On the heels of our investigative stories about the Tahoe Forest Hospital district and the ongoing community shake-up, Moonshine Ink recently co-released a film that has been provoking a different sort of response.
Elevate Tahoe: Food Innovations at 6,000 Feet is a short documentary film about Tahoe/Truckee individuals and organizations who are answering the food-related challenges we have here in the mountains. The innovations are varied, inspiring, and bear witness to the local food revolution. It’s elevating to the spirit. And that’s why we’ve made this film.
It’s the first project by Elevate Tahoe, a loose collaboration between Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, SBS Media House, and Moonshine Ink. Our intent — through journalistic movies, we highlight innovative solutions to life at altitude. We started with food, but we’re considering other areas to study as well: meat production, transportation, affordable housing and living, and water conservation. We welcome your ideas.
The film has been screened within the community several times already. Active discussions and a palpable sense of excitement from audiences lead our team to believe this is a formula that could work. More screenings are on the horizon, and you can stay up to date via the Elevate Tahoe Facebook page.
As I walked into one of the screenings, something struck me about the contrast between the Elevate Tahoe film and the hospital reporting. One has created contentious controversy while the other seems to have led people toward solidarity. Inadvertently, over the summer Moonshine Ink has lived up to one of the key missions we’ve had from day one: highlight the issues and assets of our community.
In my mind, journalism doesn’t just cover the problems of the world, it keeps its “eyes wide open” to all facets of the community it covers. Whether we get criticized or receive a round of applause, we are still doing our job — bringing issues to light and informing our readers. Our job is to generate discussion. Or as Oscar Wilde famously said: “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
Keep talking, Tahoe. Keep public discourse, and journalism, alive.
~ Email me at mayumi@moonshineink.com
