Today’s 1pm TTMF screening takes a dive into one of the most pressing issues of our modern era: migration. Witness visually rich, impactful short films examining human and animal migration, and the causes, which range from climate change to conflict. We look forward to sharing these stories of migration and unpacking this complicated and pivotal topic.
DECEMBER 1
Migration Shorts
1:00 PM
Short Films
ESCAPE
8 mins | Directed by: Anjali Nayar
There is something gloriously incongruous — and almost incomprehensible — about a risk-averse, non-athletic, native Rwandan DJ finding the real meaning in his life by pedaling across Canada to its frozen Arctic Ocean shore in an attempt to break the record for the longest, continuous, fixed- gear bike ride. Through the course of this unlikely adventure, the protagonist, Jean-Aime Bigirimana, also finds that the truth about escaping is not as black and white as, say, his spandex silhouette against the cold Canadian snowscape.
FREE LIKE THE BIRDS
10 mins | Directed by: Paola Mendoza
Precocious Sophie Cruz convinced her martial arts teacher to let her attend classes when she was just 3 years old. She is a luchadora, a fighter. So when her parents, who are undocumented immigrants, told her they don’t have papers and could be deported back to Mexico, Sophie vowed to keep her family together. On a trip to Washington, D.C., Sophie, then just 6, cleared a security barrier to deliver her message to Pope Francis. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, which would grant protected status to Sophie’s family and thousands of others and let them live free like the birds.
SKY MIGRATIONS
15 mins | Directed by: Charles Post, Forest Woodward, Max Lowe
Twice a year a river of raptors soars overhead between British Columbia and Argentina on their seasonal migrations. Ecologist Charles Post joins them for part of their journey south through the rugged sagebrush-covered canyons of Nevada’s Goshute and New Mexico’s Manzano mountains. Workers with Hawkwatch International have been counting, measuring, banding and marveling at Cooper’s hawks, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles for the last 30 years. The birds’ fierce eyes and powerful wingspans indicate they, as well as the animals they prey on, are doing well. But for conservation to succeed, there must be a global effort. It takes the entire Western Hemisphere to raise a hawk.
LOS LECHEROS
21 mins | Directed by: Jim Cricchi
In 17 years of working at a dairy farm, manager Guillermo Ramos Bravo says he has never seen a person born in the U.S. ask his boss for a job. Third-generation farmer John Rosenow recalls a time when farms were typically worked entirely by family; now, it’s “about the last thing that you would do; it’s something that’s relegated to the immigrants.” Los Lecheros explains that farms with immigrant employees produce 70 percent of the U.S. milk supply. Republican farmers who voted for Trump are left hoping he didn’t mean what he said about deporting undocumented immigrants, while their workers carry on in fear, or reluctantly return to Mexico.
REBUILDING IN MINIATURE
7 mins | Directed by: Veena Rao
Displaced from the very concept of a homeland by a world torn apart by conflict, Iraqi refugee Ali Almedy recreates locations he has never seen, from far away in time and space, in the form of highly detailed dioramas. In Veena Rao’s short portrait, there is something elusive, intriguing – and also comforting – about the resilient psyche of the artist despite the permanent scars wrought by war.
LIFEBOAT
32 mins | Directed by: Skye Fitzgerald
Mountainfilm Telluride Commitment Grant Award Winner
“Another tragedy in the Mediterranean,” a newscaster reports after a flimsy boat carrying 600 migrants sinks in the dangerous central Mediterranean crossing between Libya and Italy. Masked men wearing gloves pull back huge white tarps covering some of the victims. Skye Fitzgerald’s Lifeboat, a 2017 Mountainfilm Commitment Grantee, goes on to chronicle a successful rescue by the German nonprofit Sea-Watch. “Libya is hell,” says a survivor. Conditions in Libya offered “two options: Life or death,” says Aisha. She beat the odds, many others did not.
Post-Film Q&A
Q&A WITH DAN SADOWSKY
2018 Film Editor – Lifeboat
Dan Sadowsky is a documentary film editor and video producer based in Portland, Oregon. He has edited several feature-length and short-form documentaries, including 50 Feet From Syria, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Short Documentary, and Lifeboat, which won Best Short Film at the 2018 Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride. His production company, Storymind Productions, helps nonprofits, campaigns and mission-based businesses share authentic stories of creating positive change.
