Great Hall, Miners Foundry
Rising to Great Challenges

7:00pm Hetch Hetchy: Yosemite’s Lost Valley
Melissa Berman and Deborah Landown
The battle over Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite National Park was the United States’ first environmental debate. The valley, described by John Muir as a "wonderfully exact counterpart of Yosemite Valley," is currently a reservoir for San Francisco. Several experts describe the history and hopes for restoration of this magnificent locale. Narrated by Shari Belafonte. (United States, 2003, 19 min.) In Person: Ron Good, Executive Director, Restore Hetch Hetchy
CONTACT: www.restorehetchhetchy.org

7:45pm Vertical Frontier
Kristi Denton Cohen
The character-driven story of the art, sport, and philosophy of climbing the legendary big walls of Yosemite, Vertical Frontier is illustrated by spectacular old and new footage shot on those granite walls. The story is told by the climbers, whose ranks include David Brower, Royal Robbins, Yvon Chouinard, Jim Bridwell, Lynn Hill, Dean Potter, and many more. Narrated by Tom Brokaw. Best Climbing Film, Banff Mountain Film Festival, 2002. (United States, 2002, 53 min.) In Person: Kristi Denton Cohen, Mike Carville, and Hans Florine
CONTACT: www.pelotonproductions.com

9:20pm Last Horizon: The First Ascent of Sepu Kangri
Frank Pickell
On October 2, 2002, Mark Newcomb and Carlos Buhler made the first ascent of the 22,821-foot Sepu Kangri, an enigmatic and notoriously difficult peak in the remote and once-forbidden Nyenchen Tanglha range of eastern Tibet. Last Horizon will take you on a journey with the team through beautiful Tibet to experience thin air and storms, the risks and rewards, the fear and motivation, and the sacrifice and triumph of high-altitude climbing. (United States, 2002, 34 min.) In person: Carlos Buhler
CONTACT: www.rattlecan,net

Friday Evening
Stone Hall, Miners Foundry
Adventures of a Lifetime

7:00pm Pororoca
Joachim Hellinger
With the dry season drawing to a close on the Amazon River and the full moon setting in the west, a great roar, poroc-poroc in the native Tupi Indian dialect, can be heard throughout the Amazon’s mouths. When the river’s seaward flow is at a minimum twice a year, huge Atlantic tides hurl the waters back with destructive and devastating fury. Top surfers Ross Clarke-Jones and Carlos Burle take on the adventure of riding these ultimate waves, experiencing the most exotic surf trip ever. (Germany, 2003, 26 min.)
CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

7:45pm Yenisey River Expedition
Remy Quniter
True adventure still exists in the far reaches of the world. Follow four friends as they find adventure by paddling 5,000 km through Mongolia and Siberia. Dropped off in the Middle of Nowhere, Mongolia, they experience a world rarely seen by others. They endure the most extreme and most difficult conditions ... all in the name of adventure. Will they make it to their final destination of the Arctic Ocean? Best Adventure Film, Telluride Mountain Film, 2003. (Canada, 2002, 56 min.)
CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

8:55pm Liquid Off the Throne of Shiva
Scott Lingren
Award-winning cinematographer and extreme boater, Lindgren leads an expedition to the sacred Mt. Kailas of Tibet, known as the "Throne of Shiva," and then on a kayak excursion down the uncharted waters of the upper Karnali River in Nepal. Vividly filmed by Lindgren and his crew, this unique film combines exotic travelogue footage with Eastern mysticism and adrenaline-boosting kayaking. (United States, 1999, 45 minutes) In person: Scott Lingren
CONTACT: www.slproductions.tv

Saturday Morning
Great Hall, Miners Foundry
Rising Against the Machine

10:00am Der Ietzte Tropfen (The Last Drop)
Frank Stender
A woman lies in a bathtub and dreams about the beauty of water. Suddenly, a nightmare invades and water suddenly becomes scarce. She realizes that all and nothing are as adjacent as dream and reality. (Germany, 2003, 4 min.)
CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

10:05am Razing Appalachia
Sasha Waters
In the misty folds of the Appalachian mountains lies Blair, West Virginia. With its narrow creek and crawdads, its wild ginseng and raccoons, Blair looks as it might have a century ago -- a woody haven tucked away from time and technology. But for how long? In May 1998, Arch Coal, Inc. announced it would expand its strip mine just above the small town. Too many had already been bought out or chased away by the giant mine. Forty families -- where there were once 300 -- stayed in Blair. Razing Appalachia is the story of their fight against the second-largest coal company in America, against the state political leaders and, unhappily, against the 400 union miners whose jobs were on the line. Honorable Mention, EarthVision Environmental Film Festival, Santa Cruz, CA, 2003. (United States, 2003, 54 min)
CONTACT: www.room135.com

11:15am Terminator Tomatoes
Suzanne Twining
Using stop-motion animation puppets and miniature sets, the film explores the danger of biologically-altered seeds. A farmer and his daughter get in over their heads with a chemical corporation’s idea of a tomato. Highest Honorable Mention, EarthVision Film Festival, 2002. (United States, 2001, 5 min.)
CONTACT: www.bullfrogfilms.com

11:20am Defending Forests: The Struggle of the Campesino Environmentalists of Guerrero, Chiapas Media Project
The deforestation of Guerrero’s Petatlán and Coyuca de Catalán mountain ranges dates back to the 1950s. In 1994, with the signing of NAFTA, the transnational Boise Cascade Corporation began what resulted in the exploitation of thousands of kilometers of virgin forests. This is the story of the Organization of the Campesino Environmentalists (OCE) created in 1998 and their success in halting Boise Cascade’s exploitation of their forests. (Mexico, 2000, 18 min.)
CONTACT: www.chiapasmediaproject.org

11:40am Locked Horns: The Fate of Old Crow
Andrew Gregg
The Vuntut Gwitchin aboriginal community of Old Crow is the only town in the Yukon not connected to the world by a road and the only town in the Territory above the Arctic Circle. Like pretty well everyone else in Old Crow, hunter Stephen Frost’s life revolves around the 120,000-strong Porcupine Caribou herd. As far as archeologists can tell, this dependence of man on beast has continued here for more than 10,000 years. But for Stephen and the other hunters of Old Crow there is a problem: there is oil under the calving grounds on the other side of the border, and the U.S. government, currently led by an oil-state President, wants to drill. It will likely mean the end of the caribou, the end of the migrations, the end of Old Crow and the end of Stephen Frost. (Canada, 2003, 41 min)
CONTACT: www.cbc.ca/witness/oldcrow/

Saturday Morning
Stone Hall, Miners Foundry
Not Just for Kids - a unique selection of short films for all the kids at heart

10:00am

Stories from the Seventh Fire
Produced by Ava Karvonen, these two animations celebrate Aboriginal tales. In "How Wesakechak Got His Name," Cree teacher and trickster Wesakechak searches for a new name. In "Legend of the Caribou," Mother Wolf tells her cubs a bedtime story about a time when the longest migration of the four-legged began. (Canada, 2001, 25 min.)
CONTACT: www.reelgirlsmedia.com

Tortoise and the Hare
Special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen began creating the puppet animated version of Aesop’s fable in 1952. Fifty years later, filmmakers Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh joined Ray to complete the film. Best Short, International Animated Film Society, Annie’s Awards, 2003. (United States, 2002, 12 min.)
CONTACT: www.screen-novelties.com

Cartoon Sea
Film creator David Katz explores the colorful beauty and diversity of sea life in this "phantasmagoria" concept of animation, where one image quickly transforms into another. Cartoon Sea also takes on the serious message of keeping oceans clean and protecting coral reefs. Multiple awards, including Best of Fest at the Chicago International Children’s Animation Festival. (United States, 2001, 3 min.)
CONTACT: www.cascadepass.com

Das Rad ("The Rocks")
Apparently, rocks are having conversations all around us, but they talk very, very slowly. The stone-people have seen a lot in their everlasting lives on top of their mountain. Academy Award Nomination, Best Animated Short, 2003. (Germany, 2002, 8 min.)
CONTACT: www.dasrad.com

Totally Board
Accompanied by a production crew of 8- and 10-year-olds, Taylor Leach shows, from a kid’s point of view, just how fun skateboarding and surfing are. (United States, 2003, 15 min.) In person: Taylor Leach
CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Paf le Moustique (Paf the Mosquito)
French animators J.F. Bourrel and Jerome Calvet bring you a guy absorbed in listening to music and blowing gum bubbles, plus a music-loving mosquito. The rest you can only imagine. (France, 2002, 3 min.)
CONTACT: www.talantisfilms.com

Wake-Up Call: Saving the Songbirds
Follow filmmaker Claire Blotter as she celebrates birds and their beautiful songs. Through the candid voices of San Francisco Bay Area students as well as bird experts, the film offers solutions for preserving songbird populations by working "in your own backyard." Second Place, Endangered Species, Santa Cruz Environmental Film Festival. (United States, 2001, 14 min) In Person: Claire Blotter
CONTACT: www.videoproject.com

Saturday Afternoon
Great Hall, Miners Foundry
The Power of the Human Spirit

1:00pm Shepherd Women of Shambala
Joy P. Tessman
Exhibiting the extraordinary power of women to accept and adopt, a small group of Ismaili Muslim shepherd women welcome Joy Tessman into their world. Set in the rugged passes of the Karakoram mountains in northern Pakistan, a gentle revolution takes place, eradicating the barriers of language, custom, and stereotype. People’s Choice, Best Short, Flagstaff Film Festival, 2003. (United States, 2002, 9 min.) In person: Joy Tessman
CONTACT: www.boldervisionfilms.com

1:20pm Heart of the Sea
Lisa Denker & Charlotte Lagarde
Heart of the Sea is the inspiring portrait of surf legend Rell "Kapolioka’ehukai" Sunn, founding member of the Women’s Professional Surfing Association and one of Hawaii’s most beloved community leaders. Renowned for her physical power, grace, and beauty, it was her generous spirit and relentless work as an activist for youth, the environment, and breast cancer that made her an icon on the Islands. Multiple awards, including Audience Award, Best Documentary, San Francisco International Film Festival, 2003. (United States, 2002, 57 min.)
CONTACT: www.wmm.com

2:20pm Fallon, NV
Amie Williams
Sixty miles east of Reno, in the small military and ranching town of Fallon, Nevada, an unfathomable mystery is unfolding. In the span of just two years, 14 children have been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, and no one seems to know why. As the film unfolds, two children die and families square off with scientists, government bureaucrats, and media opportunists who are occupied with everything, it seems, but the welfare of the children. Best Documentary, Lake Arrowhead Film Festival. (United States, 2003, 57 min.) In person: Amie Williams and Brenda Gross
CONTACT: www.balmaidenfilms.com

3:50pm Diary of a Flagger
Barry Smith
We have all seen them standing under the hot sun with their walkie-talkies, holding the STOP/SLOW signs, staring straight ahead as traffic zooms by them. Those road crew flaggers -- what do they think about? With comic relief, the film sheds a whole new light on the world of someone we’d normally not think twice about... but after seeing this, you just might. Grand Jury Award, Best Comedy Short, MicroCineFest, 2003. (United States, 2002, 11 min.)
CONTACT: www.irrelativity.com

4:00pm Blue Vinyl
Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold
With humor, chutzpah, and a piece of vinyl siding firmly in hand, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand and award-winning cinematographer Daniel B. Gold travel to America’s vinyl manufacturing capital and beyond. Their quest? ...to find the truth about vinyl, the world’s second largest selling plastic. A detective story, eco-activism documentary, and rollicking comedy all rolled into one, Blue Vinyl takes the stand that environmental health and justice are a human right. Multiple awards, including the Documentary Award Winner for Excellence in Cinematography, Sundance Film Festival, 2002. Blue Vinyl was also nominated for two Emmys -- Best Documentary and Best Research. (United States, 2002, 96 min.)
CONTACT: www.bluevinyl.org

Saturday Afternoon
Stone Hall, Miners Foundry
The Animals Speak

12:00pm Protest
S.D. Katz
In this animated dream-like meditation on the plight of the elephant, the animal loses hope. In a final desperate act, a group of elephants plunge from the city’s tallest skyscrapers. The beauty of their balletic movements is witnessed by people who respond with a mixture of awe and sadness. (France, 1999, 3 min.)
CONTACT: www.talantisfilms.com

12:05pm Mzima: Haunt of the Riverhorse
Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone
Have you ever seen a river through the eyes of a hippo? This highly acclaimed film takes viewers through an incredible underwater journey in an African spring, where crocodiles, hippos, and giant pythons battle for supremacy. Multiple awards, including Best of Festival, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, 2001. (England, 2001, 52 min.)
CONTACT: www.granadamedia.com

1:00pm Last of the Wild Chimps
David Hamlin
Join world-famous scientist Dr. Jane Goodall and explorer Mike Fay to find the chimpanzees of Congo Brazzaville’s Goualougo Triangle. These animals are so isolated that they have no fear of humans -- at least for now. The film covers important topics such as logging and the bushmeat crisis, both major issues in the survival of chimpanzees. Narrated by Kathleen Turner. Featured on National Geographic’s Explorer Wild on MSNBC. (United States, 2003, 30 min.)
CONTACT: David Hamlin, (202) 775-6193

1:45pm Counting Sheep
Frank Green
What happens when a protected predator threatens an endangered prey? High in California’s Sierra Nevada, the last few native bighorn sheep are fighting for survival. Mountain lions, protected by state law, are an increasing menace. Two remarkable men stand between the bighorn and extinction. An oboe-playing mountain man turned consummate scientist has an unlikely ally: a mountain lion tracker of skill and instinct, a modern day frontiersman. (United States, 2003, 59 min.) In Person: Frank Green
CONTACT: www.greentv.org

2:50pm Cost of Freedom
Vanessa Schulz
There are very few environmental issues that are more controversial than the reintroduction of wolves in the lower 48 states. In 1995, a wolf reintroduction program in Idaho and Montana generated heated controversy, but this time all the players -- human and animal alike -- were captured on film. Showing the intensity of the wolf issue, this film lays out an accessible and infuriating portrait of the wolf question. Special Juror Award, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, 2003. (United States, 2002, 36 min.)
CONTACT: www.21paradigm.com

3:30pm Pale Male
Frederic Lilien
High above New York’s Central Park, a truly unique event has taken place. In the midst of this busy city, a bold red-tailed hawk has taken up residence. Affectionately known as "Pale Male," the hawk courts, breeds, and hunts as its devoted urban fans root for its survival. Filmed over a six-year period, Pale Male is a rare glimpse of the survival techniques of one of nature’s great predatory creatures and a surprising account of the magical relationship humanity can have with nature. Narrated by Joanne Woodward. Best People and Animals Film, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, 2003. (United States, 2002, 54 min.)
CONTACT: www.ddegroup.com

4:30pm Net Loss
Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin
We used to say, "there are always more fish in the sea," but not any more. Along with an increase in the world’s population, the fishing profession has become industrialized. The expansion of human settlements on land, together with mining and logging, have destroyed spawning habitat for fish like salmon. Pollution of inland and coastal waters has brought a substantial decrease in fish that reproduce there and whose offspring survive their journey to the sea. Now some are proposing a technological solution -- fish farms. (United States, 2003, 52 min.)
CONTACT: www.bullfrogfilms.com

Saturday Evening
Great Hall, Miners Foundry
The Best of the 2003 Fest

7:30pm Ryan’s Well
Lalita Krishna
At the young age of 6, Ryan Hreljac wanted to make a difference. Since 1998, through perseverance and determination, he has raised thousands of dollars to improve the lives of his Ugandan pen pal Jimmy Akana, as well as Jimmy’s family and friends. Ryan has become a local activist, speaking at schools and community events about water conservation, poverty, and global understanding. In this moving and inspirational documentary, we join Ryan on his journey to Africa and his lifelong mission to help the people of Uganda. Bring a box of tissues. Multiple Awards, including Best Documentary, Napa Valley Wine Country Film Festival, 2003. (Canada, 2001, 25 min.)
CONTACT: www.videoproject.com

8:00pm Rivers and Tides
Thomas Riedelsheimer
The winner of "Best of the Festival" at the 2003 Wild and Scenic Film Festival, Rivers and Tides is a journey into the mind of Scottish land artist Andy Goldsworthy as he travels the world to make site-specific works, using only materials from nature. Goldsworthy allows the elements to have the last say in his unique creations, as his ingenious patterns of wood, leaves, stone, and ice move and erode over time. This sensual film is as timeless and as beautiful as the sculptures themselves. Best Arts Film, San Francisco International Film Festival, 2002. (Germany, 2001, 90 min.)
CONTACT: www.roxie.com

Saturday Evening
Nevada Theatre
A Dose of Eco-Humor

7:00pm SUV Luv
Colin Campbell
It’s the classic love triangle: a girl, a guy, and an SUV. He loves her, she loves her car, and the car wants to crush his environmental-activist skull beneath its steel-belted tires. Clearly, something must give. Someone must bleed. But will it be blood or oil? Third Place, Best Short Comedy, New Haven Film Festival, 2003. (United States, 2003, 15 min.)
CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

7:30pm The Beast Within
Joshua Davis and Joanna Silber
What do you get when you cross a veggie-eating, yoga-mastering 135-pound urbanite with the professional arm-wrestling circuit? In this true tale, enhanced by a large dose of comic relief, you get a skinny kid from San Francisco now nationally ranked as a world-class athlete. Joshua Davis releases his beast within and interestingly finds himself somewhere between Alice in Wonderland and The Incredible Hulk. We couldn’t resist including this hilarious film! Best Documentary, Telluride MountainFilm, 2003. (United States, 2002, 48 min.) In person: Joshua Davis
CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

8:35pm French Fries... To Go
Howard Donner
Can one person truly make a difference? Be inspired by this story about a guy, his truck, and a bunch of used vegetable oil. "The Granola Ayatollah of Canola," a.k.a. Charris Ford, makes the rounds through Telluride, Colorado, in his veggie-fuel-powered rig. Cameo appearances include Daryl Hannah, Dennis Weaver, and internationally renowned physician Dr. Andrew Weil. Best Environmental Film, Telluride Mountain Film, 2002. (United States, 2002, 14 min.) In person: Charris Ford and Daryl Hannah
CONTACT: www.grassolean.com

9:15pm Go Further
Ron Mann
This "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test on Tofu" road movie follows Woody Harrelson and a small group of activist friends on a bio-fuelled bus ride down the Pacific Coast to promote sustainable and organic lifestyle choices. Along for the ride is Steve Clark, a junk-food junkie, who changes his fast-food diet in favor of "hemp burgers with a side of resin." Musical friends that are met along the way include Dave Matthews; Bob Weir; Anthony Kiedis; Natalie Merchant; Michael Franti; Medeski, Martin, and Wood; and String Cheese Incident. There is also a special stop to visit the original Merry Prankster himself, the late Ken Kesey. Some R-rated material. First Runner Up, People’s Choice Awards, Toronto Film Festival, 2003. (Canada, 2003, 80 min.) In person: Steve Clark
CONTACT: www.sphinxproductions.com