Jenna Bacon, Campus Carrier asst. arts and living editor

Mountainfilm on Tour is an annual event hosted by the Society of Outdoor Life and Exploration (SOLE) at Berry. Last Wednesday was the 15th year a Mountainfilm on Tour event has been held on Berry’s campus. Associate Professor of Biology Cathy Borer is the faculty advisor for the SOLE club and is responsible for bringing Mountainfilm to campus. The event took place in the McAllister auditorium and showed a number of short, documentary films produced by independent filmmakers. Most of the films shown included themes of environmental activism, social justice and the human experience. Taking place in Telluride, Colo. every Memorial Day weekend the actual Mountainfilm festival is quite an event with lots of people attending from around the country. Through Mountainfilm on Tour, various universities, outdoor retailers, organizations and theaters can show some of the films shown at the Mountainfilm festival to different audiences. 

 Borer shared that part of the film festival’s purpose is to inspire people to think about the effect they have on the world.  

“The purpose of the film festival is to sort of get people to really start thinking about how we can love our planet, but also how we can love each other,” Borer said. “It’s a really cool film festival because it focuses on all those different things and they’re trying to transform the world in positive ways through the power of film.” 

SOLE is responsible for a lot of the preparation necessary to make this event happen. Planning the event involves choosing a date, reserving the McCalister auditorium, and applying for a Cultural Events (CE) credit. Senior Brooks Keehley, vice president of SOLE, shared that the club designs a T-shirt to be sold at the event, and also reaches out to local businesses to ask for donations for the raffle that is held at the event. The raffle prizes this year included a SOLE T-shirt and a gift certificate for Chicken Salad Chick. The money from the selling of T-shirts and raffle tickets allows SOLE to put on other events later in the year. Keehley explained how SOLE handles promotion and selling t-shirts for the Mountainfilm on Tour event.  

“In January, we vote on what our new t-shirts are going to be, and we get those printed for the event,” Keehley said. “And then we do a lot of promotions on Instagram, putting posters up and things like that for the event. Then we set up a table outside for selling raffle tickets and t-shirts.” 

Because of the hard work put into making this event happen, Berry students were able to enjoy all the films that the Mountainfilm festival had to offer. One of the films shown at this year’s Mountainfilm was titled “Swimming Through” and tells the story of three women who bond over their daily swim in Lake Michigan. Another film shown at the event was “Soundscape” and features the adventures of Erik Weihenmayer, a rock climber who is completely blind. 

The films shown at this event can affect people in different ways.  Film can educate, inspire, and motivate people by providing them with unique stories and breath-taking visuals. According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology, if a film shows someone successfully pursuing their goals it could motivate a viewer to do the same. Films can also motivate people to pick up a new hobby or explore a new interest. Junior, Tristan Christensen, who attended the Mountainfilm on Tour event, said the films shown at the event might influence or impact the Berry community. 

 “It motivates people to get outside and do outdoor activities, which I think is very important for anyone,” Christensen said. “I mean, it really benefits your mental health and physical health. So, I think just having an event like this at Berry is super inspirational for everyone.” 

The Mountainfilm on Tour event is meant to inspire Berry students to expand their horizons, recognize different perspectives and do what they can to care for the world around them. Hopefully this is a Berry College tradition that will continue for years to come.