Short Film Creates Space for Lander Community to Process Loss from Mountain Accidents

In Lander, many residents have experienced the loss of friends or family members due to recreational accidents—a unique experience that leaves people unsure how to process the grief that follows sudden, violent losses that shake the whole community. After a local volunteer and filmmaker experienced several such losses herself, witnessed unprocessed grief in other community members, and saw similar grief in veterans returning home from war while making a documentary, she had an idea: create space for this grief to be processed collectively. The concept of bringing a story about mountain loss to film and using it for training and community connection has floated around Lander for years, and recent losses—including another community member during an avalanche while this project was being planned—highlight how regularly these tragedies occur without a place to talk about them. The first step is securing copyright from a playwright and creating a screenplay that will bring together unlikely partners including Search and Rescue, high school English classes, First Responders Alliance, and Bookmarked Literary Arts Festival. The 15- to 20-minute film will establish common ground for these groups to work together and use the finished piece for grief training and processing. LOR’s funding will help cover legal services for contracts, copyright fees to the playwright, and writer fees to adapt the stage play into a screenplay.

This project is fiscally sponsored by Lander Community Foundation.