We love ski porn as much as the next person, but these films won the year by transcending adrenaline. Sure, there are some fun ones in here (Cedar Wright is back!). But a lot of them are serious鈥攎ass coral bleaching events, the injustices faced by Native American women鈥攁nd that feels appropriate for a year that had lots of bleak reminder to keep our eyes open.
Best Climbing Film: (Tie) 鈥楤reak on Through鈥櫶齛nd 鈥楽afety Third鈥
听 was the most inspiring film of Reel Rock鈥檚 2017 tour, detailing how Margo Hayes became the first woman to climb a 5.15 route. Her passion and drive come across poignantly, and I had to stifle a cheer while watching her top out on La Rambla, even when seeing the film a second time.
Meanwhile, 听 proves that, even if you're a serious climber, you can have your donuts and eat them too. Brad Gobright is more relatable than your typical pro, eschewing the pursuit of zero percent body fat for having fun while climbing and embracing his lifestyle but still tackling some of the hardest routes. This profile gave me hope that even those of us with dad bod could be good some day, if not quite at Brad's level.
鈥擶ill Egensteiner, senior gear editor
Best Surfing Film: 鈥楪iven鈥
. My wife, the surfer in the family, discovered this overlooked gem while browsing Netflix. Part documentary, part Terrence Malick tone poem, it chronicles a family's 15-country trip around the world in search of perfect waves and a giant, mythical fish. It's entirely narrated by the family's four-year-old son, a conceit that seems doomed on paper but ends up giving the whole film a magical, inspiring quality. And it helps that the imagery throughout is stunning. My whole family loved it. 听
鈥擟hris Keyes, vice president/editor
Best Drama: 鈥榃ind River鈥
The film 听 gave me chills and a new appreciation for both Jeremy Renner and snowmobiles. It also highlighted the troubling obstacles that too many young Native Americans face in this country. 听
鈥擲vati Narula, assistant social media manager
Best Nature Film: 鈥楥hasing Coral鈥
Yes, this film got tons of attention in 2017 and Oscars buzz for March. But it deserves every bit. Director Jeff Orlowski puts to good use his signature depressing time lapses of disappearing nature (glaciers in , coral reefs in ). There鈥檚 also a fantastic cast of coral nerds, feisty scientists, and the in-over-their-heads film crew who artfully make it clear just how cool coral is, and just how distressed we should be at how much of it we鈥檙e losing.
鈥擡rin Berger, associate editor
Best Cycling Film: (Tie) 鈥業carus鈥櫶齛nd 鈥極varian Psycos鈥
No surprise that the this year hit the issue of doping head-on. That is, director Bryan Fogel accidentally stumbles upon the biggest doping revelation of 2016, when whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, former director of Russia鈥檚 national antidoping lab, revealed a state-sponsored doping program that has now gotten the country banned from the 2018 Olympics. It鈥檚 a fittingly weird way into an even more bizarre story. On the amateur cycling side is a film that鈥檚 just as unexpected but equally hard-hitting.
follows a Los Angeles-based cycling brigade of women fighting gender-based violence and discrimination. From the striking听images of women riding with ovary bandanas, to how plainly the women speak about making a space for themselves as 鈥渞unaways and throwaways,鈥 the film is tough and visually memorable, but treats the group with respect and nuance. It鈥檚 like nothing we鈥檝e seen before.
Best Dystopian-Horror Wildcard: 鈥業t Comes at Night鈥
is a masterpiece of cabin-in-the-woods psychological 听horror, somewhere between The Road and The Shining. Much of the film鈥檚 relentless sense of dread comes courtesy of the landscape鈥攈ow the quiet magnifies every sound, the way a flashlight beam doesn鈥檛 let you see the forest for the trees鈥攁nd there鈥檚 plenty here to make you jumpy on your next camping trip. But like any good apocalypse in the wilderness: it wouldn鈥檛 be hell if it weren鈥檛 for other people.
鈥擜leta Burchyski, senior copy editor
Best Based-on-True-Events Film: 鈥極nly the Brave鈥
insight into what our firefighters are going through in California right now.
鈥擬ary Turner, deputy editor
Best Genre-Defying Film: 鈥楾he Last Honey Hunter鈥
听 finds adventure-filmmakers Ben Knight and Renan Ozturk clinging to the side of a cliff in remote Nepal while a 58-year-old man retrieves honey from thousands of stinging bees. That鈥檚 all you need to know to imagine just how striking the story and cinematography are, but it also goes a lot deeper than 鈥淐an you believe all those bees?鈥 Mauli Dahn, the honey hunter in question, is hard to forget.