Soul Deep

2022 • USA • 15 min • Palmer Morse

Michigan Premiere, Filmmaker in Attendance

Effective communication is a challenge every climber faces. It’s a sport that requires intense focus, dedication, and overcoming fear. For Deaf climber Sonya Wilson, communication and community is of vital importance. Elevated is a non-verbal film sharing Sonya’s experience as a Deaf woman and outdoor advocate working to bridge the gap between the Deaf community and the outdoor industry, one crag at a time.

2024 • United States • 11 min • Brody Kuhar

Michigan Premiere

In 2021, a tragic car accident left Veranique (or V, as she’s known at Rox) paralyzed from the waist down. After a long stint in the hospital and multiple surgeries, doctors told Varanique she would never walk again. While this news would reshape her life, it wouldn’t alter her vibrant spirit. Veranique knew the key to living a full life rested in her mindset. In 2022, V set out to find a job, landing at Memphis Rox, a climbing gym in South Memphis. Witnessing climbing for the first time, she thought the gym would keep her behind the front desk — that she couldn’t participate in the sport. Until she did. Surrounded by community, Veranique is now a regular climber with a philosophy on and off the wall that the sky’s the limit.

2021 • USA • 6 min • Cameron Maier

Subject in Attendance

Showcasing and amplifying the climbing culture from each of these places, from the city to the crag.