Film fest draws ski celebrities

A handful of skiing celebrities

converged in Whitefish last week to present their latest movies at

the Whitefish Mountain Films festival — marking a trend for the

growing event. The film festival that drew about 50 people three

years ago is emerging as a regional attraction.

More than 200 people packed the Crush

Wine Bar to capacity on Saturday night as professional athletes

Chris Davenport, Art Burrows, Kim Havell and Cody Townsend showed

off footage from their latest skiing adventures.

The Whitefish Convention and Visitor

Bureau sponsored Havell’s and Townsend’s trip to town. Organizer

Greg Franson would like to continue bringing in recognizable skiers

and filmmakers as he guides the festival into a new realm.

“We’ll try to have big names come in

the future,” Franson said. “The Banff Mountain Film Festival was

started in someone’s basement. It’s inspiring to know that small

festivals can grow into big ones.”

Franson says he’d like to see more

professional films featured and has considered moving the event to

a larger venue, like the O’Shaughnessy.

“I think it could blow up to be a

really big event and attract artists from abroad,” he noted,

although he is struggling with how big he wants it to grow. The

event originally featured only local photography and films — which

is its underlying spirit and one Franson will continue to

nurture.

“Despite having all the professional

athletes this year, we’re trying really hard to keep it local,”

Franson said. “We want to keep sharing local artists. As polished

and as clean as the big productions are, the local and homemade

stuff is cool, too. We’ll always keep it.”

Local photographers David Marx, Craig

Moore and Cameron Barge were featured this year. A raffle at the

festival raised money for the Whitefish Trail and Whitefish Legacy

Partners.