If you don\u2019t see the connection between kayaking and mental health, Friday\u2019s event at the Goldtown Nickelodeon aims to make it more clear.<\/p>\n
It starts at 5 p.m. with \u201cAdventurmentalism,\u201d a 35-minute film that chronicles Luke Holton and Chelsea Karthauser\u2019s journey by kayak from Haines to Wrangell, followed by a presentation and book signing by Susan Conrad, author of \u201cInside: One Woman\u2019s Journey Through the Inside Passage\u201d which charts her trip from Vancouver Island to Juneau.<\/p>\n
Holton and Karthauser embarked on their journey shortly after he returned from serving seven years in the army, and after someone close to her committed suicide, circumstances that promoted them both to move to Juneau.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were both in different places when we got here, (and) used this trip as a good avenue to try to find some closure (and) peace for ourselves,\u201d Holton said. \u201cThe film itself is about kayaking but it\u2019s also about mental health and suicide survival.\u201d<\/p>\n
He calls Conrad\u2019s book \u201ca very similar project where she tried to gain insight into her personal life and sort through different life experiences while in a healthy place to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For himself, Holton said, one of the longest problems he faced on his return from Afghanistan was the \u201cactual, urbanized living that I was stuck in\u201d at his hometown of Reno, Nevada.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was still suffering from a lot of the physical, surface PTSD issues,\u201d he said, which led to an \u201cunderlying urge to get out of the city and move back out to the wildlife and to smaller populations. So that landed me here in Juneau.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds that \u201cputting yourself into nature and ecotherapy is just a good way to tune out a lot of the stresses in everyday life that everyone has that might just be a little too much for someone who has suffered from trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was after finishing the trip that Holton and Karthauser decided to make the movie, which involved getting a better camera and editing software, and shooting additional landscape filmography \u2014 especially time-lapse filmography.<\/p>\n
Holton said he found this process even more therapeutic than the actual trip. In \u201ctime-lapse photography,\u201d he said, \u201ceach six second clip takes hours and hours to capture. So that gives you a good excuse to go hike up a mountain and set up your camera and not move for six or seven hours at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither had any experience with filmmaking or editing before they decided to make this movie. The new camera and software was crowdsourced through GoFundMe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hours and hours of YouTube tutorials,\u201d said Holton. \u201cWhen you love something \u2014 and I do, I love photography, I love film and I love nature. So when you love all three of those things it makes it enjoyable and it\u2019s a labor of love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite it being their first film, it was accepted at seven film festivals. Holton was unable to attend the premiere at the Arlington National Film Festival in Arlington, Virginia, so the film was represented by a team member from Afghanistan, where Holton served with the 10th Mountain Division.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Holton was able to see his film before an audience for the first time at the G2 Green Earth Film Festival in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was probably one of the top ten moments of my life,\u201d Holton said, \u201cjust in terms of being able to be humbled by everyone\u2019s reception on it. It was absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can expect more films from HoltHaus Productions. Holton is already shooting a documentary about the culling of predatory animals that he plans to debut in fall of 2017.<\/p>\n
Adventurmentalism\u2019s run will likely be complete after the film festivals, but Holton is working on disseminating it in various ways, including his website, http:\/\/holthauspros.wixsite.com\/adventurmentalism\/adventurmentalism.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Capital City Weekly design wizard and staff writer Randi Spray at randi.spray@capweek.com. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"