I spent my long weekend in Telluride at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival. It was good to relax and meet up with friends I hadn’t seen in quite a while. Everest photo pro Jimmy Chin was there, I shared dinner with Conrad Anker and his wife Jenni, David Brashears and a bunch of other mountain lovers. I’m not trying to drop names, although it was cool to hang out with these talented, inspirational people, so stick with me. There were a bunch of fantastic films, parties, and presentations but the one flick that seemed to have everyone talking was Red Gold.

Its a movie set in Bristol Bay in Alaska and while its billed as an eco-type film it really is a social commentary. The conflict is that on one hand this region is home to two of the most salmon rich rivers in North America, but on the other, sits atop one of the richest copper deposits in the world. To heighten the tension the people of the region are monetarily poor and the proposed mine could bring a large amount of wealth to the region. Should a mine be built? Is a renewable resource (the salmon) more important than the non-renewable one? What is wealth?

What struck me the most was that because the idea and the social chords the movie struck were so simple yet real the impact of the film was great. Everyone who watched the movie had an emotional response in one form or another and it carried out to the dinner tables and bars afterwards. Check out the trailer (and hopefully the feature length film).