The 2016 Wild & Scenic Film Festival line-up challenges, inspires, educates and provokes conversation. The selection of films for the 9th annual festival in Birmingham cover a variety of topics including local activism, wildlife appreciation, coal ash concerns, fish passage, diversity & inclusion in our parks and so much more. Take a look at the selected films below.
Film Name | Film Synopsis |
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62 Years | The last time Ken Brower traveled down the Yampa River in Northwest Colorado was with his father, David Brower, in 1952. This was the year his father became the first executive director of the Sierra Club and joined the fight against a pair of proposed dams on the Green River in Northwest Colorado. The dams would have flooded the canyons of the Green and its tributary, Yampa, inundating the heart of Dinosaur National Monument. With a conservation campaign that included a book, magazine articles, a film, a traveling slideshow, grassroots organizing, river trips and lobbying, David Brower and the Sierra Club ultimately won the fight—ushering in a period many consider the dawn of modern environmentalism. 62 years later, Ken revisited the Yampa & Green Rivers to reflect on his father’s work, their 1952 river trip, and how we will confront the looming water crisis in the American West. |
A Dam Problem | Building successful relationships takes time but those relationships are the key to completing a successful dam removal and floodplain restoration project near Sisters, OR, that benefited farmers, fish and the surrounding ecosystem. |
A Line in the Sand | When three power plants began to dump their waste, known as coal ash, on a rural community in Pennsylvania, they thought no one would notice. They were wrong. Gary Kuklish, a retired coal miner in La Belle, PA tackles a problem that is endemic to the entire coal industry. |
Bringing Back the Brooks: A Revival of the South's Trout | A poetic look at a forgotten native of Appalachia, the Southern Appalachian Brook Trout, which is being brought back from the brink… by hand, bucket, and hoof. |
Co2ld Waters | Five of the most respected names in the fly fishing world converge on a single creek in Montana to talk about their passion and to discuss the single biggest threat to their timeless pursuit, climate change. Can four million fly anglers make difference? Legendary fishermen, including Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia, believe it is possible. |
Deep Look - Pygmy Seahorses: Masters of Camouflage | Tiny and delicate, pygmy seahorses survive by attaching to vibrant corals where they become nearly invisible to both predators and researchers. Now, biologists at the California Academy of Sciences have successfully bred them in captivity for the first time. Finally, they're able to study the seahorses' amazing act of camouflage up close. |
Diversity and Inclusion In Our Wild Spaces | A campfire discussion on improving the diversity of both the visitation and the employment within our parks and wild spaces happened last May in Yosemite National Park. A gathering of extraordinary people from non-profit agencies, land management bureaus and those involved in the movement to encourage more people of color to visit and seek careers in the outdoors brings light to important issues facing today’s conservation movement and outdoor recreation. |
Nature RX | This award-winning comedy series is about a struggle affecting many of us today. Set in the world of a spoofed prescription drug commercial, Nature Rx offers a hearty dose of laughs and the outdoors – two timeless prescriptions for whatever ails you. Side effects may include confidence, authenticity, remembering you have a body, and being in a good mood for no apparent reason. Nature-Rx is a grassroots organization, supported and funded by fans and believers in Nature Rx. Check out www.nature-rx.org and the #GetOutdoors movement for more information. |
One Woman Roadblock | A former tribal chief of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, Marilyn Baptiste led her native community in defeating proposed gold and copper mines that would have destroyed Fish Lake—a source of spiritual identity and livelihood for her people. Narrated by Robert Redford, One Woman Roadblock illustrates how an ordinary person can effect extraordinary change. Marilyn Baptiste is a true environmental hero who placed herself squarely in harm’s way to battle intimidating adversaries while building strong grassroots support. |
Parker's Top Fifty Favorite Things | This fun film celebrates the best things about Northwest rivers, from a kid’s perspective. From sun, to rain, to waterfalls, to wild salmon, to time with mom, it’s the rivers that make the Northwest such a special place. |
Rabbit Island | "One man’s quest to protect an island he loves leads him to ponder great questions: Is there an opposite to development? An antonym to subdivision? This film is a brief study of an island set on the majestic Lake Superior, and the artists who gather there for inspiration." |
Soil Carbon Cowboys | Many people talk about the cattle business as a big environmental problem. Cattle, when properly grazed, offer solutions to soil health, animal health, human health, water supply and food nutrition. It’s a brave new world, and it’s below our feet. |
The Curious Snail | The "Curious Snail" showcases the beauty of a snail’s simple and small world. |
The Last Dragons: Protecting Appalachia's Hellbenders | An intimate glimpse at North America’s Eastern Hellbender, an ancient salamander that lives as much in myth as in reality…. and in many waters, myths are all that remain of these stream-dwelling sentinels. |
To Slow Down and Breathe | “I went for a walk… and found going out was going in,” once said a hairy Scotsman. The beauty of slacklining is that is can be as introspective as it is explorative. When we’re not moving to run away from ourselves, going out in to the wild places of this world can be a movement into our own souls. |