The movie, "Signatures," features skiing in the deep coastal mountains of Niseko, Hokkaido in fall, winter and spring.

The film's director, Nick Waggoner, says they chose Japan because of the weather and culture.

"Japan gets 700 inches of snow a winter. It's definitely a powder skiing Mecca and the deeper we kind of dug into the culture and learned about their connection to the mountains and the seasons, it's just a really unique place to spend a winter," Waggoner said.

In the film, Cardamone takes on some mind-blowing 50-degree slopes at hair-raising speeds. He says taking on the steep edges of the Japanese mountains was daring but peaceful.

"At the beginning of the line it's always kind of scary but then once you drop in you just kind of start to focus," Cardamone said.

Waggoner and Cardamone say the film is about more than skiing.

"That was the bonus of being there so long, getting to know the community getting to kind of build roots in the place and that's reflected in the film," Waggoner said.

Sweetgrass Productions also had this description: Signatures delves into the cultural connection to seasonal rhythms, exploring the influence of the physical and cyclical world on artistic and physical expression.

The "Signatures" crew is touring the U.S., Canada and Japan showing the film through December.

After winning best cinematography at a film festival in Montreal, the documentary premiers Tuesday night at the Oriental Theater at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 and include live music by the Paper Bird Band after the showing.