cameras,
change the batteries and refill the bait in the hopes that they can
be part of a scientific discovery. 

DARKLIGHT 2015 USA / 8 mins
Directed by: Mike Brown. The team that brought us Afterglow
returns with another surreal cinematic painting of light, motion and
landscape. Only this time, they swap skis for bicycles and snow for
Ewok forests and desert rocks. 

ACROSS THE SKY 2015 USA / 2 mins 
Directed by: Tim Kemple, Renan Ozturk, Anson Fogel. Walking 500
meters — the length of nearly five football fields — is no big
deal. But when you walk it on a slackline, suspended between
the great towers of Utah’s Castleton Valley, like Théo Sanson did
in November of 2015, it becomes a mega-feat of endurance,
exposure and courage.

BREAK: 12:00 - 1:30PM

SJIFF CAFE & BAR OPEN

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF 31

1:30 - 3:00PM FILMS

PREMIERE
THE PERFECT FLIGHT USA / 5 mins
When young Shawn Hayes caught a wild falcon in a rough and
tumble neighborhood east of LA, he had no idea it would lead him
into a lifelong love affair with falconry — training and hunting
with wild raptors. The Perfect Flight is a short documentary portrait
of Shawn and his falcon. Speculative Films

THE MILLION DOLLAR DUCK 2016 USA / 72 mins 
Directed by: Brian Golden Davis. The Federal Duck Stamp is many
things: symbol of a successful wetland conservation program,
82-year-old tradition and requirement for fowl hunters. And for the
artists who submit to the national competition each year, it’s the
Superbowl of wildlife art, the Big Kahuna of prestige and the ticket
to a successful career. (They don’t actually win $1 million, but the
esteem catapults them to the upper echelon of their field).
The Million Dollar Duck, a feature documentary by Brian Golden
Davis, offers a quirky portrait of the microcosm that surrounds the
Duck Stamp, a world of fowl obsession, fierce competition, crushing
heartbreak, family dynasty and colorful characters.

BREAK: 3:00 - 3:30PM

SJIFF CAFE & BAR OPEN

FIND YOUR SEATS @3:15

20 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

3:30PM - 5:45PM FILMS

HOW WE CHOOSE 2016 USA / 15 mins 
Directed by: Alexandria Bombach. After years of war, concrete
blockades, corruption, suicide bombings and the departure of
friends and family for safer countries, there are few opportunities
left in Kabul, Afghanistan. How We Choose follows several people
as they grapple with the heart-wrenching decision to leave their
motherland — some illegally — and start over again in a new
country. The optimists who stay do so because of their desire to
bring about positive change and to help create a  hopeful future
where suicide attacks are not part of daily life. Staying and going
each present much to be lost, as well as gained. 

CLINICA DE MIGRANTES: LIFE, LIBERTY AND
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS 2016 USA / 40 mins  
Directed by: Maxim Pozdorovkin. Puentes de Salud is a volunteer-run
clinic that provides free medical care to undocumented immigrants
in south Philadelphia. Here, doctors and nurses work for free to
serve people who would otherwise fall through the cracks.

MOTHERING INSIDE 2015 USA / 30 mins 
Directed by: Brian Lindstrom. What happens when a mother of small
children is“put on a time out”? At Oregon’s Coffee Creek Women’s
Prison, the Family Preservation Project (FPP) helps inmates
hone their parenting skills as it facilitates regular family visits.
While imprisonment is hard on both prisoners and their families,
Mothering Inside demonstrates that not all is lost when the prison
helps sustain the parent-child relationship.

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF 21

3:30 - 5:45PM FILMS

NASCENT 2015 Central African Republic / 7 mins  
Directed by: Lindsay Branham, Jon Kasbe. Nascent is proof of how
short films can impart big messages. It’s a simple premise: two
children, a Christian boy and a Muslim girl, give their perspectives
on growing up in the divided and desperately poor Central African
Republic. Despite differences in their upbringings and religious
backgrounds, the pair share a hopeful vision of peace that would
allow them to be friends. This could have been an awkward film or,
worse, a treacly one. But in the hands of director Lindsay Branham
(who attended school in Telluride in 5th and 6th grade), the result
is a thoughtful and powerful documentary that asks the simple
question: Why can’t we all just get along? 

1-800-GIVE-US-YOUR-KIDNEY 2016 USA / 17 min
Directed by: Samantha Smith. “If I don’t give my kidney to somebody
this week, will somebody die waiting for it?”The answer to this
question, posed in Samantha Smith’s film, is unequivocally“yes.”
Despite that, ethical and practical riddles surround the willingness
of a living donor to undergo surgery and bodily mutilation to help a
complete stranger.

Q&A with Harold Mintz, starring in 1-800-Give-Us-Your-Kidney

BREAK: 6:00 - 7:00PM

SJIFF CAFE & BAR OPEN

FIND YOUR SEATS @6:45

22 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

Q&A with 7:00 - 9:00PM FILMS
Johnnie
Jameson KROGER’S CANTEEN 2015 South Africa / 8 mins 
following Directed by: Dean Leslie. Perched on a precarious notch in a jagged ridgeline
the film. at 13,100 feet in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, Kroger’s Canteen is an aid
station along the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run. Staffed by a crew
of seven, all veterans of the 100-mile ultramarathon, the station doles out
supplies to hungry and thirsty runners — as well as a traditional shot of
tequila for those embarking on the extraordinary race, which loops from
Silverton through southwest Colorado’s Ouray, Lake City and Telluride. Aid
station captain Roch Horton and his volunteers haul the station’s supplies
in on their backs each year, but despite the rigorous work, manning the
station is such an honor that there’s a wait list. This short film documents
the power of human perseverance and the great rewards that can be
reaped from helping others achieve their dreams. 

THE FORECASTER 2015 USA / 4 mins
Directed by: Greg Hackett. Drew Hardesty wakes up early every
day and skins up the mountain to examine the snowpack —
building snow-pits, inspecting individual snowflakes, recording
temperatures and carefully testing aspects. The Forecaster is a short
film that provides the visual reel behind the daily reports on the
radio, offering a glimpse into the everyday tasks required to help
keep the masses safe in the backcountry. 

MILE 19 2016 USA / Duration: 10 mins 
Directed by: Vincent DeLuca. Since the inception of the Los Angeles
marathon in 1986, 178 runners have completed every race. They’re
called“Legacy Runners.”Johnnie Jameson is a member of this
special group, but he’s not an elite runner: He’s a working man,
a postal employee. But what he lacks in speed, he makes up in
creativity. He ran his first marathon backward, finishing in last
place. He dribbled a basketball the next year. Each race, wearing
his signature Payless shoes, he stops and talks and takes his sweet
time. And over the years, the marathon has become a form of
therapy for Jameson, who was scarred deeply from serving as an
infantryman in Vietnam.

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF 23

7:00 - 9:00PM FILMS

10 MIN INTERMISSION

KAMCHATKA STEELHEAD PROJECT
2016 USA / 7 mins 
Directed by: Travis Rummel, Grayson Schaffer. Located between the Bering
Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia’s remote Kamchatka Peninsula is home
to some of the world’s most abundant steelhead runs. Under Russian law,
the thick-bodied fish are protected as an endangered species, and it’s
illegal to catch them — unless the fishing is done by anglers collecting
biological data. The Kamchatka Steelhead Project is a U.S.-Russia
partnership that monitors the steelhead population through catch and
release, and over the course of 20 years it’s produced an extensive body of
data about the fish in their wild and native habitat.

STRONGWATER 2016 USA / 10 mins
Directed by: Jordan Halland. Surfing typically requires ocean waves,
but StrongWater upends that presupposition. In this film, a group
of board lovers go surfing — not near the beaches of Hawaii,
but to the river city of Missoula, Montana, where surfers have
transformed the sport and the scene of this iconic pastime.

MOT NORD 2016 Norway / 10 mins
Directed by: Jorn Nyseth Ranum. Ice, driftwood, foamy waves and
… skateboards? In this poetic short film by Jørn Nyseth Ranum,
four skaters head north to the cold Norwegian coast, applying their
urban skills to a wild canvas of beach flotsam, frozen sand and
pastel skies. The result is a beautiful mashup — biting winds and
short days, ollies and one ephemeral quarterpipe.

24 SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2016

7:00 - 9:00PM FILMS

WASFIA 2016 Nepal / 11 mins 
Directed by: Sean Kusanagi. Wasfia Nazreen doesn’t just climb for the thrill;
she climbs for a cause. The first Bangladeshi to scale the Seven Summits,
Wasfia has made it her purpose to brave these climbs for the sake of
something larger - for the women of Bangladesh. Lyrical and poetic, this
short documentary is a reflective character portrait that takes us from
the depths of Wasfia’s struggles to the highest peaks on the planet, as we
explore what it means to pursue the unknown.

FLEDGLINGS 2016 USA / 20 mins
Directed by: Cedar Wright. As longtime professional climbers who
eat, sleep and live the sport, Cedar Wright and Matt Segal are used
to being competent, comfortable and at the top of their game.
Then they get into paragliding, and what starts as a toe dip turns
quickly into a consuming addiction, as well as a lesson in what
it’s like to be bumbling, naïve, gung-ho beginners. Tree landings,
sketchy moments and junkshow launches become part of the
new normal. With only six months of flying under their belts, and
professional flier Matt Henzi as a sensei, Wright and Segal embark
on an audacious objective: to climb and fly off Orizaba, the third-
highest peak in the America’s and the highest in Mexico. What
ensues is disaster-style climbing, iffy weather, broken gear and a
lesson in jumping into the deep end and being forced to swim. 

AFTER PARTY FEATURING
DJ TECHMAN

PAVILION COURTYARD: 9:00 - 11:00PM

WWW.BUILDINGLIVES.ORG/SJIFF 25

A SHOUT OUT TO OUR SPONSORS

CULTURE & COMMUNITY: 3:30PM - 5:45PM

HOW WE CHOOSE 2016 USA / 15 mins 
Directed by: Alexandria Bombach. After years of war, concrete
blockades, corruption, suicide bombings and the departure of
friends and family for safer countries, there are few opportunities
left in Kabul, Afghanistan. How We Choose follows several people
as they grapple with the heart-wrenching decision to leave their
motherland — some illegally — and start over again in a new
country. The optimists who stay do so because of their desire to
bring about positive change and to help create a  hopeful future
where suicide attacks are not part of daily life. Staying and going
each present much to be lost, as well as gained. 

CLINICA DE MIGRANTES: LIFE, LIBERTY AND
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS 2016 USA / 40 mins  
Directed by: Maxim Pozdorovkin. Puentes de Salud is a volunteer-run
clinic that provides free medical care to undocumented immigrants
in south Philadelphia. Here, doctors and nurses work for free to
serve people who would otherwise fall through the cracks.

MOTHERING INSIDE 2015 USA / 30 mins 
Directed by: Brian Lindstrom. What happens when a mother of small
children is“put on a time out”? At Oregon’s Coffee Creek Women’s
Prison, the Family Preservation Project (FPP) helps inmates
hone their parenting skills as it facilitates regular family visits.
While imprisonment is hard on both prisoners and their families,
Mothering Inside demonstrates that not all is lost when the prison
helps sustain the parent-child relationship.

THANKS TO MIKE & PHOEBE BENZIGER
FOR YOUR SJIFF SPONSORSHIP

SANJUANFILMFEST.COM

CULTURE & COMMUNITY: 3:30PM - 5:45PM

NASCENT 2015 Central African Republic / 7 mins  
Directed by: Lindsay Branham, Jon Kasbe. Nascent is proof of how
short films can impart big messages. It’s a simple premise: two
children, a Christian boy and a Muslim girl, give their perspectives
on growing up in the divided and desperately poor Central African
Republic. Despite differences in their upbringings and religious
backgrounds, the pair share a hopeful vision of peace that would
allow them to be friends. This could have been an awkward film or,
worse, a treacly one. But in the hands of director Lindsay Branham
(who attended school in Telluride in 5th and 6th grade), the result
is a thoughtful and powerful documentary that asks the simple
question: Why can’t we all just get along? 

1-800-GIVE-US-YOUR-KIDNEY 2016 USA / 17 min
Directed by: Samantha Smith. “If I don’t give my kidney to somebody
this week, will somebody die waiting for it?”The answer to this
question, posed in Samantha Smith’s film, is unequivocally“yes.”
Despite that, ethical and practical riddles surround the willingness
of a living donor to undergo surgery and bodily mutilation to help a
complete stranger.

Q&A with Harold Mintz, starring in 1-800-Give-Us-Your-Kidney

BREAK: 6:00 - 7:00PM

SJIFF CAFE & BAR OPEN

FIND YOUR SEATS @6:45

SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2017

BEST OF THE FEST: 7:00 - 9:00PM

Q&A with KROGER’S CANTEEN 2015 South Africa / 8 mins 
Johnnie Directed by: Dean Leslie. Perched on a precarious notch in a jagged ridgeline
Jameson at 13,100 feet in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, Kroger’s Canteen is an aid
following station along the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run. Staffed by a crew
the film of seven, all veterans of the 100-mile ultramarathon, the station doles out
supplies to hungry and thirsty runners — as well as a traditional shot of
tequila for those embarking on the extraordinary race, which loops from
Silverton through southwest Colorado’s Ouray, Lake City and Telluride. Aid
station captain Roch Horton and his volunteers haul the station’s supplies
in on their backs each year, but despite the rigorous work, manning the
station is such an honor that there’s a wait list. This short film documents
the power of human perseverance and the great rewards that can be
reaped from helping others achieve their dreams. 

THE FORECASTER 2015 USA / 4 mins
Directed by: Greg Hackett. Drew Hardesty wakes up early every
day and skins up the mountain to examine the snowpack —
building snow-pits, inspecting individual snowflakes, recording
temperatures and carefully testing aspects. The Forecaster is a short
film that provides the visual reel behind the daily reports on the
radio, offering a glimpse into the everyday tasks required to help
keep the masses safe in the backcountry. 

MILE 19 2016 USA / Duration: 10 mins 
Directed by: Vincent DeLuca. Since the inception of the Los Angeles
marathon in 1986, 178 runners have completed every race. They’re
called“Legacy Runners.”Johnnie Jameson is a member of this
special group, but he’s not an elite runner: He’s a working man,
a postal employee. But what he lacks in speed, he makes up in
creativity. He ran his first marathon backward, finishing in last
place. He dribbled a basketball the next year. Each race, wearing
his signature Payless shoes, he stops and talks and takes his sweet
time. And over the years, the marathon has become a form of
therapy for Jameson, who was scarred deeply from serving as an
infantryman in Vietnam.

SANJUANFILMFEST.COM

BEST OF THE FEST: 7:00 - 9:00PM

STICK AROUND FOR SOME SWEET GIVEAWAYS!

KAMCHATKA STEELHEAD PROJECT
2016 USA / 7 mins 
Directed by: Travis Rummel, Grayson Schaffer. Located between the Bering
Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia’s remote Kamchatka Peninsula is home
to some of the world’s most abundant steelhead runs. Under Russian law,
the thick-bodied fish are protected as an endangered species, and it’s
illegal to catch them — unless the fishing is done by anglers collecting
biological data. The Kamchatka Steelhead Project is a U.S.-Russia
partnership that monitors the steelhead population through catch and
release, and over the course of 20 years it’s produced an extensive body of
data about the fish in their wild and native habitat.

STRONGWATER 2016 USA / 10 mins
Directed by: Jordan Halland. Surfing typically requires ocean waves,
but StrongWater upends that presupposition. In this film, a group
of board lovers go surfing — not near the beaches of Hawaii,
but to the river city of Missoula, Montana, where surfers have
transformed the sport and the scene of this iconic pastime.

MOT NORD 2016 Norway / 10 mins
Directed by: Jorn Nyseth Ranum. Ice, driftwood, foamy waves and
… skateboards? In this poetic short film by Jørn Nyseth Ranum,
four skaters head north to the cold Norwegian coast, applying their
urban skills to a wild canvas of beach flotsam, frozen sand and
pastel skies. The result is a beautiful mashup — biting winds and
short days, ollies and one ephemeral quarterpipe.

SAN JUAN INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2017

BEST OF THE FEST: 7:00 - 9:00PM

WASFIA 2016 Nepal / 11 mins 
Directed by: Sean Kusanagi. Wasfia Nazreen doesn’t just climb for the thrill;
she climbs for a cause. The first Bangladeshi to scale the Seven Summits,
Wasfia has made it her purpose to brave these climbs for the sake of
something larger - for the women of Bangladesh. Lyrical and poetic, this
short documentary is a reflective character portrait that takes us from
the depths of Wasfia’s struggles to the highest peaks on the planet, as we
explore what it means to pursue the unknown.

FLEDGLINGS 2016 USA / 20 mins
Directed by: Cedar Wright. As longtime professional climbers who
eat, sleep and live the sport, Cedar Wright and Matt Segal are used
to being competent, comfortable and at the top of their game.
Then they get into paragliding, and what starts as a toe dip turns
quickly into a consuming addiction, as well as a lesson in what
it’s like to be bumbling, naïve, gung-ho beginners. Tree landings,
sketchy moments and junkshow launches become part of the
new normal. With only six months of flying under their belts, and
professional flier Matt Henzi as a sensei, Wright and Segal embark
on an audacious objective: to climb and fly off Orizaba, the third-
highest peak in the America’s and the highest in Mexico. What
ensues is disaster-style climbing, iffy weather, broken gear and a
lesson in jumping into the deep end and being forced to swim. 

AFTER PARTY FEATURING
DJ TECHMAN

PAVILION COURTYARD: 9:00 - 11:00PM
ALL AGES WELCOME

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