Lake Effect is a two-year Michigan ski film highlighting the joys of backyard adventure and the shifting perspective of Mike King, a professional skier who for a decade has only sought adventure from the peaks of mountain tops in the far reaches of the West. In 2020 when Covid encouraged lockdowns & travel restrictions, Mike's life on the road came to a screeching halt. This abrupt change inspired Mike to take the hurdle as an opportunity to rediscover the unique, untapped terrain, ski culture, and the people thriving right here in his home state of Michigan. Throughout filming Lake Effect Mike realized you don't need to travel far to have an epic adventure. Rather some creativity, curiosity, and the willingness to walk out the door to the abundance that starts right in our backyards.
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Teton Gravity Research is proud to present "Beyond the Fantasy," its 29th annual ski and snowboard film. This year, we're diving headfirst into the whimsical imagination that our athletes embrace to turn improbable mental images into reality. Mountains provide the ultimate canvas for our community to evolve dreams into truth, and with no lack of adrenaline-pumping action, this film is also a celebration of the contagious camaraderie and joyous absurdities that make riding on snow a way of life. Join us as we take you beyond the fantasy.
In the 1950’s the United States government restricted a 6 by 10 mile block of land somewhere north of Las Vegas. Although the government will not discuss this top secret facility, it has been consistently associated with UFO sightings and conspiracy stories. The reasons for the cover up of alien activity is unclear, but one thing is for sure, the government will do everything in their power to stop the public from knowing the truth. The most probable explanation is that mass panic would ensue if the public knew we were being visited by beings far superior to ourselves. In 1999, TGR exposes AREA 51, a 16mm jib flick that shows skiing’s new generation going bigger than ever and pulling the sickest tricks imaginable. Filmed at competitions and sessions around the globe, this movie has it all.
In 2004, the French Soulflyer team of Loic Jean-Albert, Val Montant and Pierre Desmet aimed to fly over many of the planet's emblematic summits. The rides in this film combine snow, mountains and high altitude with BASE jumping, wing suits, skydiving, and skiing – on Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border, and on Mount Fuji in Japan.
Since Little League Baseball was founded in 1939, about 40 million kids have played the sport. The list includes future Hall of Famers like Carl Yastrzemski, Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan, and hundreds of other future Major Leaguers. But of all the kids who ever played Little League, the best of the best was a boy you’ve probably never heard of: Art “Pinky” Deras. In the summer of 1959, he led the team from Hamtramck, Mich., to the Little League World Series title, and in the process, he put together a Little League season the likes of which we might never see again. His amazing story comes to life in “The Legend of Pinky Deras: The Greatest Little-Leaguer There Ever Was,” a new film from Blue Hammer Films. Pinky received a ton of national publicity back in 1959, but then he fell off the map. In the half-century since he lit the Little League world on fire, there have been no films about him, no magazine stories, not even a single newspaper article.
A science fiction fantasy on skis with spectacular glacier skiing, extraordinary acrobatics, unique optical effects, and an original score. The world's polarity is mysteriously reversed, requiring the skiers to regain the realm of normal perception by performing maneuvers inspired by the ambiguous nature of the "Moebius Strip."
Mackinac Island, Michigan, is a tiny island in the center of the Great Lakes. Besides being a world favorite "Horse Drawn" and "Victorian Era" summer destination, the island holds another treasure few have ever seen: its wild, magical and beautiful winters. The 72-minute film Ice Bridge follows islanders' unique and quirky lifestyle throughout an entire year while tracing the formation of the spectacular phenomenon known as the "ice bridge" (a three-mile span of ice that allows islanders to cross to the mainland).
In this sports documentary, Connor Stalions addresses the allegations surrounding the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal for the first time.
Faced with a traumatic injury that renders you permanently disabled; how would you reinvent yourself? Full Circle tells the story of Trevor Kennison and Barry Corbet’s shared resiliency and refusal to let their passion for life be limited by Spinal Cord Injury. It is an unblinking examination of the challenges of Spinal Cord Injury, and a celebration of the growth that such tragedy can catalyze.
A short documentary about freestyle skiing made for the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department.
A ticket can get you anywhere in the world, from the chairlift at your local ski area to the top of Talgar Peak in Kazakhstan. It can put your heart in your throat as you fly over a knoll faster than you have all year, and it can put your mind at ease when you find yourself alone in a snow-covered Aspen grove with clear blue sky above and crisp cold air all around. A ticket is the end of reality and the beginning of a journey. And we've got one for you.
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
Steeped in a rich tradition dating back to their inaugural meeting in 1897, this rivalry extends beyond the pursuit of a Big Ten title, and is renewed each year through the pageantry and colliding cultures that distinguish the two schools.
Film about the 10th Olympic Games in Grenoble in 1968. Using a subjective camera, Ertaud and Languepin take the pulse of the Games, cutting out the eyes and slowing down the movement when necessary. The dominant figure at the Grenoble Winter Games is Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy, whose three gold medals matched Toni Sailer's 1956 feat. The filmmakers bet on his winning streak, and include commentary from him as he prepares for each race. Another athlete, Marielle Goitschel, is treated insightfully on screen and wins the women's slalom. Ice dancing fans will appreciate the coverage of winner Oleg Protopopov and his partner Ludmila Belousova. President Charles De Gaulle was present for the spectacular Opening Ceremony.
Teton Gravity Research and Indy Pass bring you a short film celebrating the independent spirit of the Midwest ski and snowboard community. Those who ride the Midwest will tell you - they don’t need endless storm cycles, 4,000 feet of vert or fancy base areas to have fun. A few rope tows and rails, a set of slalom gates to bash, reliable snowmaking and a sense of adventure is all it takes. The ski industry could learn a few tricks from these tried and true Midwest ski areas: Family-first means affordable passes, after school programs, volunteer-led race clubs and most importantly, a sense of camaraderie. In Pursuit of Soul 2: Midwest Independence was filmed on location at Buck Hill, Caberfae Peaks, Granite Peak, Little Switzerland, Lutsen Mountains, Nordic Mountain, The Rock Snowpark, and Tyrol Basin.
Documentary about the making of a pair of skis using old methods, from the scouting for the perfect tree to finished product.
From the mind of Chris Benchetler comes TGR's latest short film collaboration. Improvisation is the silver thread that weaves this crew together. Just as the Grateful Dead did not fit their music into an established category, this short film finds a cast of some of the world’s best athletes on a spontaneous journey of skiing, snowboarding, surfing, and music, complete with a soundtrack comprised of only Grateful Dead music.
The voyage to the scariest ski run of my life. The last voyage of Sofie and Captain Crocs. A ski odyssey to the far northern fjords of Norway, presented by Norrøna and Black Crows. After a decade of dreaming of the Kvænangstindan mountain range we board Captain Crocs' vessel Sofie in search of adventure. But when have you pushed it so far over the edge that you may never sail back home?
watch Niko Schirmer and Celeste Pomerantz sail to the northern Norwegian island and ski arctic conditions in a one-of-a-kind movie Niko Schirmer swore he would never get on this boat again, but his new movie is all about Sofie (that’s the ship’s nickname) and a sailing voyage to Svalbard. Get on board and discover what happened in a trip full of adventure, wild animals, human interactions, and gnarly couloirs.
CIRCLE OF MADNESS features star athletes Markus Eder (ski) & Victor de Le Rue (snowboard) returning one more time to the legendary spine walls of Haines, Alaska. In the place where extreme free-riding movies were born, standing on the shoulders of their peers, their emulated friendship will help them push it to the very next level. From the most renown and historical lines to a camping mission in the middle of a never-seen-before mountain face, Markus and Victor’s obsession becomes a descent into madness.
Wisconsin's tribe's ongoing fight to protect Lake Superior for future generations. "Bad River" shows the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's long history of activism and resistance in the context of continuing legal battles with Enbridge Energy over its Line 5 oil pipeline. The Line 5 pipeline has been operating on 12 miles of the Bad River Band's land with expired easements for more than a decade. The Band and the Canadian company have been locked in a legal battle over the pipeline since 2019.