Documentaries

[Dale]

Running on the Sun: The Badwater 135 -- directed by Mel Stuart, this movie chronicles the 1999 Badwater 135 ultramarathon, probably the most grueling of all races, held in Death Valley every July. It starts 283 feet below sea level and ascends to nearly 9,000 feet, and the temperatures are as high as 125 degrees. Stuart follows several of the competitors, age 29 to 67, including two amputees, showing their pre-race training methods and the trials they face during the race. It's interesting to see that some of the older runners fare better, due to their mental strength. I never get tired of watching this.

Touch the Sound -- this documents Evelyn Glennie, the first and perhaps only full-time solo percussionist in western culture. She's a Grammy award winner in classical music and has also recorded with Bjork, Steve Hackett, and others. The film shows her in a number of settings: solo in Grand Central Station, on the street, in Japan, and extensively with Fred Frith. She is profoundly deaf and "hears" through her feet and the rest of her body. If you're a musician, or even if you're not, you have to see this.