FILMMAKER BIO
Austin Durham is an aspiring outdoor documentary filmmaker born and raised in Idaho, where his connection to the mountains, adventure, and storytelling first took root. He currently resides in the Boise area, balancing a full-time career as an electrician while pursuing his passion for independent filmmaking during his free time.
Austin began creating short films at the age of 14, using filmmaking as a creative outlet and a way to document the world around him. At a young age, he launched a YouTube channel to explore visual storytelling, initially producing motorcycle-related tutorials and lifestyle content starting at age 21. These early projects helped him refine his technical skills behind the camera and editing software while developing his voice as a storyteller.
Inspired by his father, Dirk Durham, Austin’s creative focus gradually shifted toward outdoor and hunting-based filmmaking. This influence, combined with his lifelong appreciation for hunting, camping and fishing, led him to pursue documentary filmmaking centered on wilderness adventures and the authentic bonds that are formed along the way.
Silas Summit
Silas Summit follows Austin Durham into the high mountains of Idaho on an elk hunt guided by his father, the bugler. The journey unfolds in the wake of unimaginable loss, the death of Austin’s firstborn son. As elk escape through steep timber and thin air, the film moves between the physical and mental demands of the hunt and the emotional weight carried by a family that fought to save a child’s life and must now learn how to live without him.
The pursuit of wary, elusive elk mirrors grief itself. Relentless, uncertain, and often ending in failure. Yet within that struggle are moments of connection, realization, and victory. Hunting becomes more than a harvest, it becomes a means of processing loss, honoring life, and rebuilding when everything familiar has been broken.
This deeply personal film is a passion project devoted to Austin’s son, Silas, and is a testament to pushing forward through life’s hardest challenges, even when the outcome is not what you hoped for.
