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The Volunteers:

Mountain Rescue Brings Us Home

A new feature-length documentary essay, out now!

A historian explores the surprising connections between two mountain rescue organizations on opposite sides of the world.

Two mountain rescue organizations—one near Seattle, Washington, the other in Tyrol, Austria—are linked by a surprising connection. Take a journey with historian Mark S. Weiner from America to Austria and back again as he considers the origins and meaning of their work. Both groups have grown from a strong sense of place ... because before you can save a stranger, you first must love your home.

Look out for us on your local PBS station! We are thrilled that the 56-minute cut of “The Volunteers: Mountain Rescue Brings Us Home” is distributed to PBS by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) for both broadcast and streaming. Check local listings especially in August and September. Thanks to those stations that have already broadcast our film—and which do so much for American culture and the arts. And three cheers for our fabulous European distributors, Panthera Entertainment and RANFILM! An extended, 86-minute cut of “The Volunteers: Mountain Rescue Brings Us Home” will be streaming soon on Amazon Prime Video, and a 106-minute director’s cut is available on request.

Read about our screening at the Austrian Embassy.

Department of Political Science

Department of Classical and Modern Languages