“Miss Adventure,” a short documentary about gay adventurer Mikah Meyer’s run across Mississippi, will have its world premiere at the Kendal Mountain Festival in Kendal, England, in November. The screenings are Nov. 20 and 21 at the Brewery Arts Centre, Outsports reported Oct. 28. The film’s website also lists Kendal as the world premiere.
The short runs about 15 minutes. Meyer told Outsports he has around 75 hours of footage and wants to make a feature.
“I have a 95-minute assembly cut, so if I can just find a philanthropist, maybe a feature length will be coming down the pipe,” he said.
Mikah Meyer’s 172-Mile Run Across Northern Mississippi
Meyer spent all of February 2021 running 172 miles across northern Mississippi, according to his website. He picked the state after an informal poll of his social media followers labeled it “America’s Most Homophobic State.” That was his followers’ perception, not a scientific ranking.
He started at the Alabama border and headed for Elvis Presley’s birthplace in Tupelo. From there he went to Ole Miss in Oxford, then west past the Tunica casinos to the Mississippi River.
A snowstorm kept him in Oxford longer than planned, The Oxford Eagle reported in February 2021. He also ran in costume.
“So, on the (first) day I ran through Oxford, I was wearing a rainbow-wig and a rainbow-tutu, and I got a lot of fun honks from people,” Meyer told the Eagle. “On the day I ran out of Oxford, I wore a unicorn onesie, which was really fun.”
He added, “One of the interesting things about Oxford was that everyone told me it was the most accepting place in Mississippi.”
The run promoted Outside Safe Space, his program to make the outdoors more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. “So, basically, if you are anywhere that you don’t think of as acceptable, if you can do something like wear my Outside Safe Space pin to show people you are an ally, then we can start to change those (negative) stereotypes,” he said.
He wrapped up Feb. 28 with a socially distanced event at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Local Memphis reported.
Who Made ‘Miss Adventure’ and Where It Has Screened
Meyer co-directed the film with James “Q” Martin, the film’s site says. Derek Dodge produced it and was director of photography. Paige Benner and Chris Cresci edited.
Meyer grew up in Nebraska as the son of a Lutheran pastor. Before Mississippi he spent three years visiting all 419 national park units, a trip NBC News said he funded by singing and speaking at churches, where he promoted LGBTQ-inclusive Christianity.
The Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, Michigan, listed it for Oct. 17 and 18 in a works-in-progress program. Its listing starts, “Mikah Meyer grew up a Midwest pastor’s son, hidden in a religion-sealed closet.” It says Meyer and his college mentor, Larry, look back on hard years in the Bible Belt. Outsports identified the mentor as Larry Edwards.
Why Meyer Chose the Kendal Mountain Festival for the Premiere
Meyer praised Kendal to Outsports for making LGBTQ+ films easy to find. He hopes festival recognition will help the documentary reach more audiences.
There’s no streaming date. Meyer told Outsports that festival awards could bring interest from big outdoor and media brands. “If that happens, the film could go online sooner,” he said.
The festival runs Nov. 19 to 22, its website says. Meyer told Outsports he doesn’t expect to be there in person.
