Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Adventure
films
August
2nd - Columbia Center for Arts
Hybrid.Pedal – 28min.
Dan Austin
Environmentalists and road bikers make a thousand-mile ride from Portland, Oregon, to Salt Lake City, Utah, to draw attention to endangered wildlands in the Western United States. Along the way, riders rode through seven threatened areas and discussed the issues of each place with representatives from grassroots groups seeking to keep them wild. They meet with the local groups on the ground in those ares working to get areas designated as federal wilderness. (USA, 2007, 28min) www.conservationalliance.com
The Good Fight – 20min.
Mark Fraser
Martin Litton at 90 is still hard to follow; he flies his plane, navigates mighty rivers, attends film festivals and advises Senators in Washington D.C. on how to manage our forests. The Good Fight chronicles an extraordinary man’s efforts in saving the Grand Canyon from being ruined with dams and his ongoing struggle to preserve the Giant Sequoias from the axe of the Forest Service. Martin has been an active force for preservation since 1934. (USA, 2006, 20min)
The Story of Stuff – 19min.Annie Leonard and Free Range StudiosFilm that takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer driven culture—from resource extraction to iPod incineration. Annie Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, narrates the Story of Stuff, delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff—where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.” Leonard examines the real costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, and she isolates the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. The Story of Stuff examines how economic policies of the post-World War II era ushered in notions of “planned obsolescence” and “perceived obsolescence” —and how these notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today.
Intermission & Raffle
Pulp, Poo & Perfection – 16min.
Angel Marin
This short documentary investigates two issues threatening water quality and public health in Chile: Pichilemu’s sewage pipeline and forestry industry pollution. Told through the perspective of local surfers, fishermen, and lovers of the ocean, this film features mythical waves, surfing, inspired activists, fishermen, environmental problems and sharky corporate executives woven into a classic South American tale of environmental action and ecological solutions. Best Environmental Surf Film, Preios Anuales Demolicion, Chile. (Chile, 2007, 16min) www.greensurfingstory.blogspot.com, www.savethewaves.org,
Rita – 6min.
Young Filmmakers Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008
Alison Teal Blehert-Koehn
This film is a true story about Alison, a seven-year-old girl who has been dragged around the world by her adventure travel guide/photographer/yoga-teaching parents and longs to be a kid and stay in one place long enough to have friends and go to school with children her own age. Unexpectedly, during one of the family’s expeditions high in the Himalaya of Nepal, she befriends a seven-year-old Sherpa girl named Rita. Alison sneaks out to join Rita and they embark on a wild and touching adventure over an 18,000 ft. pass near the base of Mt. Everest—a journey that plops them right in Alison’s dream world. Kids Choice, Telluride Mountainfilm, Best Family Short, Boulder Adventure FF, Nomintated for MTV Movie Award. (USA, 2006, 6min)
Oil and Water Project – 33min.
People’s Choice Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008
Seth Warren
Two kayakers embark on an endless summer-style 35,000 km road trip from Alaska to Argentina in a retro-outfitted Japanese fire truck without a single drop of petroleum. They converted their regular diesel engine to run on everything from pig lard to palm pulp and they traveled for 9 months in pursuit of the best whitewater in the Americas. The pair coordinated with schools, local governments, farmers, agricultural research centers and media to conduct demonstrations advocating for the use of alternative energy all along the way. Best Environmental Film, Taos MountainFilm, Everest Award Recipient for Advocacy. (USA, 2007, 34min)
