We’re thrilled that you’re interested in hosting your own event in conjunction with Protect Our Winters! We’re working on separate toolkits for a wide variety of events. For now, we’ve compiled a few film screening toolkits to help you host your own party. We hope you have a blast while learning more about protecting our outdoor landscapes from climate change and promoting Protect Our Winters throughout your local community.
Here are a few steps to host your event:
- Choose which film(s) you want to screen.
- Review the screening kits below
- Enjoy the film(s)!
Beyond the Summit
Runtime: 34:00
In April 2022, POW Athlete Alliance member, Kit DesLauriers and her self-supported team traveled across a portion of Alaska’s Coastal Plain, which is currently planned to have seismic oil and gas exploration. During their journey, the team conducted snow depth measurements in a citizen science based approach to help determine if actual snow depths are in the cited range for acceptable oil exploration by the BLM in their Record of Decision. Based on DesLauriers’ previous travels across the Coastal Plain, her hypothesis is that the snow depths found will not meet the stated minimum of either a nine inch average, or three inches over the highest tussocks.
During the expedition, DesLauriers and her team also made the first ski descent of the second highest mountain in the Brooks Range, Mt. Hubley, making DesLauriers the first person to ski the five highest mountains in the United States Arctic.
The Hypocrite
Runtime: 26:00
The film follows professional skier, Amie Engerbretson, as she explores her own perceived hypocrisy and dissects her own inner battles with advocating for the climate while pursuing sports that burn fossil fuels. Seeking unity and common ground among like minded outdoor recreationalists, the film invites snowmobilers and sled skiers to the climate conversation. The athletes raise questions and concerns about their impact, their role in change and what solutions exist.
To answer these questions, Amie connects with experts to explore the science of consumption, the perception of individualized guilt and the merits of individual vs. collective action. By cracking open the truth behind the emphasis on individual actions, the goal of this film is to shift perspective around who is allowed to be a climate advocate and to create a cultural shift around the importance of civic engagement and systemic change.
Drop
Runtime: 18:45
Starting at the top of the Continental Divide in the US, Drop follows the westward path of a single drop of water until, around 1,500 winding miles later, it spills into the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, we meet the men and women who live, work and play on these rivers—people who work tirelessly to ensure that these waters, and all they support, are healthy. Through this dedication, hard work and passion, Drop illustrates how the water connects us all.
Purple Mountains
Runtime: 53:02
Professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones has watched winters change drastically during his 45 years spent in the mountains. More extreme weather, fewer snow days, and economic strain on mountain towns. And yet, climate change remains a divisive issue. In the new film Purple Mountains, Jeremy seeks common ground in the heart of America’s purple states, having honest discussions with individuals who don’t see eye to eye with him.
An Imperfect Advocate
Runtime: 20:57
In the rarified air of the world’s wildest mountains, alpinist Graham Zimmerman has seen firsthand the effects of human-driven climate change on the world. As his eyes have been opened to the irreversible damage that humans are doing to the planet, he has been forced to acknowledge that he is complicit in destroying these places that he loves. Despite his own carbon footprint, Graham decides that he must take action and joins Protect Our Winters in the fight against Climate Change.
Usufruct
Runtime: 9:42
Usufruct is a short film about three friends on an atypical bikepacking trip near Durango, Colorado. Instead of planning a route with the best riding or most scenic vistas, they opt to ride through burn zones and beetle kill areas, diving into the impact and implications that climate change is having on their home trails.
Their goal is to learn what they can do–and what we all can do– to start to change the tide.
Spirit of the Peaks
Runtime: 40:30
“Spirit of the Peaks” is a film about the struggle for balance between two worlds. For Hunkpapa Lakota skier Connor Ryan, skiing in Ute Territory has always raised questions about being in reciprocity with the land and its people. As a skier who connects with the land through sport, he empathizes with the injustices that have displaced the Utes and ongoing colonization, erasure and extraction impacting the Ute people.
This story connects conflicted pasts to an awakening in cultural awareness that can create an equitable future for Indigenous people and skiers. The film was produced in partnership with REI Co-op Studios, Wondercamp and NativesOutdoors with additional support from Salomon, Peak Design and Protect Our Winters.
Sam & Me
Runtime: 30:00
At 13 years old, Sam was in a dark place. His climate anxiety was so bad he was having trouble sleeping at night. In an attempt to ease his stress, Sam writes to pro skier and climate advocate Mike Douglas asking for advice.
Seeing some of his own young self in Sam, Mike invites him on a weekly ski meet-up to talk about climate, skiing and life. In the process the duo share some epic ski days, and an inspirational message that can help others jumpstart their own personal climate advocacy journeys.
Advice For Girls
Runtime: 45:00
“Advice for Girls” puts a spotlight on the collective experience of women in the ski industry. The film showcases advice from three generations of women in skiing. Each generation reminds women and girls of all ages that they are worthy of success, allowed to take up space, and are extremely valuable to the ski industry.
With an intersectional cast featuring all types of women – women of color, queer women, women with disabilities, and more – the crew hopes that everyone can find someone in the film to connect to.
300 Miles Melting
Runtime: 24:00
Climate change is our planet’s number one threat. And one of its biggest targets is being overlooked: New England. While major ski resorts maintain an image with overwhelming snowmaking, the backcountry of this region paints a real picture of what’s going on. And there’s no better place to look than Vermont’s Catamount Trail, which spans 300 miles up the length of the state.
Enter 300 Miles Melting: A film that follows skier and activist, Torey Lee Brooks, as she attempts to ski—and learn from—the entire Catamount Trail amidst a turbulent winter. Along the way, we meet brilliant minds including Bill McKibben (author and activist), Shelby Semmes (Trust For Public Land), Dr. Liz Burakowski (University of New Hampshire), and Matt Williams (Catamount Trail Association).
Breath of Gloster
Runtime: 8:00
With her project, Peyton Thomas aims to educate and mobilize those in Gloster, MS where a wood pellet biomass production facility stands to threaten the health and safety of local rural and minority communities. Following a community ultra (walk/run/bike) event through the Homochitto National Forest, there will be an educational event about the wood pellet industry and redistricting to empower and encourage people to vote for the forests and communities.
Ultratraining
Runtime: 9:00
In the modern era, cars and planes have turned the train into an antiquated form of transportation. ‘Ultratraining’ follows rickey gates on a trip through the southwest, traveling by train.
Punchline
Runtime: 10:00
Meet Eland Stribling (AKA @blackstevesrwin), a wildlife biologist, stand-up comic and fly fisherman based in Denver, Colorado. Eeland loves to fish and he loves to tell jokes. He’s passionate about wild places and the comedic lens, but also forthright in his endeavors to pursue outdoor education for conservation purposes. Follow along as Eland blends a unique mix of comedy, stewardship and environmentalism in Punchline, a film meant to teach us the importance of laughter as we protect the places
we live and we love.
Shining Mountains
Runtime: 17:00
In 1850, Glacier National Park was the site of over 150 glaciers. They were so vibrant that the Blackfeet People living there called the region “Land of the Shining Mountains”. But by 2015 only 26 glaciers in the park remained. For professional trail runner and POW Athlete Alliance member Mike Foote, Glacier National Park is a place he’s developed a deep connection to over the last 20 years and has personally watched the landscape change due to climate-related impacts. Inspired by his love for this land, Mike, along with partners Jennifer Lichter and Steven Gnam, set out to complete a never-before-attempted route to visit and document the remaining vestiges of ice that shaped the incredible landscape.
Soñadora
Runtime: 7:00
Soñadora. Visionary. Dreamer. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). These are the definitions the “Soñadora” film crew are grappling with in their film featuring Vanessa Chavarriaga. The film begins by reading Vanessa’s own words in Spanish: “I was born in the heart of the world. In a land of abundance and love. There, everything flows. The rivers and the páramos. The laughter of my aunts’ follows me like a drop of rain flowing into the sea.” Throughout the film, Vanessa’s original writing will guide the audience through the complexities of what it’s like to be stripped from one place to be dropped in another and asked to excel just to be constantly rejected.
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Soñadora. Visionaria. Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA). Estas son las definiciones con las que el equipo de filmación de “Soñadora” está lidiando en su próxima película con Vanessa Chavarriaga. La película comienza leyendo las propias palabras de Vanessa en español (traducidas aquí): “Nací en el corazón del mundo. En una tierra de abundancia y amor. Allí, todo fluye. Los ríos y los páramos. La risa de mis tías me sigue como una gota de lluvia que fluye hacia el mar”. A lo largo de la película, la escritura original de Vanessa guiará a la audiencia a través de las complejidades de lo que es ser despojada de un lugar para ser dejada caer en otro y pedirle que sobresalga solo para ser rechazada constantemente.
Provide
Runtime: 11:00
POW Creative Alliance member, Micheli Oliver, has a special relationship with the outdoors. It’s a place for them and their family to create a bond of reciprocity and gratitude with the land they live, play and provide for themselves on. In Oliver’s new film Provide, we follow their family as they journey back home to northern Colorado to learn from their father, uncles and cousins in hopes of healing their relationship with the natural world.
