LOCAL Houston | The City Guide FEBRUARY 2015 | Page 34
Local February 2015 final.qxp_002houston 1/26/15 1:57 PM Page 34
GISH AT THE MOVIES
THE MOUNTAINS
ARE COMING TO TOWN
When the Allen brothers founded Houston back in
1836, they lied to the folks back in New York and
said we had mountains in our bayou city. Who
knew that almost 200 years later their dream would
come to fruition? Celluloid mountains are coming
to Houston this February 20 and 21 when
Telluride Mountainfilm (www.mountainfilm.org)
returns to Houston for the third year, thanks to
founders Jack and Shushana Castle, two amazing
pioneers who would have made the Allen Brothers
proud. Jack is a third-generation Houstonian who
built his career in the healthcare sector and is now
on the Board of Directors of Telluride Mountainfilm,
and Shushana is an author of two books that take on
the food industry and was an international bond trader for over 25 years. The dynamic duo are environmental activists on a local and global scale and, for
Telluride Mountainfilm
over a decade, Shushana and Jack have been devotees of Telluride Mountainfilm. They discovered their
passion for activism from many of the films they watched at the festival, and it
became their personal mission to raise awareness about social, cultural and
environmental issues by bringing Mountainfilm to Houston in 2012. Founded
in 1979, the documentary festival has a strong mission: to educate and inspire
audiences about issues that matter.
Issues that matter is what Shushana and Jack Castle are all about. “Every year
we are humbled by dozens of films that capture our hearts and open our eyes
to more awe-inspiring people that are doing great things around the world.
There are so many well done documentaries at Mountainfilm. Each year, we
leave feeling renewed and enlightened by the entire experience,” Shushana
told me. “We love films with ‘feel good’ strong messages,” Jack told me – and
yet he doesn’t shy away from the obvious work we have here in Houston: “A
few years ago I invited two senior executives of huge oil companies to view a
film about drilling and dumping toxins into waterways and its effect on health
and the environment. I told them both to think about their grandchildren and
not their company. One executive was the last to leave that night.”
Telluride Mountainfilm in Houston will be at the Asia Society (www.asiasociety.org/texas) and tickets are available through ICEtalks (www.icetalks.org),
the nonprofit formed by the Castles that focuses on “Issues, Cultures, and
Environments worth sustaining.” Prices are $30/night or $55/weekend and
dinner during the intermission will be provided by Shade (www.shadeandcanopy.com) for around $10. FOUR FILMS WILL BE SHOWN THIS YEAR:
Tashi and the Monk, which is an amazing story about patience and passion
Mending the Line
Tashi and the Monk
Xmas Without China
filmed in the Himalayas; Mending the Line, about a World War II veteran that brings up themes of love, suffering, memories and hope; Cold,
about ascending an 8,000-meter peak in the middle of winter; and
Xmas Without China, in which a family tries to celebrate the holidays
without anything made in China.
WANT TO SEE MORE ART FILMS? Check out these venues: 14 Pews
(www.14pews.org); Alamo Drafthouse (www.drafthouse.com); Asia
Society (www.asiasociety.org/texas); Aurora Picture Show (www.aurorapictureshow.org); Blaffer Art Museum (www.blafferartmuseum.org);
Café Brasil (www.cafe-brasil.net); Contemporary Arts Museum
(www.camh.org); Discovery Green (www.discoverygreen.com);
DiverseWorks (www.diverseworks.org); Holocaust Museum
(www.hmh.org); Jewish Community Center (www.erjcchouston.org);
Landmark River Oaks Theatre (www.landmarktheatres.com); Miller
Outdoor Theatre (www.milleroutdoortheatre.com); Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston (www.mfah.org/films); Orange Show (www.orangeshow.org);
Rice Cinema (www.ricecinema.rice.edu);
and Sundance Cinemas (www.sundancecinemas.com).
Sarah Gish is an artist, mama, igniter and connector who has been writing for Local magazine since 1998. She was one of the co-founders of Q-Fest, Houston’s only LGBT festival, and was the
publicist and city