They laughed, they cried and they held their breath during two nights of compelling documentary screenings during the annual Houston edition of MountainFilm in Telluride on Tour.
Issues, Cultures, Environments Worth Sustaining (ICE), founded by Shushana and Jack Castle, brought the festival and a list of heavy-hitters to Asia Society Texas Center for the cerebral, and occasionally jovial, happening.
Big name panelists spotlighting various issues included four-time Olympic medalist Heather Petri (water polo) representing director Frank Marshall (Right to Play); filmmaker and actor Hilton Kelley, who presented his film My Toxic Reality; Nobel Peace Prize co-winner Terry Root; and via Skype ecologist and author Sandra Steingraber on the film Living Downstream.
Fresh Guacamole provided a note of levity eliciting laughter as counterpoint to the tears evoked by The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.
Guests savoring food and drink from Shade and Canopy included Minnette and Peter Boesel, Elaine Block and Dennis O'Rourke, Audrey and Steve Morney, Kaitlyn and Michael Scheurich, Lindsey George and Drs. Mary Es Beaver and Rich Beaver.
