2020 Wild & Scenic Film Festival – Explore the Film Program!
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, presented by, is the country’s largest environmental film festival with numerous stops in its nationwide tour featuring nearly 200 short and featured films.
Initially a project of South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), the annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival works to combine beautiful and moving filmmaking and environmental issues to inspire citizens across the nation to protect the environment and take action for our local and global communities. Since 2003, SYRCL has partnered with a diverse array of environmental nonprofits to bring the festival to communities across the nation, creating unique film festival experiences and using the festival to raise awareness of local environmental issues and raise funds to support the host organizations’ missions.
We encourage you to learn more about the films and the sponsors of PRC’s 6th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival below! Films are in order of appearance.
Crying Steelers Fan
Fireman Creative | Jim DiSpirito, Director and Editor, Dave Prokopec, Director of Photography, Jennifer Taormina, Assistant Director | 2015 | 2 min.
We are proud of our beautiful state, but litter threatens our environment and health, while costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year. Together, we can keep Pennsylvania clean and healthy. Don’t be a Litterbug!
More Information:
prc.org | Lens on Litter Photo Contest
Plastic Warriors
Lavado Stubbs, Conchboy Films | 2019 | 10 min.
Kristal Ambrose also known as “Kristal Ocean” battles plastic pollution in The Bahamas.
More Information:
www.bahamasplasticmovement.org
See Animals
Scott Wenner | 2019 | 2 min.
This short, animated film shows unwelcome changes in an uncertain future.
More Information:
scottwenner.com | motion504.com
(RE)Connecting Wild
Jake Willers, Alyson Andreasen, NineCaribou Productions, LLC | 2019 | 12 min.
This is the remarkable story of the decade-long effort by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and its partners to improve human safety by re-connecting a historic mule deer migration that crosses over both US-93 and I-80 in rural Elko County, Nevada. Witness the wildlife crossing structures along I-80 from construction to the restoration of safe passage for migratory mule deer to more than 1.5 million acres of summer and winter habitat.
More Information:
www.9caribou.com | www.nevadadot.com | www.ndow.org | www.arc-solutions.org
Sounds of Survival
Katie Garrett | 2018 | 8 min.
Deep in the emerald cloud forests of Cusuco National Park of Honduras, scientists are on a quest to record the never-before-heard call of the endangered “exquisite spike-thumb frog” (Plectrohyla exquisita). What ensues is both a delightful portrait of the process of scientific discovery and an inspiring example of the power of sound as a tool for conservation.
More Information:
katiegarrett.co.uk | frogrescue.com
Detroit Hives
Palmer Morse, Rachel Weinberg, Matthew Mikkelsen, Spruce Tone Films | 2019 | 6 min.
East Detroit urban beekeepers Tim Paule and Nicole Lindsey are a young couple working to bring diversity to the field of beekeeping and create opportunities for young Detroit natives to overcome adversity. Detroit ranks fourth in the United States for the most vacant housing lots with well over 90,000 empty lots to date. In an effort to address this issue, Detroit Hives has been purchasing vacant lots and converting them into buzzing bee farms. Detroit Hives explores the importance of bringing diversity to beekeeping and rebuilding inner-city communities one hive at a time.
More Information:
www.sprucetonefilms.com | www.detroithives.com
Station 15
Kira Akerman | 2017 | 15 min.
High school student and poet, Chasity Hunter, experienced intense flooding in her New Orleans neighborhood during both Hurricane Katrina and recent summer rainstorms. Inspired to find out how safe her city really is, she investigates its infrastructure and questions water experts, finding her own voice along the way.
More Information:
www.rippleeffectnola.com/resources
The Air That We Breathe
WQED Multimedia Pittsburgh | Produced by Ash Warren and Iris Samson; Edited by Amy Grove | 2020 | 10 min.
Michael Bartley takes a closer look at air quality in Western Pennsylvania, reporting on why some health experts believe this region’s air is making us sick.
“While the Pittsburgh region evolves into a magnet for tech, education and new business, its air quality remains stuck in the unhealthy past,” according to executive producer David Solomon. “In coming months, WQED will expand this 10-minute Emmy-nominated short film into a 30-minute broadcast documentary to delve deeper into the vital subject.”
More Information:
Check out the organizations featured in the film:
- GASP (Group Against Smog and Pollution)
- Breathe Project
- Smell PGH app created by Carnegie Mellon University’s Create Lab
- Mark Dixon, Filmmaker, YERT
- Clean Air Council
- American Lung Association
In Your Hands
Brandon Moore, Nico and Mary Kate Van Den Berg, Luke Lasley, Bone+Gold | 2018 | 1 min.
Visceral imagery, emotional score, and a powerful speech by John F. Kennedy underscore a timeless theme: we come from the sea. In Your Hands invites viewers to look inward and rediscover our connection with – and responsibility to – the natural world.
More Information:
www.boneandgold.com | www.brandonhmoore.com
Saving Cherry Valley
Videography by Todd Leatherman; Produced by Kelly Proctor and Bill Rawlyk of the Open Space Institute | 2019
In September 2019, conservation partners celebrated the addition of over 4,300 acres to Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge, protecting land for the bog turtle, migratory birds, the Appalachian Trail, and drinking water within the Delaware River Watershed.
More Information:
More about “Saving Cherry Valley” | The Delaware River Watershed Initiative
Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge
This Land
Film information unavailable at this time | 13 min.
Runner and advocate Faith E. Briggs used to run through the streets of Brooklyn every morning. Now she’s running 150 miles through three National Monuments that lie in the thick of the controversy around United States public lands.
Every Nine Minutes
Hub Strategy & Communications, Oliver Hamilton | 2018 | 4 min.
Every nine minutes, the weight of a blue whale (300,000 pounds) in plastic makes its way into our ocean. To call attention to this, the Monterey Bay Aquarium built a life-sized replica of a blue whale made of single-use, locally sourced plastic trash. Certified by Guinness World Records, the whale is the largest sculpture of its kind ever built.
More Information:
www.MontereyBayAquarium.org/plastics
Local Sponsors
Click on the sponsor logos to learn more!
Signature Sponsor:
Platinum Sponsors:
Gold Sponsors:
Silver Sponsor:
Media Sponsors:
