Mountainfilm On Tour 

Annual Event

Founded in 1979, Mountainfilm is one of America’s longest-running film festivals. The annual festival is held every Memorial Day weekend in Telluride, CO. Mountainfilm is a dynamic nonprofit organization and festival that celebrates stories of indomitable spirit and aims to inspire audiences through film, art, and ideas.

Mountainfilm on Tour in Malvern, PA features a collection of culturally rich, adventure-packed and engaging documentary short films that align with Mountainfilm’s mission to use the power of film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world. 

View the Mountainfilm on Tour photo album.

"Uncovering the Secrets of the Underground Railroad at Valley Forge" with Dionne Patterson

May 7, 2025

Dionne Patterson, the visionary behind UGR3DAY Underground Railroad Experiences Inc., is dedicated to illuminating the antebellum era by exploring the lives of both free and enslaved African Americans, as well as the multifaceted history of the Underground Railroad. A proud graduate of Delaware State University, Patterson is a certified cultural interpretive guide, genealogist, herbalist, forest bathing guide, researcher, and historian. Her mission is to provide a holistic education that brings to light the untold stories of landscapes, structures, and the people who exemplified faith, resilience, and community within the Underground Railroad. 

Through her work, Patterson has forged partnerships with state organizations, parks, genealogical societies, school districts, and museums across the Mid-Atlantic Region. She offers immersive experiences through hands-on workshops, curriculum development, walking tours, seminars, and physical events, all focused on African American narratives. As an education consultant, she is recognized as a subject-matter expert (SME) in trauma, cultural competency, diversity, equity, inclusion, and child development. Patterson has also developed programs for institutions of higher learning, the state of Delaware, and both national and state parks. This program was presented in partnership with the Valley Forge Park Alliance.

View the Underground Railroad at Valley Forge event photo album.

"Backyard Wilderness": A Film Screening and Panel Discussion

April 3, 2025

"Backyard Wilderness" surprises and entertains with the unexpected wonders of nature that are right under our noses - in our own backyards. Spanning a seasonal year around a suburban home, the film displays a stunning array of unique wildlife images and behavior and reminds us that Wi-Fi is not the only connection that matters. Sometimes in ordinary places, you can uncover extraordinary things that can transform you forever - you just need to step outside. 

A panel discussion followed the film, focusing on the importance of native plants in maintaining watershed health, building climate resilience, and creating habitat for birds and other wildlife. Panelists included the following experts:

View the "Backyard Wilderness" film and discussion photo album.

"Branching Out: A Conversation about the Power of Trees, Forest Ecology, and our Community Health for the Commonwealth" with Dr. Nalini Nadkarni

March 8, 2025

For her entire professional life, renowned ecologist Dr. Nalini Nadkarni has pioneered climbing techniques to study “what grows back” after ecological disturbances occur in the rainforest canopy. Dr. Nadkarni – also known as “Queen of the Forest Canopy” – was appointed National Geographic Explorer at Large in 2023.

Dr. Nadkarni was joined in conversation by Dr. Casey Sclar, Director of the Commonwealth Arboreta Network and HO Smith Endowed Director for the Arboretum at Penn State, and Thomas A. Smarr, Jr., Executive Director of Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens. This set the stage for a dynamic conversation that followed, when Dr. Sclar invited attendees and the panel to envision the future of Penn State’s Commonwealth Arboreta Network and its critical role for Pennsylvania's public gardens, our horticulture industry, and State/Federal partners in expanding our tree canopies for resilience in Penn's Woods. 

View the Branching Out event photo album. 

"Improvising a Life: How 'Yes, And' Shaped My Artistic Journey and Defined My Career" with Michele Dunleavy

March 5, 2025

This program was about how saying “yes, and” shaped Michele Dunleavy’s artistic journey and defined her career. For the last 20 years, improvisation has played a central role in her creative processes. Dunleavy drew on her experiences as an educator, choreographer and performer to illustrate how she uses improvisation in her work.

Michele Dunleavy, Professor of Dance, Penn State Laureate 2024-2025, is an award-winning educator, choreographer, and performer. Dunleavy is a faculty member in the musical theatre program where she teaches tap and jazz dance techniques and contributes original choreography. Professionally, Dunleavy has choreographed and performed extensively throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

"Fighting for Freedom: The Oneida and Indigenous Connection to Valley Forge" with Heather Bruegl

November 12, 2024

What is the Indigenous tribe's connection to the Continental Army's encampment at Valley Forge? An Oneida historian explained.

Heather Bruegl is an Oneida Nation of Wisconsin citizen and first-line descendent Stockbridge Munsee. She is a graduate of Madonna University in Michigan and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in U.S. history. Her research comprises numerous topics related to American history, legacies of colonization and Indigeneity, the history of American boarding schools, and missing and murdered Indigenous women. 

Bruegl has presented her work at academic institutions, including the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bard College, Vassar College, and Brooklyn Law School. This program was offered in partnership with the Valley Forge Park Alliance.

View the Oneida and Indigenous Connection to Valley Forge event photo album. 

"Dining Out in the Gilded Age: Eating Clubs to Debutante Balls" with Becky Diamond

November 7, 2024

When America entered a period of magnificent wealth following the Civil War, stylish and sophisticated restaurants began popping up in major cities to cater to this new money. Exclusive eating clubs became popular places to socialize and negotiate business deals, and banquet dinners and balls were de rigueur ways to flaunt prosperity and status. The Gilded Age forever changed what it meant to dine out in America. 

Author and food historian Becky Libourel Diamond uncovered how the American Gilded Age gave rise to a new elevated dining scene throughout the country, from private social clubs and restaurants that became the nexus for business deals to banquet dinners that could make or break a family's societal status. 

Bollywood Bonanza: A Night of Glitz, Grooves, and Gulab Jamun!

October 24, 2024

An electrifying evening in the vibrant world of Bollywood!

"Golmaal 3" is a 2010 Bollywood comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty. A sequel to the 2008 film "Golmaal Returns," the project stars Bollywood sensations Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Mithun Chakraborty and Kunal Khemu. In the film, Pritam meets his love Geeta after many years. They decide to get married but the feud between their respective children creates tension in their marriage. The storyline is partially inspired by Basu Chatterjee's 1978 film "Khatta Meetha" which itself was based on the 1968 film "Yours, Mine and Ours."

Attendees were invited to dress festively and enjoy tantalizing Indian treats.

"Big Sonia": Film Screening and Q&A with Filmmaker Todd Soliday

September 24, 2024

"National treasure,” local celebrity, Holocaust survivor – Sonia Warshawski is 90 and spends her days at her iconic tailor shop or speaking at schools and prisons, where her stories of surviving the Holocaust as a teenager have inspired generations. 

When Sonia is served an eviction notice for her shop, the lone holdout in a dying suburban mall, she's confronted with an agonizing decision: open up a new shop or retire. For a woman who admits she stays busy “to keep the dark parts away,” facing retirement dredges up fears she’d long forgot she had, and her horrific past resurfaces. "Big Sonia" explores what it means to be a survivor and how this affects families and generations. Will you let your trauma define you, or will your past make you stronger? 

Following the film, we were joined virtually by director Todd Soliday for Q&A.

"Nature’s Best Hope" with Doug Tallamy

May 7, 2024

Recent headlines about global insect declines, the impending extinction of one million species worldwide, and three billion fewer birds in North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals that sustain us. Such losses are not an option if we wish to continue our current standard of living on Planet Earth. 

The good news is that none of this is inevitable. Tallamy discussed simple steps that each of us can, and must, take to reverse declining biodiversity and explained why we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope. 

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, where he has taught insect taxonomy, behavioral ecology, and other related subjects. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. 

"Stonewall: The Riot That Built a Community" with Mark Segal

April 18, 2024

Mark Segal was 18 years old on the night of June 28, 1969, when he entered the Stonewall Inn. Raised by the only Jewish family in South Philadelphia’s Wilson Park housing project, Segal was no stranger to being an outsider. He told his parents he was leaving Philly to go to school in New York. In truth, he’d left to find a gay community. Watching an episode of The David Susskind Show years earlier, he’d learned that gay people existed in New York and knew that was where he belonged.

Segal went on to organize some of the earliest American LGBTQ+ organizations; help plan the first pride march in 1970; found the longest running LGBTQ+ weekly newspaper, the Philadelphia Gay News, and become one of the most important figures in the alternative gay press. But on that night at Stonewall, he was still a teenager just exulting in the chance to drink and socialize with other LGBTQ+ people at a time when homosexuality was still treated as a psychological affliction by the medical establishment, immoral by most religions and criminal under law.

Caps for a Cause: Transforming Waste into Art

April 16, 2024

Community members from Camphill Village Kimberton Hills and Penn State Great Valley collaborated to transform a blank canvas into a stunning work of art, one cap at a time.

Crafted from over 3,000 recycled plastic caps, this mural embodies the spirit of sustainability, collective action, and the power of art to inspire positive change. This project serves as a reminder that small actions ripple outward, creating waves of awareness and change. Read more about the Caps for a Cause project here. 

View the Caps for a Cause event photo album.

"Drawing with Light: Creating Community with Movement, Light, and Time" with Lori Hepner

February 8, 2024

Lori Hepner, Penn State Laureate for the 2023-24 academic year and professor of integrative arts at Penn State Greater Allegheny, visited Penn State Great Valley for a collaborative, creative experience. In this workshop, participants used programmable LED light devices, including wearable LEDs and a 6-foot-tall light stick to visualize movements in real-time projections. 

View the Drawing with Light event photo album. 

"Halston": Film Screening & Panel Discussion

January 23, 2024

Arguably the first American celebrity fashion designer, Roy Halston Frowick​, known by the single moniker Halston, came from a childhood in Iowa to create the sexy-flowing look that defined the 1970’s. Directed by Frédéric Tcheng ("Dior and I"; "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel") and produced by Roland Ballester ("MerPeople"), Halston weaves a partially scripted format with rare archival footage and intimate interviews – including ​Liza Minnelli​, ​Andy Warhol​, his niece​ Lesley Frowick, and filmmaker ​Joel Schumacher – to create a textured, behind-the-scenes look at the famed designer’s life and the friction between his artistic talents and business pressures. 

Following the film screening, Penn State Great Valley hosted a conversation with Ballester, Halston’s niece, Lesley Frowick, and Halston's favorite models, Alva Chinn and Karen Bjornson.

View the "Halston" event photo album.

"LONG LONG TIME": The Sigma Reunion Film Premiere and Panel Discussion with the Band 

September 21, 2023

In early 1972, only a few months into Billy Joel’s debut tour of the U.S., Philadelphia radio station WMMR invited Billy and his 3-piece band to their Sigma Sound Studios to perform a set, live on air, as part of a series of radio shows featuring unknown artists. 

This electrifying live concert movie captures the reunion, 41 years later, of bassist Larry Russell (from that original 1971-72 touring band), drummer Rhys Clark, (also in that original 1971-72 touring band and who also played on Billy Joel's debut album, "Cold Spring Harbor"), and guitarist Don Evans, who also played on that first Billy Joel solo album. Recorded live at the iconic Greenwich Village music club, The Bitter End, on Sunday, September 22, 2013, and recreating Billy Joel's breakthrough Sigma concert from April 1972, Elio Pace from the UK and David Clark from the USA "fill Billy Joel's shoes" with six sensational performances each, whilst 15-year-old Kenny Ingram from Canada proves the incredible reach of Billy Joel's music with two magnificent performances.

View photos from the Sigma Reunion event.

"Adventures in Food and Design" with Ben Walmer

November 16, 2023

Originally from Gettysburg, PA, architect and chef Ben Walmer comes from a family of five generations of fruit growers. It is from this agrarian background that he traces his connections to food and design and the motivation to launch Highlands Dinner Club (HDC) in New York City in 2009. 

Walmer currently lives in central New Jersey and is founding architect and creative director of the NJ/NYC-based interdisciplinary design practice, Broadloom, whose diverse capabilities include design strategy, hospitality design, regenerative food systems design and agricultural master planning. HDC is a mobile social and culinary laboratory produced by Broadloom and collaboratively executed by a rotating cast of chefs, farmers, designers, and artists. Wielding spontaneous spirit and exceptional local ingredients, HDC has created farm-to-table experiences across three continents and seen time and again the connections and joy that come when people gather at the table to share a meal. Food makes friends.

View the food and design event photo album.

From Broadway to Bayard to Bonez: The Work of Steve H. Broadnax III

October 5, 2023

Steve H. Broadnax III is accomplished on stages across the United States from Chicago to State College to Malvern to Broadway. You may know him from his resident director role at People’s Light – "Bayard Rustin," "Inside Ashland" or "Bonez," as the director of Broadway’s "Thoughts of a Colored Man" or in his role as professor and co-head of the MFA Directing program at Penn State. During this event, he highlighted selections from his illustrious career. 

MOJATUBA: Tuba and Dance Fusion in Concert

March 16, 2023

MOJATUBA: Tuba and Dance Fusion showcases a unique ensemble, which features the artistic and interdisciplinary collaboration between solo tuba, dancers, piano, voice, and percussion. The term MOJATUBA, a mixture between the acronym MOJA—which stands for Modern Dance, Original Works, Jazz Styles, and African Influence—and its distinctive association with the tuba, represents a sample of the stylistic creativity that this ensemble can execute. The diverse ethnic theme of the program, especially its African-influenced music and dance, contributes to the creation of a soulful energy that connects performers and audience, rendering each performance a profound spiritual experience. This event featured the following performers: 

  • Velvet Brown is the 2022-23 Penn State Laureate and the David P. Stone Endowed Professor for the School of Music at Penn State and the Associate Director of the School of Music for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Brown is also Artist Faculty at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Velvet Brown enjoys a career as a professor, international tuba soloist, composer/arranger, chamber ensemble performer, recording artist, conductor, and orchestral player.
  • Aquila Kikora Franklin is the Associate Director for the Penn State School of Music for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Professor of Theatre/Dance and teaches West African, Hip Hop, and Mojah dance.
  • Ron Stabinsky received his first musical lessons at the age of five from Michael Hoysock, his grandfather. Since 2000, Ron has been studying the Taubman Approach to piano playing with additional study of classical. In addition to continuing to pursue an ongoing interest in solo piano improvisation, he enjoys working on music in a stylistically diverse array of situations throughout the United States and Europe with many other musicians and ensembles. 

"Stories Bones Tell: Philly’s First Baptist Church Burial Ground" with Kimberlee Moran

January 24, 2023

What stories can bones tell? Archeologist Kimberlee Moran, director of forensic science and associate teaching professor at Rutgers–Camden, and her colleagues with the Arch Street Project are using clues from the past to learn how some of the earliest Philadelphians lived—and died. 

In 2016, while setting the foundation for a new condominium at 218 Arch Street in Philadelphia, construction workers unearthed something shocking: a box full of bones. They had unknowingly stumbled upon remnants of the First Baptist Church cemetery, which had occupied the Arch Street site in the 18th century. 

The findings sparked publicity and confusion over who the remains belonged to and what should happen to them, given that the site is private property. Moran and her team have since worked with the development company and the First Baptist Church to document the stories of the people who were buried there and to learn more about 18th century Philadelphia.

Deplorable: The Worst Presidential Campaigns from Jefferson to Trump

November 3, 2022

The word "unprecedented" was often applied to Donald Trump. But was he really that unusual? Deplorable: The Worst Presidential Campaigns from Jefferson to Trump begins with that question and examines nine presidential elections between 1800 and 2020 to discover just what makes elections deplorable and how often and why such elections recur in American politics. 

Author and Penn State professor Mary E. Stuckey argues that elections are deplorable when they serve anti-democratic ends and that this happens most often when people are losing trust in the national government, when the economy is weak, when new kinds of citizens are brought into the political community, and when politicians highlight appeals to racism and other kinds of exclusion. We don't have to tolerate such language or such elections, and this talk touched on things citizens can do about them. 

What Makes a Great Garden? Be Inspired for Your Own Garden

October 17, 2022

What makes a great garden? Award-winning garden designer Annie Guilfoyle shows examples of what makes a garden great, including ideas to make your garden seem larger and add some mystery and fun into the design, along with practical tips for storage and small spaces. 

Michael Mann: The New Climate War

May 4, 2022

Michael Mann has been at the center of this epic struggle for years, as a pioneering climate scientist, as a champion of science and facts over denial and conspiracy theories, and as the target of personal attacks. 

In his latest book, "The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet," Mann shows how fossil fuel companies have waged a thirty-year campaign to deflect blame and responsibility and delay action on climate change and offers a battle plan for how we can save the planet. 

Mann is Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. He has received many honors and awards, including NOAA's outstanding publication award in 2002 and selection by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002. Additionally, he contributed, with other IPCC authors, to the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He is the author of numerous books and lives in State College, Pennsylvania.

"No Ruined Stone": Shara McCallum, 2021-22 Penn State Laureate

March 29, 2022

Originally from Jamaica, Shara McCallum is a poet who has authored six books and has had poems and essays published in journals, anthologies, and textbooks throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and Israel. Her latest book, "No Ruined Stone," which was just released the month this event, is a “novel in verse” based on a thread from the life of Scottish poet Robert Burns, who was considering migrating to Jamaica to work on a slave plantation around the same time his first book was being published in 1786.

Dining at the White House: A Conversation with Chef John Moeller

February 9, 2022

Chef John Moeller's cookbook begins with a question: “How does a kid from the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country end up cooking for international heads-of-state at the White House?" Chef Moeller took guests on his thirteen-year journey serving three First Families. He shared behind-the-scenes tales of cooking for dignitaries and presidential children alike.

"Angel at Philadelphia: William Still and the Underground Railroad"

November 17, 2021

Author/historian William Kashatus discussed his new book, the first full-length biography of William Still, one of the most important leaders of the Underground Railroad.

"William Still: The Underground Railroad and the Angel at Philadelphia" is the first major biography of the free black abolitionist William Still, who coordinated the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad and was a pillar of the entire Railroad itself. Based in Philadelphia, Still built a reputation as a courageous leader, writer, philanthropist, and guide for fugitive slaves. 

This presentation covered the operation of the Underground Railroad and William Still's role as the primary agent of that secret route to freedom. Special emphasis was given to Still's landmark history of the Underground Railroad, published in 1872, a multivariate analysis of the 995 fugitives he assisted to freedom and how those findings challenge the historiography of the Underground Railroad in significant ways.

Reading Hemingway’s Mail

November 4, 2021

Sandra Spanier, general editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, will talk about the project to locate, research, and publish the complete collected letters of Ernest Hemingway. Unguarded and never intended for publication, Hemingway's letters track his life story in real time and reveal a far more interesting and complex person than his "tough guy" public persona suggests. 

Professor Spanier talked about the project to publish a complete collection of Hemingway’s some 6,000 letters and related some of the adventures involved in pursuing Hemingway's trail, which led from Oak Park, Illinois to Paris to Key West and to Cuba.