Mountainfilm in Telluride 2010

The Theme of the 2010 Mountainfilm was extinction. Extinction of species, landscapes, habitats, cultures. . . life. While this subject is extremely hard hitting and all too relevant, as a whole the discussions and films in the festival were such that people left with a new found strength and most importantly hope that they could personally and collaboratively effect change.

The Moving Mountains Symposium; the Sixth Extinction, kicked off the festival with speakers that included iLCP Fellow Joel Sartore, Maya Lin, Rick Ridgeway, Tom Lovejoy, Louie Psihoyos, Mike Fay, Greg Carr, Dave Foreman, Nicole Rosmarino, and Terry Root. Terry Shocked the audience with the statistic that until recently, 1 species in every 1,000 went extinct every 1,000 years. Now it is 1 in every 100! Mike Fay spoke of the elephants in Zakouma National Park and the decline in numbers even within the park boundaries due to illegal poaching for ivory trade. Louie spoke of his experiences that led to the making of the Oscar award-winning film, the Cove.
Joel spoke to the power of the image and how it can inspire people to care, which in turn can lead to action and possibly progress towards the protection of a species. Unfortunately as he was photographing his project on the state of the world's amphibians he was faced with the last of a species as his subject too many times. A great new slant on an old saying emerged from Maya Lin's project "What is Missing," Why can't we save two birds with one tree? The Symposium was packed with insight and revelations brought forward by the leading thinkers in the conservation community.



iLCP's film Flathead Wild, produced by the Epicocity Project, tells the story of the Flathead RAVE and the campaign to save this pristine wilderness in BC, Canada. The film was nominated for the Moving Mountains Award, and was screened 3 times with an amazing turn out.
Click here for more about the Flathead Wild campaign. More on the Flathead RAVE. Watch Flathead Wild here!



The iLCP had a RAVE Retrospective exhibit which touched on each of the 8 RAVEs to date. RAVEs (Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition) aim to achieve a full visual and media assessment of a threatened area in a short period of time by means of a multi-disciplinary team that includes several specialized iLCP photographers. Their job is to bring back a comprehensive portrait of a conservation issue or threat in a very short period of time. As photographers we also recognize that we are one piece of the conservation communications puzzle and thus work closely with scientists and NGOs on the ground as well as writers, journalists and filmmakers on RAVEs. Thank you to the Ah Haa School for the Arts for hosting the exhibit and Drew Ludwig and the volunteers for their invaluable assistance! Check out more on the RAVE here!



iLCP photographer Joe Riis had 2 exhibits, one in the town of Telluride and one in the conference center where the Extinction Symposium took place.

Joel Sartore and Chris Rainier participated in breakfast talks - Advocacy Storytelling and Image and Impact respectively.

The 12SHOTS reception was a great success at the Bubble Lounge where images were 12 sets of 12SHOTS were projected Saturday night. 12SHOTS is an exercise in storytelling using 12 images, no words, no narration. This exercise emphasizes the need for storytelling in the conservation community.

"There is no question that part of the glue that holds societies together and that helps us understand our place in the planetary puzzle is the art of story-telling. The proverbial “camp fire” around which stories of our common ancestry, the challenges we face, and the ideas we share, have, generation to generation, been passed through stories. Today’s technology allows us to gather around the global campfire in new and meaningful ways and skilled artists and story tellers have become key players to move the conservation agenda by helping 'connect the dots'." - Cristina Mittermeier, iLCP President

Joe Riis and Kyle Dickman, the two 12SHOTS photographers present, spoke to their stories before Timmy O'Neill hosted an uproarious night of Karaoke. Thanks to Timmy and Undersolen Media for handing out great prizes!

Thank you Mountainfilm and Festival Director, David Holbrooke, for embracing iLCP at Mountainfilm. We are still shining with the magic of the festival.



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