She Summits: A Film Festival Celebrating Women in Adventure Sports

by Bonnie de Bruijn

When Carla Cupido saw The Moment, a highly-acclaimed documentary about a crew of pioneer mountain bikers in B.C., she felt a part of something, of a community, of which she had never otherwise been a part. She was inspired by the film’s capacity to unite as much as by Darcy Turenne who, as a woman, is a minority among predominantly male adventure film directors.

In addition, informed by her practice as a chiropractor, Cupido believes that women can and should be empowered by their physical bodies.

And thus emerged the vision for She Summits: a community-bonding, female-focused adventure film festival.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvt98P6BZY9/

The event is described as “a community festival that empowers people through female-focused adventure films, sport clinics and special events.” But Cupido is quick to point out that She Summits is not a festival exclusively for women but a festival for all people to gather in celebration of women.

The festival takes place in North Vancouver from Fri. April 5 to Sun. April 7, 2019. There are three exciting speakers lined up. One of the world’s best female surfers, 16-yr-old Mathea Olin, and adventure photographer Bryanna Bradley, will present at the Sunday afternoon film screening. The Sunday evening film screening will feature a presentation by the legendary, pioneer rock climber, Lynn Hill.

In addition to the nine featured films (described here), which are bound to impress and inspire, there are fun, thoughtfully designed events for a wide variety of ages.

Join the Friday evening Arc’teryx discussion panel on gender equality in sports featuring Canadian enduro racer Andréane Lanthier Nadeau (ALN). Join in the NSMBA Girls Dig Day on Sunday morning, run by leading women in the trail-building community.

For full event details and to buy your tickets, visit www.shesummits.org

She Summits Trailer

This article first appeared on Gripped Magazine.