Mountainfilm’s Reach Beyond Film

When I decided to make a documentary about the Family Preservation Project, a program that offers support to incarcerated mothers, I knew that many people — and, therefore, many film festivals — would find the subject matter too depressing or not commercial or whatever shorthand would communicate the sentiment that "we don't want to deal with those people." If accepting my documentary had been the only thing Mountainfilm had done, I would have been eternally grateful.

But Mountainfilm did more than just accept my film. The festival also brought Koty Jason, one of the women featured in Mothering Inside, and her 17-year-old daughter Kiah to Telluride, Colorado, for post-screening Q&As so that the two of them could share with audiences the profound impact that Family Preservation Project's parenting classes, expanded prison visits and daily phone calls had on them during Koty's time at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon.

The standing ovation that Kiah received at the Nugget Theater when I told the audience that she had earned straight A's is a glowing moment that she will take with her as she starts her senior year of high school this month.

But Mountainfilm didn't stop there. On August 28, I had the honor of giving 40 JanSport Mountainfilm backpacks to the children of the Preservation Project moms. These beautiful and rugged backpacks will carry more than the books and school supplies these students need. These packs also carry evidence that the Mountainfilm community believes in them and supports them.

—Brian Lindstrom, director of Mothering Inside