The Lone Peak Film Festival, held in Big Sky, Montana, recently concluded its initial showcase of films on Montana culture, native Americans and conservation.
What makes this occurrence noteworthy to township residents is that the individual who originated it was Bloomfield High School graduate and former WBMA-TV employee Daniel Glick.
Glick moved to Montana 10 years ago to film “A Place to Stand,” his documentary on Jimmy Santiago Baca, an illiterate man imprisoned on drug charges who taught himself to read and became an acclaimed poet.
In a recent interview with this newspaper, Glick, who settled in Bozeman, said he began to look for story ideas for more projects once he was out west. He worked independently and for clients.
“I’ve done a lot of conservation work these last few years,” he said. “That’s what Montana is. Those are the stories we have here. But I’ve also done work for finance companies and a jeweler. So, there’s a mix.”
He also got married, to Lucia Ortega Toledo. They have a four-year-old son, Rio. About 10 years ago, as part of his first film, he established the company, Catamount Film.
“There are no full-time employees,” Glick said. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to manage people.”
His upcoming film, being made with his wife, is “The Chalice and the Blade,” by Riane Eisler. Glick said the subject is how humans can build cultures that are centered on caring and respect.
“This is not a pipe dream,” he said. “It’s a legitimate possibility for us and not so domination oriented.”
The film was shot remotely by others from around the world with Glick shooting in California and Mexico.
“We have a lot more editing to do,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll be done by the end of this year or next year.”
Glick, who has been making movies for 20 years, said he wanted to have the Lone Peak Film Festival someplace local. Big Sky is about 45 minutes south of Bozeman. The festival was Sept. 19-21.
“It was well-attended,” he said. “We had almost a full theater for all the showings. For the first year, it was great. We wanted all the films to be uplifting.
Some were pretty dramatic. There were six features averaging 90 minutes and short films, 10 to 12 minutes.”
One of the films was the 2023 Oscar-nominated, “Sing Sing.” The film, based on real life, is about a group of prisoners producing theatrical presentations through Rehabilitation Through the Arts at the maximum security prison.
“Runasimi” was another film exhibited. Glick said it was about the attempt to translate “The Lion King” into the Peruvian language, Quechua.
One of the films shown was co-directed by Glick. This was “Bringing Them Home,” showing the resettlement effort of buffalo, in the Black Feet Indian Reservation, located in northern Montana.
There were 22 films in all entered into the festival, but no awards were given.
“I’ve been to a lot of film festivals,” Glick said, “and I like the idea of one without embedded competition.”
“Bringing Them Home” will be shown nationally on PBS on Nov. 24. Glick said he believes there is a plan to show it in New York City this December.
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