BY KAREN BOSSICK
“Arctic Ascent” will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27. Tickets cost $20 and are available at https://svff.eventive.org/schedule/65550fe60b1de80075f6fa16 or https://theargyros.org/
A couple years ago, professional rock climber Alex Honnold embarked on a lifelong dream, climbing the remotest and toughest walls and peaks of Greenland.
He and his team battled treacherous conditions free as he climbed rock faces so remote no one has ever climbed them. One stood out, in particular: The granite and gneiss Ingmikortilaq, or “The Separate One,”--one of the world’s tallest unclimbed rock faces rising nearly 4,000 feet out of the water near eastern Greenland
The 3,750-foot summit is 750 feet taller than El Capitan and three times the height of the Empire State Building. And it’s located in an area that scientists call Ground Zero of the climate crisis.
Honnold’s climb was encapsulated in the National Geographic documentary “Arctic Ascent.” And Sun Valley Film Festival will stage its Sun Valley debut on Wednesday, Dec. 27. The screening will be followed by a Zoom Q&A with Honnold, whose death-defying climb on Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan was captured in the Oscar-winning documentary “Free Solo.”
This climb was equally death defying, judging by Honnold’s comment in the documentary: “The first picture I saw of Ingmikortilaq, it looked like death.”
“Arctic Ascent” will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27. Tickets cost $20 and are available at https://sunvalleyfilmfestival.org/monthly-movies/. Any available seats will be released 10 minutes before showtime on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The Sun Valley Film Festival will follow that screening with a screening of “The Color Purple” musical at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28.
The movie is a musical remake of the original movie starring Whoopi Goldberg that was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1985.
The new one, released on Christmas Day is a musical directed by Blitz Bazawule that stars Fantasia Barrino as Celie Harris. It is produced by Spielberg, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey, who received an Oscar nomination for her role in the original film.
The movie is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker about a black Southern woman who struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over a span of four decades. And like the first, it follows the extraordinary sisterhood of three women who share one unbreakable bond.
Tickets are $20, available at https://theargyros.org/calendar/sun-valley-film-festival-the-color-purple/.
Those who buy a pass to the 2024 Sun Valley Film Festival ahead of the screenings will receive a complimentary ticket to one of the Winter Screening Series films.
The Sun Valley Film Festival will hold its annual festival Feb. 28-March 3 at The Argyros and other venues.