No Man's Land film fest returning to Panida

SANDPOINT — After a successful Sandpoint debut in 2023, local organizers are bringing back No Man’s Land: an adventure film festival spotlighting women and the LGBTQ+ community in the outdoors. 

The event will take place 6-9:30 p.m. March 15 at the Panida Theater. The showing, hosts said, will share the stories of individuals who are not always represented in traditional adventure films. 

“None of these stories are new to us. We’re already living it,” organizer Lauren Sanders said. “But they're new to being shown on film and being featured.”

The festival first came to Sandpoint in March 2023. Thanks to local sponsors who covered operating costs, nonprofits Kaniksu Land Trust and Pend Oreille Pedalers received a combined $7,000 in donated revenue from ticket sales and a gear raffle. 

This year, Matchwood Brewery and Claire Anderson are supporting the showing, and Sandpoint Alliance for Equality and the Ethan Murray Fund will receive the event’s proceeds. 

SAFE aims to increase equality and cultivate inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community throughout Idaho. The Ethan Murray fund provides financial assistance for locals in need of mental health services. 

Both “embody what No Man's Land is all about,” Sanders said. “There is such a need for awareness and safety for our LGBT community, and there's also such a need for bridging the gap for people getting mental health services, especially in North Idaho.” 

The 2023 showing also included a panel of area experts who discussed Sandpoint’s changing parks, roads and other landscapes. This year’s panel will include KLT executive director Katie Cox, Sandpoint Area Seniors director Lisa Bond and Roamfest director of operations Sam Ryan, who will share their experiences as outdoors enthusiasts and local leaders. 

“This year, we want to bring the conversation back to the amazing women in our community who are bridging that gap of inclusion in their spaces,” Sanders explained. 

“We’re all mothers and we're all in various stages of our lives and degrees of adventures,” Ryan said. “I hope that something that somebody says on that panel resonates with somebody in the audience.” 

Both Ryan and Sanders said their relationships with the outdoors have evolved since they became mothers; while their adventures are sometimes scaled down, they remain as meaningful as ever. 

“It’s really shifted my relationship with the outdoors — it's not as easy for me to get out there,” Sanders said. “We might just be out there for five minutes because we're going to have a meltdown.” 

“We do two-mile (bike) rides around Pine Street Woods, and we're so elated to be outside together,” Ryan said of outings with her child. “It is nothing like the 20 miles I would do on my own, but it is still so much better than staying inside.” 

Ryan encouraged all locals with a passion for adventure to come to the showing, regardless of their sex, race or orientation. 

“Even if your stories are represented in the traditional film festivals, please still come,” she said. “When we are an empowered community, when we are all lifted up, that is the work of everybody, and everybody benefits.” 

By showcasing adventurers who haven’t traditionally been spotlighted, Ryan said she hopes the event will inspire community members to embark on their own adventures — no matter how big or small they are. 

“If you don’t see yourself represented on screen, it's really hard to imagine it,” she said. 

“That's the beauty of storytelling — if we get as many voices, as many people sharing their stories as often as possible, it's going to strike up a light in somebody else,” Ryan added. “Those are the spot fires that we want.”