The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is coming to Saint Martin’s University on Thursday, April 26, and will be presented by Saint Martin’s Biology Club. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is a collection of films from the annual festival held the third week of January in Nevada City, California, which is now in its 16th year. Wild & Scenic focuses on films which speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet. All proceeds from the event benefit Saint Martin’s Biology Club to promote and fund undergraduate research conferences.
“Come join Saint Martin’s University and the Biology Club for its inaugural Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival on Tour, a night of films, food, and community involvement,” said Abigail Limov, a senior biology major and president of the Saint Martin’s Biology Club. “The festival will feature 11 films about environmentalism, conservation, adventure, sustainability and appreciation for nature. We are bringing this festival to our area to promote community involvement, preservation and increasing awareness of the issues that are happening and how they are affecting us all.”
“I’ve been so impressed with how motivated the student leadership has been in getting this project off the ground,” said Aaron Coby, Ph.D., associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of biology. “The timing is great with the kick off of our new Environmental Studies program. It’s going to be great fun!”
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival was started by the watershed advocacy group, the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) in 2003. The festival’s namesake is in celebration of SYRCL’s landmark victory to receive “Wild & Scenic” status for 39 miles of the South Yuba River in 1999. The five-day event features over 150 award-winning films and welcomes over 100 guest speakers, celebrities, and activists who bring a human face to the environmental movement. The home festival kicks-off the international tour to over 170 communities around the globe, allowing SYRCL to share their success as an environmental group with other organizations. The festival is building a network of grassroots organizations connected by a common goal of using film to inspire activism. With the support of National Partners: Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, CLIF Bar, EarthJustice, Klean Kanteen, Peak Design and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the festival can reach an even larger audience.
Featured at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at Saint Martin’s will be such films as “Wild Olympics,” which follows paddlers Adam and Susan Elliott as they kayak, fish, packraft and explore the wild rivers of the Olympic Peninsula; “Eating for Change,” which is about Sierra Harvest about how it educates, inspires and connects families to fresh, local seasonal foods through farm to school education, training the next generation of farmers and supporting low income families in growing food at home; and “The New Environmentalist: Water Song,” which is about Maxima Acua, a subsistence farmer in Peru’s northern highlands, who stood up to the giant Newmont Mining Corporation over the development of a gold and copper mine on her property.
EVENT DETAILS:
Films: “Wild Olympics,” “A Letter to Congress,” “Dream Day,” “Eating for Change,” “Growing Change,” “Conservation Generation,” “Every Bend,” “The New Environmentalist: Water Song,” “The Wild President,” “Think Like a Scientist: Boundaries,” and “Disobedience.”
When: Thursday, April 26. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and program will start at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Norman Worthington Conference Center, Saint Martin’s University, 5300 Pacific Avenue SE, Lacey, WA 98503
Ticket Prices: $15 for students (includes Saint Martin’s, Evergreen, and South Puget Sound Community College), $25 for community
Tickets can be purchased at https://form.jotform.com/80636052335957. Ticket price includes appetizers and drinks, and access to local environmental and social-good organizations.
For more details visit the event page on Facebook by searching Wild and Scenic Film Festival-Lacey
