Friday Harbor Film Festival’s FREE Best of the Fest series will show Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest at the San Juan Island Grange on Friday, March 10 at 7 pm. Following the film Producer Sharon Wood will appear by live stream to speak about the film and answer audience questions. For those who can’t attend in person, the film can be viewed free online starting at 7 pm, on the website: fhff.org.
PASANG: In the Shadow of Everest (Director Nancy Anne Svendsen) chronicles Pasang Lhamu Sherpa’s tragic and inspiring journey to become the first Nepali woman to summit Everest in 1993. As an uneducated, indigenous woman and a Buddhist in a Hindu kingdom, Pasang’s dream to scale the legendary mountain pits her against her family, foreign climbers, her own government, and nature itself. Her determined pursuit of Everest plays out within the context of her nation’s quest for democracy and the emergence of the commercial climbing industry. As told by the Nepalis who knew her, by some of the world’s most notable alpinists, and by Pasang herself, this film documents the historic quest that would transfix her country and uplift a new generation’s belief in its possibilities.
Producer Sharon Wood, a longtime documentary filmmaker, will appear via Zoom for an interactive discussion. Her writing credits include the Peabody and Columbia-Dupont award-winning The Celluloid Closet and Paragraph 175, as well as several Oscar nominees. She was a producer/writer for Lucasfilm’s documentary department, making 18 films between 2003-2011. The Art of Nonfiction Movie Making, which Sharon co-authored with Oscar winners Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein, was published by Praeger-ABC Clio in 2012. A recent Fulbright Fellow, she is developing a film about an Ottoman travel writer.
Each month through September Best of the Fest will offer an award-winning documentary along with a live stream Q&A. Programs begin at 7 pm. Some are in collaboration with the San Juan Island Library; others are at the San Juan Island Grange. Since they’re on Fridays, they are a great “date night” activity. Here’s the schedule:
* The Pollinators – April 14 - Library
* Haida Modern – April 28 – Grange + a weekend of special events with Robert Davidson
* The Boys Who Said No! – June 23 - Grange
* Short Film Showcase – July 21 - Library
* Let There Be Drums – August 11 – Grange
* Alan Magee: art is not a solace – September 8 - Library
Mark your calendar and plan to view the exceptional Best of the Fest documentaries.