In Tibet, climbing a different path

Surely, of the numerous expeditions on Tibet's Nangpa La in September 2006, some of them went home with sick climbing footage from the 19,000-foot pass.

Julie Kennedy isn't much interested in finding those films, no matter how extreme the mountaineering feats. She is more interested in the drama that played out on Nangpa La that didn't involve new climbing routes and spectacular scenery.

As mountaineers sought high-altitude thrills in the vicinity of the 26,900-foot Cho Oyu peak, a group of Tibetans were crossing the pass to get to India, to visit their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Their guide, however, had tipped off Chinese officials, who were seeking to enforce China's policy of shutting off access to Tibetan Buddhism's leader-in-exile. The climbers in the area heard gunfire — shots from the Chinese border police opening fire on the refugees. A teenage nun was killed; two other Tibetans were injured.

This is the sort of mountain story that captures Kennedy's attention, especially the part about the group of climbers — a Romanian cameraman, an American guide, a British policeman — who abandoned their adventure to record and witness the incident.

“These climbers say, ‘You've got to be kidding me. All these expeditions are here, and no one's doing anything? I just saw these nuns get shot down and everybody's acting like nothing happened?'” Kennedy said. “The rest of the expeditions were all pretending it's not happening. They're into their climb.”

Australian director Mark Gould turned the incident, including the in-the-moment footage, into “Tibet: Murder in the Snow,” a 54-minute film detailing not only the killing of Kelsang Namtso, but also the effort to turn the story into international news, and the determination of young Tibetans who defy the Chinese government and cross the Himalayas to visit the Dalai Lama and study Buddhism.

It is exactly the sort of film Kennedy is looking to present at the 5Point Film Festival, the Carbondale event she founded two years ago. The third annual festival opens today and runs through Sunday, May 2, with events including book signings, talks, late-night parties, and an ice cream social in memory of Kennedy's father, Art Cerre, who died in December.

The one thing 5Point is short on is the standard thrills-and-spills footage which Kennedy, in her less-guarded moments, refers to as “adventure porn.” Kennedy believes audiences have come to expect a more meaningful experience from outdoors films. In any event, more meaningful films — long on story, characters, social involvement — is what she will be giving 5Point attendees.

“Adventure porn — if that's all we're getting, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm just not. I'd skip a year,” said Kennedy, a 55-year-old who calls herself a “wannabe climber” compared to her husband, Michael, a past editor of Climbing magazine, and their 20-year-old son, Hayden, who is working in Yosemite.

Fortunately, Kennedy's tastes seem aligned with current trends in adventure filmmaking. “What we're seeing is a huge trend away from [adventure porn]. Sponsors aren't buying into it. In order to get sponsorships, they have to have strong story lines, strong character portrayals. The film has to have a purpose of inspiring an audience.”

Kennedy said that even over the few years since she founded 5Point, it has become easier to find such films. The festival is becoming known for presenting a certain kind of film; the 5Point name comes from the principles the event was founded on, and they aren't defying death, competitiveness, and extreme machismo. (They are respect, humility, commitment, purpose and balance.) And Kennedy has become a regular on the circuit of film fests devoted to outdoor adventures, traveling to Taos, Boulder, Banff and Telluride.

Among the films to be screened at this year's 5Point is “First Ascent: Brother's Wild,” about brothers Timmy and Sean O'Neill. The film follows as Timmy, a pro climber, takes his brother, who is paralyzed below the waist, to El Capitan, the famed rock in Yosemite. But the film doesn't end with the 3,000-foot ascent.

“At the end, Timmy says, ‘OK, you passed that test. Now we're going one step further. We're going to Alaska, to climb a huge rock there,” Kennedy said.

Also to be screened are “Gum for My Boat,” about a Bangladesh program that takes kids off the streets and puts them in the surf; “Border Country,” a moving animation that reflects on death; and “1 Percent of the Story,” a documentary about the movement to get the business community to donate profits to creating a healthy planet.

Kennedy is particularly proud to present “Our Boat Is Our Address.” The film is by an 11-year-old Bangladeshi girl, Shiropa Purna, who was intrigued by the gypsies she saw living along a badly polluted river. The film shows how Shiropa and people in her community teach the gypsies how to better protect their health.

The film came to the attention of 5Point when Beda Calhoun, the 22-year-old who is in her second year as program director of the festival, searched the website of a Brooklyn film event. Intrigued by the description of “Our Boat Is Our Address,” she got in touch with Shiropa by e-mailing the filmmaker's father's boss.

Kennedy wanted to take things a step further than simply screening the film. She wanted to bring Shiropa to Carbondale, but the costs were prohibitive.

“Could you imagine how powerful that would be, to bring her to 5Point, bring her to the schools?” Kennedy said. “For a kid to see that and say, ‘If she could make a film, I could make a film' — that's true inspiration. That's why we do this festival.”