Explorer's Club Documentary Festival

Last
year…wait, was it last
year
? Yes, I think so…um, last year I went to the Explorer’s Club
Documentary Film
Festival which is held up at the Explorer’s Club HQ on the Upper East Side. I actually interviewed
the President Richard Wiese for a documentary I was working on and found him a really cool guy. And then after that I
headed to the Explorer’s Club dinner which was
one of the neatest things I’ve done. I got to shake hands with James Watson of DNA fame and basically hobnob with stars
in the world of exploration and adventure. What a fascinating night. They eat bugs at these things. Ever had fried
cockroach? Yummy.

Anyway, this is about the film festival, which I am eager to remind you takes place this
weekend. The films I saw last year were generally very good. A few made me drowsy, but the one I saw about the guy who
trekked across Australia was immensely entertaining. I’m sure this year’s crop of films will be wonderful
as well.

A few of the films showing (and you can check out the schedule yourself) are A BOY AMONG POLAR
BEARS, which is about, um, a boy…and polar bears. Kidding. It’s about a young Inuit boy making his first
trips out over the Arctic Sea ice with his father, Andrew. A coming of age tale. Also showing in the evening is SHARK
MOUNTAIN by Michele and Howard Hall, which takes them to an area off the coast of Costa Rica, a place called Cocos
Island, where there is an extraordinary abundance of sharks.

So check it out. This might make a nice
antidote if you’re fed up with Sundance hoopla and/or if you cold not make it to park City this year.