John Taske survived a disastrous 1996 Mount Everest expedition that claimed nine lives and was documented in the best-selling book “Into Thin Air.” Having turned back 200 meters before reaching the Everest summit, John feels unfinished business. High Ambitions follows John returning to the unforgiving Himalayan environment with new teammates. Their expedition attempts another mountain in the Everest region named Cho Oyu.  It’s one of fourteen prized mountains known as the 8000-meter peaks (with summits above 26,000 feet), all located in the Himalayas. Each climber candidly shares his unfolding experience resulting from oxygen deprivation, extreme cold, and brushes with other teams' tragedies.   The climbers, sometimes impassioned and sometimes humbled, discover new personal insights as they quest for one of the world’s highest summits.

Confessions of a Burning Man  (feature-length documentary; Curt Dowdy:Associate Producer + Additional Cinematography)
AVAILABLE ON DVD
To see a trailer and for more information, link to marketplace.burningman.com and Windline Films

Follow four first-timers to the legendary Burning Man event.  Join 29,000 people for a week in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.  They've come to experience an annual event which raises a tent city in the midst of a normally uninhabitable environment.  Amazing works of art find their way here, a place where all are encouraged to participate in self expression and even catharsis.  Commercialism and corporate logos are banned.  Gifts are the basis of exchange.  Celebrate Burning Man’s art, music and remarkable sense of community.  It's all lyrically interwoven with the profound philosophies of Burning Man founder Larry Harvey.  Here is the ultimate introduction for those who have never attended, and a compelling ride for past participants.

Real Time  (long form documentary; Curt Dowdy:Associate Producer)
AVAILABLE ON DVD
To see clips and for more information, link to www.realtimethemovie.com and National Film Network

Is there rehabilitation for teenagers convicted of violent crimes?  A group of California's youngest felons gets a chance to explore a constructive means of expression.  A college professor and his student assistants have come to teach a course in filmmaking.  The professor and his assistants document the hard reality of growing up in prison, and the imprisoned wards themselves write and direct two short films, offering perspectives from their own views of life.

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