Outside Festival announces film lineup of inaugural event in June

The upcoming and inaugural outdoor festival 'Outside Festival' announced its film lineup for the Film x Ideas series for the Denver event and 21 films will be shown, Outside Interactive Inc. announced Wednesday. 

The film lineup, including documentaries and adventure shorts, is one of the centerpieces of a full weekend of entertainment and education pertinent to the outdoor-themed festival, festival organizers said.

All film screenings will take place at the Denver Art Museum, directly adjacent to Civic Center Park, with films curated in partnership with the Boulder International Film Festival, Telluride’s Mountainfilm Festival, and the Mountains of Color Film Festival.

“We’re excited to showcase some of today’s most innovative and diverse adventure filmmakers,” Jon Dorn, Outside’s chief entertainment officer said. “Our goal was to present a film lineup that amplifies stories from historically marginalized athletes and creators, and we believe attendees will be blown away by the storytelling.”

2024 Outside Festival Film Lineup, June 1

Feature Film: Wade In The Water

A Journey into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture reclaims the 1,000-year-old tradition of Black surfing. Braiding historical accounts with modern-day testimonials, the film dismantles the racial barriers of conventional surf culture.

Film Shorts: Adventure

● Descendance: In a sport known for its lack of diversity, Dennis Ranalter has defied the odds and risen to become an exceptional freeride skier recognized and respected around the world.

● Georgia Astle Flip The Switch: Mountain biker Georgia Astle explores what can happen when you’re able to silence your thoughts and put matter over mind to achieve great things.

● Finding Our Wild: Sid Gopinath and his father embark on a weeklong camping trip to explore Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain National Parks.

● Walking On Clouds: Walking on Clouds reveals the breathtaking and dizzying highline crossing between two hot air balloons above the city of Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

● Slides On The Mountain: With the right guides, a little push, and buoyant optimism, two teenage brothers from the Lílwat Nation realize a journey to ski T ̓ s̓zil — a sacred mountain on their territory.

Film Shorts: Journeys

● Soundscape: Soundscape features Erik Weihenmayer, a global adventure athlete and author who is fully blind, as he ascends a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada.

● Wading For Change: For conservationist and angler Jr Rodriguez to become “like the pictures he saw in magazines,” he had to leave behind what he loved the most.

● Waterfall Hunters: Waterfall Hunters follows three Costa Ricans — Javier, Jimmy and Miguel — as they seek to find, document, and inspire others to preserve invaluable ecosystems and habitats in the Costa Rican jungle.

● Jamie: Jamie Logan, a pioneering alpinist, has climbed some of the most dangerous climbs in the world — but nothing felt as life-threatening as admitting that, at age 69, she wanted to begin living as a woman.

2024 Outside Festival Film Lineup, June 2

Feature Film: Ashima

One of the world’s youngest elite rock climbers, Ashima Shiraishi, spent her formative years breaking numerous age-based climbing milestones, spurred on by her number one fan and coach, her father, Poppo — a retired Butoh dancer and avant-garde performer with no formal climbing experience.

Film Shorts: Resilience

● Tread Setters: On October 5, 2022, a group of para-cyclists/adaptive athletes set out to ride the White Rim Trail in a day with the hope of creating awareness around people with disabilities.

● The Right to Joy: After surviving a near-fatal cougar attack while cycling, Izzy Sederbaum overcame anxiety and anti-trans hate by rediscovering the joy of biking and promoting diversity and inclusion in the sport.

● 109 Below: A tale of resilience and grit, 109 BELOW traces the aftermath of an attempted rescue on Mount Washington in 1982.

Film Shorts: Discovery

● Walking Two Worlds: Fueled by an unwavering love and responsibility for the land, Hän Gwich’in 20-year-old Quannah Chasinghorse, and her mother Jody Potts-Joseph are taking a stand to defend their sacred homelands, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

● Apayauq: Apayauq chronicles Apayauq Reitan's historic quest to become the first openly transgender woman to compete in the legendary Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska.

Film Shorts: Community

● Breath of Gloster: Peyton Thomas created the Equitable Action Run Toward Health to give a voice to the community of Gloster, Mississippi in a grassroots fight against the wood pellet biomass industry.

● Outside in Five: REI Co-Op is partnering with community-led organizations like the Friends of Anacostia Park to help get more people Outside in 5 minutes or less.

● Gath & K'iyh: Listen to Heal: In Alaska, the community comes together to create music with YoYo Ma as a critical part of collective healing and radical hope for the future.

● Miles to Go: In 2022, as several states across the country passed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, trans trail runner Perry Cohen refused to sit idly by.

● Inward: This is a film about Atlanta-based artist Michi Meko, a postmodern cartographer and artist who lives within the parallels and meridians of two distinct worlds: the urban world and the rural world.

Festival prices for both general admission and VIP packages can be ordered at theoutsidefestival.com and include:

• General admission tickets start at $44 for a single-day pass and $69 for the full weekend.
• VIP packages begin at $114, and offer an elevated experience featuring enhanced viewing for performances, expedited festival entry, and access to a dedicated lounge area with a private bar away from the general festival.

Outside Festival ticket holders will have the opportunity to reserve seats in Film x Ideas venues two weeks before the event. The Outside Festival is set to be held in and around Denver’s Civic Center Park from May 31 to June 2.