Women’s Adventure Film Tour

The Women’s Adventure Film Tour features some of the world’s most inspiring women in adventure. This tour is a celebration of the fantastic women around us who are doing extraordinary things in the name of adventure. 7 short films showcase real stories about women from a variety of cultures and sports around the world – from running a marathon across 7 continents to cliff diving.

In our first year, the films for the Women’s Adventure Film Tour were sourced from the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado. As the tour has grown, we have begun sourcing and developing our own content for the Women’s Adventure Film Tour directly with and from film makers. In each location we country we screen, we tailor the films to suit the audience and seek to showcase some films that have a connection to the area.

HERE’S THE LINEUP:

A GRAND JOURNEY (USA, 15 mins)
Born and raised in Jackson, WY Kira Brazinski has found a great love for the outdoors. Her lifestyle involves hiking, skiing, biking and pursuing her career as a yoga instructor. Kira was born with a rare birth defect resulting in missing most of her left leg. Since being able to walk, she has used a prosthetic leg. While some might see this as a major setback, Kira’s fiery passion and athleticism drives her to achieve her goals and amaze those around her with her achievements. Climbing the iconic Grand Teton has been a childhood dream of Kira’s. In A Grand Journey short documentary film we get an intimate look into Kira’s unique but incredibly relatable journey as she attempts to take on a goal she herself may not believe is possible. 

MI MAMA (USA, 5 mins)
“Mi Mamá” follows Nadia Mercado and her mother, Clariza Valdez, as they go back to Arches National Park in Moab to experience the natural space together. The film unveils how Nadia fell in love with the outdoors at a young age, and how her mother’s spirit lives within her. 

RAINBOW DIVE (Australia, 26 mins)
How do you continue to push yourself when you’ve already conquered the world? Having won all there is to win in the world of cliff diving, including three Red Bull World Cliff Diving World Series, Rhiannan Iffland is now at a crossroads: was it worth all the sacrifices she made along the way? Was it worth being away from her family, friends, and missing out on big chunks of her youth? 

WHEN I LOOK BACK (USA, 3 mins)
When I Look Back follows four women mountain bikers ripping around Moab, Utah. But this is not your typical adrenaline-fueled adventure film. Both lighthearted and contemplative, it’s a glimpse into a tight-knit group of friends doing what they love and picking each other up when they fall down. Looking back on their lives, this is what they will remember. 

INTERMISSION 

THE LINE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL (USA, 14 mins)
Captain of The North Face Athlete Team, with a career spanning two decades that includes dozens of first descents through more than 40 expeditions to 16 different countries, Hilaree Nelson is the most prolific ski mountaineer of her generation. The 45-year-old mother of two was the first female to link two 8000m peaks, Everest and Lhotse, in one 24 hour push. In the fall of 2018, she returned to 27,940-foot Lhotse a second time to ski from the summit, linking turns down one of the most prized un-skied lines in the world. In this piece, Nelson takes us to the pinnacle of Papsura, the 21,165 foot “Peak of Evil”, which she has obsessed over for nearly 20 years. Take a “real” look at how a fast-moving team handles the extreme elements, and attempts to summit, and ski down this daunting face. 

NARETOI (USA, 27 mins)
Naretoi, which means “women helping women” in Maasai, follows a group of Maasai and American women on a unique self supported expedition to the summit of Mt. Kenya, 16,355 ft. The Maasai tribe still live as pastoralists in a deeply traditional, patriarchal, and polygamous culture. Most Maasai women have never left their “boma” or village and few make any decisions without male permission — their focus is on survival. Doing anything solely for themselves is an intangible luxury not afforded to women in Maasai culture, especially something like climbing a mountain without any involvement or assistance by men. This expedition is unique in how the women overcome cultural and language barriers to collectively conquer a large mountain. The mountain symbolizes the challenges that we all face as women fighting an uphill battle to gain equality in our lives. This experience is an opportunity to empower each other and focus on self introspection and discovery. 

IS THIS THE TOP? (USA, 15 mins)
There was never a doubt. Those are the words we use when describing the film we chose as the finale to Vol. 2 of our tour. Jennifer Pharr-Davis is a long distance hiker, professional speaker, wife, mother of two, business owner, writer and now film subject. As the 2-time holder of the Fastest Known Time on the Appalachian Trail, and with over 14,000 miles of long distance through hiking to her name, JPD explains what adventure means to her today. 

Community Partner: The White Mountain School

Sponsors: Appalachian Mountain Club, North Country Climbing Center, Carlson’s Lodge, Jim & Carrie, The White Mountain School, and Rek-Lis Brewing.