The Mountainfilm Tour is stopping in Soldotna today, with a screening at 7 p.m. at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
Mountianfilm is a documentary film festival held every Memorial Day weekend in Telluride, Colo., with a selection of those films going on tour around the country. Mountainfilm organizers bill the festival as “using the power of film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world.”
Joyce Cox, of Soldotna, is hosting the Soldotna stop of the Mountainfilm tour. She’s watched the films elsewhere for years and was so impressed she went to the festival in Colorado last May and decided to bring the films to Soldotna.
“I just feel like we all need to support the arts more and this is another opportunity that we haven’t had in our community for these types of art films,” Cox said. “This is just another art film that is part of our society that can make society better and hope for change for a better world.”
There are three films, in particular, Cox found moving. “Ashes to Ashes” is about a man who joined the civil rights movement as a teen and survived a lynching attempt. He now finds healing in etching leatherwork.
That’s the heaviest offering. Others are about sport, adventure, culture, the environment and maybe a mix of all three.
“There’s one of snowboarding that just lifts you away,” Cox said. “You just feel like you’re lifting yourself right off the snowboard right with the person. And then another one is about a young, young kid playing hockey with a stick and a rock, and it just gets your heart.”
Cox, however, didn’t select the films to appeal just to herself. She was looking for a broad variety.
“I am terrible at snowboarding and hockey doesn’t interest me,” she said. “I feel like I’m community-minded, and because of the wonderful feelings I have received from these films, I felt it would be good for our community. Because I feel like if each of us could do just a small part, it’s going to be a better world.”
Doors open at 6 p.m., with food available from Yo Tacos and beverages from Kenai Joe’s, and door prizes to be awarded. Tickets are $20, available from Already Read Books in Kenai, River City Books in Soldotna and at the door.
