2020 FILM LINE-UP

The Beaver Believers is an award-winning feature documentary sharing the urgent yet whimsical story of an unlikely cadre of activists - a biologist, a hydrologist, a botanist, an ecologist, a psychologist, and a hairdresser - who share a common vision. The Beaver Believers encourage us to embrace a new paradigm for managing our western lands, one that seeks to partner with the natural world rather than overpower it.

With breathtaking cinematography, The Radicals is a documentary film that follows four snowboarders and surfers driven to become social and environmental stewards through their connection with the environments in which they play. By enjoying and appreciating their natural surroundings, these awakened athletes introduce us to some of the worlds most dedicated activists and game-changing wilderness initiatives that can actually change the world.

Sanctuary explores the healing powers of wild places and rivers and the need to create more sanctuaries on public lands. Set against the backdrop of the North Umpqua's most famous tributary, Steamboat Creek, which was recently designated as the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary, filmmaker Shane Anderson documents how these famed waters impacted Soul River, a group of veterans and urban youth as they learn about steelhead research by Pacific Rivers and meet conservation heroes Frank and Jeanne. Photo credit: Jason Hartwick.

Nature has a rhythm – it just takes one to tune into it. Jess Kilroy – musician, climber and conservationist – travels to wilderness areas around the West creating music from the natural sounds she finds there, with the goal of sparking people's love for these wild lands. The Creek Sessions follows Jess on a sensory journey to create music in Utah’s Indian Creek, wooing us with the splendor of the desert, and reminding us that wild places are worth protecting not simply for their landscapes, but for their soundscapes too.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS KEEP PLAYING- 4 minutes

An ode to the athlete who relishes in getting dirty, who chuckles after a long day in the mountains, effortlessly glides through the crystal clear waves and most importantly, is unapologetic in pursuing their love of getting rowdy in adventures. Director Krystle Wright brings this next installment since the wild things never stopped playing.

As parents, how do we teach our kids that there is a world beyond social media, standardized tests and soccer practice? Join Eddie Bauer athlete David Morton and his seven-year-old son Thorne on a week-long stand up paddle boarding journey down the Karnali and Bheri Rivers in Western Nepal. “There’s a basic paradox to parenting,” says David. “You have to keep your kids safe, but you have to teach them to take risks and follow curiosity. Life is undeniably richer with a little bit of daring.”

Linda Garcia organized her community to stop the construction of the Tesoro Savage oil export terminal in Vancouver, Washington. Her activism safeguarded residents from harmful air pollution and protected the environment of the Columbia River Gorge. By preventing North America’s largest oil terminal from being built, Garcia halted the flow of 11 million gallons of crude oil per day from North Dakota to Washington. Linda was recognized with the 2019 North American Goldman Environmental Prize for her activism.

NARETOI - WOMEN EMPOWERING WOMEN- 28 minutes

Maasai live as pastoralists in a deeply traditional, patriarchal, polygamous culture that still practices early arranged marriage and female circumcision. Naretoi (women empowering women in KiMaasai) follows a team of Maasai and American women on a self supported expedition to the summit of Mt. Kenya. The women overcome many barriers to collectively take on the mountain and empower each other in the process.

Runner and advocate Faith E. Briggs used to run through the streets of Brooklyn every morning. Now, she’s running 150 miles through three U.S. National Monuments that lay in the thick of the controversy around public lands. Accompanied by running companions who represent diverse perspectives in what it means to be a public land owner, she assesses what is at stake if previously protected lands are reduced and if the public is largely unaware. THIS LAND is a story about land access told through a journey of inclusion and empowerment.

Decades ago, poachers would set off explosives in the cool waters of this North Umpqua River tributary, killing wild steelhead by the dozens. That was before Lee Spencer settled in to watch over it. At a time when environmental protections are being lifted, scientific research budgets slashed and frenzied political battles center around single species, one man’s study and protection of the world in front of him is a throwback to conservation work rooted in bearing witness to simple truths in nature.