Alex Lowther

Papsura: Peak of Evil

Tucked deep in the Indian Himalaya is a 21,100-foot behemoth called Papsura, the face of which is split by a line so perfect and massive it pushed the skills of even the most renowned ski mountaineers. Papsura: Peak of Evil follows professional snowboarders Nick Russell and Jerry Mark from California’s Sierra Nevada to this remote corner of the world’s greatest mountain range, as they harness years of experience in pursuit of the biggest line of their lives.

The Last Observers

Lennart and Karin are dedicated observers at their manual weather station in Sweden. They reflect on their life’s work as the station faces automation.

Fire Lines

In northern California, climate change and 150 years of forest mismanagement have led to some of the most catastrophic wildfires in the state’s history—including the Dixie Fire, which in 2021 devastated the Lost Sierra’s already struggling communities. In the face of that destruction, one group turned to trails for hope and to the past for a better future.

The Shitthropocene

The Shitthropocene is a journey from the cellular-level origins of our lack of impulse control to the ways our central nervous systems have been hacked in the name of capitalism. It’s also about how we might begin to save ourselves from ourselves. Plus, there are dancing cave people.

What the Hands Do

Mariana Mendoza and Miguel Casar are attracted to proud, challenging boulders and approach the sport with passion and dedication. At the same time, they believe that climbing hard is not the only thing that matters. As lifelong social justice advocates, they ask: How can we use climbing to cultivate joy and connection in our communities? Can climbing create opportunities for meaningful growth? How can we use climbing to shape the world we want to see?

Daughter of the Sea

Battling deep depression, Jaeyoun returns to her roots on the island of Marano, South Korea, to visit her family of female free fivers known as haenyeo. To her surprise, she finds a connection to nature and her ancestors that literally saves her life.

Game Hawker

Shawn Hayes leads a life of devotion. For him, falconry is more than a deep partnership with raptors: it’s his life’s work. As an American falconry ambassador, he’s carved a space for himself where people of color haven’t always been welcome. It's taken him across the globe, into strongholds of tradition and conservation. This film is about more than what humans can train birds to do—it’s about what those birds can teach us about living in partnership with wild creatures and wild places.

The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez

Known as Mr. Pipeline for his calm demeanor in the tube, Gerry Lopez built his career with aggressive surfing that left behind a trail of blood and tears. He is one of the most influential surfers and surfboard shapers of all time, an entrepreneur, a family man, a movie star, and a lifelong yogi who brought surfing to new frontiers. For the first time, the story of this enigmatic hero is being told in full.

Newtok

As the effects of climate change become ever more apparent throughout the world, the Yup’ik people and their lands on the western outskirts of Alaska face a much more imminent threat. In the town of Newtok, years of rising temperatures have eroded the frozen foundation of the area. With their homes and way of life hanging in the balance, the town’s residents weigh the prospect of relocating the community or abandoning their traditional lands forever.

Run to Be Visible

Lydia Jennings is a member of the Huichol (Wixaritari) and Pascua Yaqui (Yoeme) Nations and holds a doctorate in soil microbiology. Her work is dedicated to environmental science and the essential role of Indigenous communities in these spaces. Her hope is to create more inclusive academic and environmental landscapes. In place of her graduation, which was canceled as a result of the pandemic, Lydia instead celebrated by running 50 miles in honor of the Indigenous scientists and knowledge keepers who came before her. It’s a run to honor the past and present while looking towards the future.

We the Power

Imagine upending the traditional energy system and giving the power of clean electricity production back to your neighbors. We the Power follows friends, families and visionaries, as they break down legislative barriers, take power back from big energy companies, put it in the hands of locals, and share the benefits to strengthen their towns. The film chronicles four local cooperatives from deep in the Black Forest, to the streets of ancient Girona, to the urban rooftops of London, as they pave the way for a clean energy revolution and build healthier, financially-strong communities.

Solving for Z

Solving for Z explores IFMGA guide and father Zahan Billimoria’s relationship to the intoxicating highs and crushing blows of a life in the high-consequence environment of big mountain skiing.

Lessons from Jeju

Seven months pregnant and apprehensive of the effect motherhood would have on her career as a professional freediver, Kimi Werner took a trip to the island of Jeju in South Korea to meet her heroes, the haenyeo – a group of freediving and fishing women often regarded as Korea’s first working mother’s whose culture dates back centuries.

Public Trust

There are 640 million acres of public land in the United States. But there are powerful forces, both in government and in corporate America, eager to plunder this bounty. David Garrett Byars’s eye-opening documentary travels to Alaska, into the red rock canyons of southern Utah, and to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, and exposes a land war going on under our very noses.

Mind Over Mountain: On the Bugs to Rogers Traverse

Follow 3 women as they experience a 100+ km traverse from the Bugs to Rogers in British Columbia.

We Can Get There From Here: Towards Plastic-Free Oyster Farming Down East

After years studying marine microplastics around the globe, Abby Barrows was ready to come home. In 2015, looking for a side-project that would keep her on the water, she bought the lease for an oyster farm in Deer Isle, Maine. When she saw the mountain of plastic gear that came with it, the side-project became something else. Today, Deer Isle Oyster Co. is a flourishing family business, a proving ground for plastic-free mariculture gear, a new pier for a working waterfront reliant on one fishery, and a purveyor of some of the best oysters in the world. This is the story of one season on the farm, which also happens to be the story of an old island’s precarious present and potential future.

Rotpunkt

Rotpunkt documents the advent, the agony and the art of the redpoint through Alex Megos’s efforts to redefine the boundaries of the form. The film traces the redpoint—which transformed rock climbing from an engineering problem into a brilliant test of mental and physical strength—from its origins with a ragtag bunch of tights-wearing revolutionaries in rural Bavaria, to its golden era with Wolfgang Güllich, to its new ideal in the German phenom Megos as he battles to unlock new levels of human potential.