Hosted by Paoli Pro Shop, this screening will act as a preseason warm-up for the upcoming winter sports season. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and children.
“A ski or snowboard film gets people excited for the upcoming season,” said Roger Sabotka, manager of Paoli Pro Shop.
Paoli Pro Shop, which is located in the lodge of the Paoli Peaks Resort lodge, is about an hour away from Bloomington.
Sabotka said he wanted to bring the event to Bloomington because Bloomington has a large skiing community and Paoli Peaks is the closest ski resort to the city.
“Pretty Faces” is a documentary-style film that puts the spotlight on women who “thrive in the snow,” according to its website. Sabotka said the women featured are among the top 1 percent of skiers. These women are the best of the best.
The concept for the film came from professional “big mountain” skier and SheJumps co-founder, Lynsey Dyer, according to the film’s website. The objective was to give women and girls, regardless of age, a “source of inspiration through a unique look at what is possible when boundaries are broken, dreams captured and friendships cultivated.”
Dyer is quoted on the website saying, “I wanted to give young girls something positive to look up to ... I wanted to give them their Blizzard of Ahhs, Ski Movie or High Life but done in a way that also shows the elegance, grace, community and style that is unique to women in the mountains.”
This is the fourth year that Paoli Pro Shop has hosted the film screening. The reasoning behind the choice of film was the fact that the film concentrates on female athletes.
“We’re excited about that,” he said. “It’s not too often that you see all females.”
That all-female cast is a change, he said, as most of the films feature only men as the athletes. This type of casting in winter sport media does not accurately reflect the community of athletes. It isn’t only men that ski and snowboard, Sabotka said.
Sabotka noted that many women on staff at his store are active skiers and snowboarders. However, it doesn’t change the fact that out of the people he sees during the winter sport season, the ratio between men and women remains uneven.
Generally, he said the ratio is 70 percent male to 30 percent female. Sabotka said he hopes this screening will help to inspire women to change those numbers.
“We like to promote female participation,” he said.
