The Poverty Jet Set

I had the great pleasure of heading to the mountains again this holiday weekend for a heaping serving of films that celebrate the ‘indomitable spirit‘ in adventure, culture, sports and environment. MountainFilm was celebrating it’s 30th year and it was my seventh. As always, it was excellent to spend time in Telluride, my old stomping grounds. Audrey got her first taste of the high and mighty San Juan Mountains, and I’m sure it won’t be her last. We had a great time.

I took a plethora of photos on the trip. You can see the whole set on Flickr here. Here are a few choice picks:

(my gorgeous wife)

(my sister-in-law Becca, her husband Brian and Audrey on top of the Jud Weibe Trail, ~10,000ft elevation)

(me, Justyn and Greg - my co-projectionists at The Palm Theater)

Also, I should mention that the good people at National Geographic Adventure were major sponsors of the event and I would be bereft if I didn’t send my buddies at their sister blog Intelligent Travel a proper shout-out! They’re frequent commenters on The Poverty Jet Set, and I love ‘em for it. You guys rule, keep up the awesome work! And thanks for supporting such a fantastic festival.

[me, Audrey, David Wilson & Scott Beibin]

Audrey and I spent the weekend in good ol’ Columbia, Missouri to hole up in a dark theater and watch excellent indie documentaries. It was my third (and her second) time to the fest in their five-year history. We hope to be there every year until their twenty-fifth and beyond! It’s truly one of the best doc festivals in the country - relaxed vibe, great parties, wonderful films all held in a super rad town. If you’d like to know more about True/False, check out this great podcast interview with my friends and festival founders Paul Sturtz and David Wilson on Joel Heller’s blog “Docs that Inspire“.

Some of the highlight films for me were Joy Division, the new documentary hot on the heals of the fantastic biopic Control that came out in theaters late last year - The Order of Myths, a subtle story about race and the Mardi Gras traditions in Mobile, Alabama - and Gonzo, the Alex Gibney portrait of Hunter S. Thompson.

Echoes of Home, though, was by far my favorite film of the festival. It’s the story of a few musicians who are pushing the art of yodeling to new and powerful forms, but also reaching back into the history of this ancient skill. One of those kinds of movies that makes you tear up because it’s so beautiful. Okay, at least I did.

We saw some old friends and made some new ones, too. Like seeing our old buddy Chris here sitting and rappin’ with ramblin’ musician ‘Gramps’ on 10th Street.

True/False also does a crazy parade every year:

And those folks sure know how to throw a jammin’ party: