Last weekend the ASUNM Southwest Film Center and the UNM Wilderness Alliance, in partnership with MountainFilm, hosted the Telluride Film Festival on Tour in the UNM SUB. The Telluride Film Festival has been showing independent films since 1979, and has been visiting schools like UNM since 1999.
Telluride Film Festival hosted a total of 22 films on a wide range of topics, from saving a dying breed of antelope in West Texas, “Pronghorn Revival,” to limestone mining in Sweden “The Limestone Conflict.” While all the films focus on different areas and aspects of the world, they all share a common goal — cultural and environmental preservation.
The need for environmental awareness is explicitly expressed in films such as “Pronghorn Revival,” which follows the journey of several wildlife conservationists as they attempt to save the endangered Pronghorn, a species of antelope in the panhandle of Texas.
The film provided interviews from figures in the scientific community who, as a part of the film’s message, gave information and insight on how to preserve the environment on a personal scale.
Many of the 22 films shown depicted cultures that were in just as perilous a position as the environments they are immersed in. The film “Canyon Song,” the opening film on Friday night’s showcase, tells the story of two young girls from Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, whose Navajo cultural traditions are greatly fading.
As society around them sees great urbanization and environmental change, the culture is upheld by members of the community who participate in events to raise awareness and celebrate Navajo tradition. Through the Miss Navajo Preteen Pageant, the girls of “Canyon Song” participate in raising this kind of cultural awareness.
The event’s MC, Marissa Mattys, said she has seen the Telluride Film Festival Tour influence audiences of all ages who have been “completely electrified and illuminated” by the films.
“The leading goal is the education of young children and to inspire kids with rad documentaries.” Mattys said.
She said that as young individuals see the environmental issues in these films she hopes they inspire “more potent and inspired choices.”
The tour’s main event, the Telluride Film Festival will occur in Telluride this Memorial Day weekend, May 26 through May 29. If students didn’t get a chance to catch this year’s spectacular lineup of films, they can look forward to the festival’s return next year along with an entirely new collection of films.
Troy Amato is a culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @troy_amato.
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