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SALT LAKE CITY — The Wasatch Mountain Film Festival kicked off with a bang Monday night as two films amazed audiences at the Jim Santy Auditorium.
The Wasatch Mountain Film Festival, a yearly series of film screenings premiering over the course of a week, showcases films that display outdoor recreation and adventure in interesting ways.
The 2019 festival, which runs from April 1-7, is featuring 59 films all about outdoor adventure. Opening night, which was held in the Jim Santy Auditorium of the Park City Library, showcased DreamRide 3 and Return to Mt Kennedy. Tuesday displayed five films at the Leonardo Museum, and Wednesday showcased another five at the same location from 6-9 p.m.
Don’t be discouraged if you couldn’t make it to the first three nights of the festival — the rest of the week has a lot left to offer. Take a look at the following films over the next few days:
April 4: 6-9 p.m. at the Leonardo Museum
April 5: 6-9 p.m. at The Leonardo Museum
April 6
9 a.m. - 12 p.m. at the Leonardo Museum
- Wild Toddler Chronicles
- Carried Away: A Porter’s Story
- Creek Sessions
- 3 Sons & a King
- Love, Trails, & Dinosaurs
- Zabardast
12 p.m. - 3 p.m. at The Leonardo Museum
3 p.m. - 6 p.m. at The Leonardo Museum
6 p.m. - 9 p.m. at The Leonardo Museum
April 27: 12:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. at The Salt Lake City Library (Free)
Online Only Screenings
- The Sky Piercer
- Feel of Vision
- La Promenade
- The Far Green Country
- Safety to Nome
- Objectif Sauvage
- Nature Needs You
- Focus
- Free Falling
- Unbounded
- Far Out
“Unlike other mountain film festivals in very expensive areas, part of our goal with this is to become the world’s most accessible mountain film festival,” Derman told KSL.com. “Because of our location along the Wasatch, we have incredible access for both locals and people who want to attend from out of state. This festival is accessible from the person who lives on top of the hill in Park City to the liftie at Snowbird.”
An affordable film festival option, each screening block costs $10 to attend when booked in advance or $15 at the door. Festival passes range from $65 to 115, but those are all sold out at this point.
“Last night was sold out, tonight is on track to be sold out… The entire film festival is filling up pretty quickly,” Derman said. “It’s going great.”
As the festival progresses, the audience is able to vote on what films they like the most. The organizers keep a running tally of what people like the most and at the end they give out an award to the people’s choice film. Only eight films have been shown so far, but a favorite among those has begun to emerge.
“It’s hard to say this early, but the stand out currently is Return to Mt Kennedy,” Derman said.
The Wasatch Mountain Film Festival runs entirely on volunteer work from the community. To learn more about supporting and getting involved, visit their website.
