Out of the chute

Two years plus $30,000 equals one 45-minute ski film. “I had to be pretty slim on my 16-millimeter film,� says Dana Lee Mackie of Carnelian Bay, Calif. “It costs about $100 a minute.� Mackie covered a lot of white turf -- a blizzard in Alta, Utah, and heli-ski shots in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains -- in her out-of-pocket film “Jusimi� (translation: Did ya see me?). The film is one of the offerings at the fifth annual Squaw Valley Winter Film Festival expected to draw more than 500 snow-crazed viewers Friday and Saturday to the Lake Tahoe ski resort. Low-budget “Jusimi� captures daring jumps through rock-strewn chutes, below, and skiers doing flips. (A wake- skater on Lake Tahoe offers a little relief from all the snow.) More big air and big snow -- this time in the form of backcountry snowboarding with shots from around the world -- star in “Lost in Transition� by Standard Films. The fest is more sports hype than competition, says Squaw Valley spokesman Eric Brandt. “It’s not a film festival where someone is walking away with the best film award. Here people get together and get excited about skiing and snowboarding,� says Brandt, noting this year marks the first time the fest will run two days. Selections also favor local amateurs. Case in point: “Effervescence,� made last year by a high school student and touted as having “an appeal that only an amateur, no-expectations, no-ego film can generate.� Screenings start each day at 6:30 p.m.; cost is $5; kids 12 and younger are free. Go to www.squaw.com.

-- Mary Forgione