Films, Food, & Friends: the Wild & Scenic Film Festival Returns!
Buy your tickets!
I really love a good adventure and environment film festival - don’t you? Surrounded by folks that care about the health of this planet, sustainable economics, and social equity while enjoying food, films, and fun? That’s my idea of a good time. And if you feel the same, the 6th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival hosted by Rogue Riverkeeper is not to be missed! This year, the film festival will take place at the Historic Ashland Armory on Friday, November 9th beginning at 5 PM. Tickets available online and at the Ashland Outdoor Store. Want a sneak peak of the films offered this year? Read on.
Originating in Grass Valley and Nevada City, CA, the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) has been hosting the five-day Wild & Scenic Film Festival for 17 years! The festival draws together folks from birders to boarders to enjoy inspiring films that leave viewers motivated to take action locally and globally. Filmmakers, celebrities, leading activists, social innovators, world adventurers, and viewers have been gathering to celebrate “stellar filmmaking, beautiful cinematography, and first-rate storytelling”. From there, the film festival goes on tour to over 60 cities in the U.S. - and Ashland, OR is one!
This year, while we host the Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour for the 6th time, we also celebrate the momentous 50th Anniversary of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. Fifty years ago, river conservationists, politicians, outdoor lovers, and even river guides had the foresight to establish a national system to “preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations”. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act became a national system for river conservation, similar to the National Park system for public lands conservation. Eight rivers were designated Wild and Scenic on October 2nd, 1968 when the Act was signed into law - and our beloved Rogue River was one of them!
In addition to a series of short films, festival goers will enjoy a silent auction filled with donations from our sweet, local sponsors; local food and drink; partner organizations tables guiding you on how to get involved; and a message from our keynote speaker - Katherine Luscher, Training Director with Waterkeeper Alliance.
But we’re ALL here for the films! Let’s take a look….
Imagination: Tom Wallisch
We’ve all been that kid sitting in the back seat of our family car, wishing we were somewhere else. Through the boredom, the driveway snow piles, sidewalk handrails and stair sets start to tease our inner skier. Watch day dreams come to life as Tom Wallisch shreds the snowy streets of Nelson, British Columbia.
Water Warriors
In 2013, Texas-based SWN Resources arrived in New Brunswick, Canada to explore for natural gas. In response, a multicultural group of unlikely warriors–including members of the Mi’kmaq Elsipogtog First Nation, French-speaking Acadians and white, English-speaking families–set up a series of road blockades, preventing exploration. After months of resistance, their efforts not only halted drilling; they elected a new government and won an indefinite moratorium on fracking in the province. Water Warriors is the story of a community’s successful fight to protect their water from the oil and natural gas industry.
Sky Migrations
Each fall, our skies fill with the wings of migrating raptors, a migration that relies on two hemispheres worth of wild and healthy ecosystems. Join ecologist and filmmaker, Charles Post, as he shines a light on the network of back country scientists and sentinels at the front lines of raptor conservation.