Champions of the Golden Valley film to play in Friday Harbor, Lopez, Shaw Islands

||| FROM ELLEN ROBERTS & KAREN PALMER for FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL |||

Friday Harbor Film Festival welcomes Shaw Islanders to the Best of the Fest program! This Explorers & Adventures film  screens free of charge on Friday, August 21 at 7 PM, simultaneously at the San Juan Island Library in Friday Harbor, the Lopez Island Library, and the Shaw Island Community Center.

A prerecorded Q&A with Director Ben ‘Sturge’ Sturgulewski will follow the documentary. This is a free event. No RSVP or ticket is required. Come out and bring your friends for a fascinating evening!

Champions of the Golden Valley
This award-winning documentary captures the emergence of a homegrown ski culture in Afghanistan’s remote, snow-capped mountains. At its center is Alishah Farhang, a former Winter Olympic hopeful whose dream of being Afghanistan’s first Olympic alpine skier transforms into a mission to bring skiing to his homeland. Using handmade wooden skis and secondhand gear, young athletes from rival villages unite for a ski mountaineering race unlike any other — a powerful catalyst for hope and unity.

When their world is suddenly upended, Alishah and the athletes must draw on the lessons learned on the slopes to find their way forward. Riveting and deeply human, this underdog sports story offers a visually stunning, rarely seen perspective on Afghanistan, showing how competition can strengthen communities and unite cultures. Revealing a stunning unseen side of Afghanistan, the film is a captivating and uplifting story about how champions can be made by more than Olympic medals.

Since its Tribeca premiere, the film has won over twenty Jury Prizes and Audience Awards on the North American festival circuit.

Ben “Sturge” Sturgulewski, Director
Ben “Sturge” Sturgulewski grew up on a remote island in Alaska’s Aleutian Chain, inspiring a lifelong passion for exploring the world’s wild places and the people who call them home. He has built a portfolio of award-winning short films screened at festivals worldwide, earning numerous honors for cinematography, editing, and storytelling, along with Grand Prizes and Audience Awards. Ben has directed, filmed, and edited content for brands including Patagonia, Arc’teryx,, YETI, Rivian, NFL Films, and Red Bull, and produced multiple Vimeo Staff Picks; his ski film Valhalla was named “The Greatest Ski Film of All Time” by Outside Magazine. Champions of the Golden Valley is his first feature documentary.

The Best of the Fest Series
Each month through September Best of the Fest presents award-winning documentaries along with Q&As with the films’ directors and subjects. Programs begin at 7 pm. All programs will be at the San Juan Island Library, Lopez Island Library and Shaw Island Community Center. Check the full schedule at fhff.org. Since the films are shown on Friday nights, they are great “date night” opportunities. See you at the movies!

Champions of the Golden Valley is presented with support from the 2026 Best of the Fest In-kind Sponsor: The Journal of the San Juan Islands and 2026 Best of the Fest Series Presenting Media Sponsor: CascadePBS.