If this position sounds right for you, please read the full job description and consider submitting an application.

Wild & Scenic seeks unique environmental and adventure films that aim to inspire and educate. Approximately 100 films will be officially selected out of the more than 350 anticipate entries. Wild & Scenic On Tour then travels to over 115 locations in the United States and internationally. This On Tour program gives filmmakers a wonderful opportunity for worldwide exposure.

Filmmakers of all abilities and backgrounds are invited to submit their films. All films must be formally submitted through the online service Without A Box. But first, we recommend reviewing the submission details at our website on the submit your film page.

Founded in 2003, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is produced by the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL). The festival brings together films, speakers, filmmakers, environmental activists, and celebrities from around the world to celebrate environmental and adventure filmmaking. The three-day weekend event held annually each winter in Nevada City, CA (and now Grass Valley, too!), features films, workshops, wine tastings, receptions, music, an awards ceremony, and more. Past special guests include Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, poet Gary Snyder, actors Patrick Stewart, Daryl Hannah, and Peter Coyote, and activists Bill McKibben, Julia Butterfly, Winona LaDuke, Tim DeChristopher, Randy Hayes, and Colin Beavan.

Currently celebrating 30 successful years, SYRCL is committed to uniting the community to protect and restore the Yuba River watershed.

May 15, 7pm: Doug Ammons presents Riverscapes: Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad Street, Nevada City, CA

Expedition kayaker and PhD psychologist Dr. Doug Ammons shares a multi-media presentation “Riverscapes,” exploring how river shape both the land and the human cultures that live along them. In 2010, Ammons was named by Outside Magazine as “one of the top ten game changers in adventure since 1900” for his pioneering whitewater kayaking expeditions. He weaves together his knowledge of adventure and psychology for an evening of inspirational ideas about how cultural beliefs reflect the physical world. Join us in a talk about the science and psychology of striking landscapes shaped into a sacred universe.

Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad Street Nevada City, CA.
$17 general  |  $15 SYRCL Members  |  $10 student
Tickets available online or at the SYRCL office, 216 Main Street Nevada City, CA.  Call or email Melinda Booth for more information (530) 265-5961 x202.

November 14, 7pm: Dan Flores

Dan Flores has held the A. B. Hammond Chair in Western History at the University of Montana since 1992.  His specialty is the environmental and cultural history of the American West.  He is the author of eight books, most recently Visions of the Big Sky (2010), Caprock Canyonlands (a 20th anniversary edition, 2010), and The Natural West (2002).  His essays on the environment, art, and culture of the West also appear in magazines such as Texas Monthly, Orion, Southwest Art, The Big Sky Journal, and High Country News. His work has been honored by the Western History Association, the Western Writers of America, the Denver Public Library, the National Cowboy Museum, the Oklahoma Book Awards, the University of Oklahoma Press, the Montana Historical Society, the Texas State Historical Association, the High Plains Book Awards, and the Montana Book Awards.  His next book is Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History.

Event details and ticket pricing will be available late summer.

A group of kids united by their fight to save their favorite state park. The beauty of alpenglow, perhaps nature’s most beautiful light, caught in remote lands most of us will never see in person. A town impacted by nearby uranium mining.

These are the bases of several films that are part of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, a festival that brings stories about advocacy, adventure and the environment to towns around the United States.

The festival is coming to Sheridan, Lander and Riverton this month.

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival started as a screening of documentaries at  events of the South Yuba River Citizens League — a California conservation group. The films were so popular people asked how they could share them in their hometowns, said Lori Van Laanen, manager of the festival tour. So six years ago the nonprofit put the films on tour and the festival has been growing in popularity ever since. It is now recognized as one of the premier outdoor film festivals.

Last spring protesters in Patagonia launched the biggest anti-dam demonstrations in the country’s history. “Streams of Consequence” shows the protests and also works to answer questions about alternative energy. It is one of several films that will screen in Wyoming as part of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival. (Photo Courtesy “Streams of Consequence”)

The organization received more than 350 film submissions this year. Eighty were picked for the tour, tackling environmental issues, climate change, conservation and adventure. Organizations select from those the ones they want to show in their community.

“It’s our mission that the film festival is meant to inspire people and unite communities to heal the Earth,” Van Laanen said.

In Wyoming, Patagonia has partnered with organizations to bring the festival to several communities.

This is the second year the festival is visiting Sheridan, courtesy of the Powder River Basin Resource Council. The festival brings awareness to people about the council and is a way to gain more members, said Bill Bensel, organizer with the group.

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival tackles topics like outdoor adventure, impacts of energy development and wildlife. (Photo Courtesy of “Eyes in the Forest, the Portraiture of Jim Lawrence”)

It also provides entertainment in line with the council’s mission, rather than the “blow ‘em up action” movies that dominate the theater, Bensel said.

“These films have a value-laden story,” he said. “We may see beautiful place and water falls and eye candy, but underneath it there is something that people need to be aware of. … (The films) open up people’s eyes.”

There will be two showings in Sheridan, with different films at each. The first focuses on water and renewable energy, Bensel said. The second showing’s theme is forests and wildlife. There will be raffles and prize giveaways at both screenings from local sponsors.

In Lander and Riverton the festival is sponsored by Wild Iris and the Wyoming Outdoor Council. The same films will play in both towns.

“This is one of the things that makes Lander a really cool place,” said Emily Tilden, assistant manager at Wild Iris.

“Last Light” is one of many films you can catch in April at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival. The festival is making stops in Sheridan, Riverton and Lander this month. (Photo Courtesy “Last Light”)

It is the first time the festival has screened in Riverton, which will allow easier access to the festival for that community as well as Central Wyoming College.

The variety of films will appeal to different viewers. One film, “Tailings,” is about the impacts of uranium on a small town in New Mexico. Another film, “Sand Rider,” follows a snowboarder who spends his summers earning turns on sand dunes in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. “The Last Ice Merchant,” is the story of a man and his brothers who for decades harvested and sold ice from a mountain in Ecuador.

The film festival is a way to get people engaged in the environment, Tilden said.

“I think this is a really palatable way to find out what’s going on in our environment and how it impacts recreation,” she said.

Like in Sheridan, the film is meant to attract new members to the sponsoring organization, the Wyoming Outdoor Council, said Linda Sisco, administrative coordinator with the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

In addition to the films showing there will be a chance to learn about what the outdoor council does in Wyoming.

Sisco hopes people leave feeling empowered.

“It’s a reminder somebody can always do something to help out,” she said.

Check it out

Sheridan

• When: 4:30 and 7 p.m. April 17
• Where: Centennial Theater in Sheridan
• How much: $10

Riverton

• When: 6:30 p.m. April 25
• Where: Little Theater at Central Wyoming College
• How much: $8 in advance, $12 at the door, $5 students, free with a first time Wyoming Outdoor Council Membership

Lander

• When: 6:30 p.m. April 26
• Where: Monarch Room
• How much: $8 in advance, $12 at the door, $5 students, free with first time Wyoming Outdoor Council Membership

Kelsey Dayton

— “Peaks to Plains” is a blog focusing on Wyoming’s outdoors and communities. Kelsey Dayton is a freelance writer based in Lander. She has been a journalist in Wyoming for seven years, reporting for the Jackson Hole News & Guide, Casper Star-Tribune and the Gillette News-Record. Contact Kelsey at kelsey.dayton@gmail.com.

Created in 2003, this 3-day festival draws more than 4,500 attendees and launches an annual “On Tour” program designed to raise awareness and encourage grassroots environmental action nationally and internationally.  Additionally, this festival is SYRCL’s largest annual fundraising effort and proceeds fund SYRCL’s other programmatic work.

Check out the full job description and apply today.

Estrella & Lori, WSFF On Tour Managers

Would you like to contribute your knowledge in marketing to help grow the Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour? We are hopeful that someone in our SYRCL community with marketing knowledge and some time will be willing to meet with the On Tour managers for a consultation on promoting our film festival to environmental groups, colleges, nature centers, theaters and corporations across the county. Currently the WSFF On Tour travels to 100 venues from coast to coast inspiring people and uniting communities to heal the earth. Be a part of the change you want to see. Contact Lori Van Laanen if you are interested in this unique volunteer opportunity, Lori@syrcl.org . Check out our WSFF website and go to the On Tour drop down menu to learn more about this program.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festivals On Tour travels to over 100 communities across the country during the year. Many of these events are hosted in April to celebrate Earth Day. Help us spread the word! Check out the dates and locations below to see if Wild & Scenic is coming to your area.  Attend an event, promote one on your Facebook page, or tell a friend who lives near a venue all about this inspiring film festival.  The WSFF inspires people and unites communities to heal the earth in partnership with our National Sponsors; CLIF Bar, Patagonia, Mother Jones, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Happy Earth Day from SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival!

Host Venues Alphabetical By State

• Friends of Mat-Su, April 25 & 26, Palmer, AK
• Friends of the San Pedro River, April 13 & 14, Sierra Vista & Bisbee, AZ
• John Muir Center, April 11th, Stockton, CA
• Tahoe Truckee Earth Day, April 18th & 19th, Incline Village & Squaw Valley, CA
• Santa Clara University, April 25th, Santa Clara, CA
• ESRI, April 26th, Redlands, CA
• Colorado College, April 26th, Colorado Springs, CO
• Western Colorado Congress, April 26th, Grand Junction, CO
• Connecticut Sierra Club, April 19th, West Hartford
• MSD Biscayne Nature Center, April 19th, Key Biscayne, FL
• Environmental Learning Center, April 21st, Vero Beach, FL
• Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, April 6th & 7th, Waimea, HI
• Western North Carolina Alliance (WNCA), April 4th & 25th, Asheville & Boone, NC
• Triangle Bikeworks, April 25th, Chapel Hill, NC
• The Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire, April 26th, Portsmouth, NH
• Finger Lakes Institute, April 5th, Geneva, NY

A FEW MORE WINNERS FROM THE WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL – Our Sunday, Jan. 13 showing of the winners sold out.  Now we’re showing two more winners and a local favorite that we were unable to show at that screening.  This show is a benefit for SYRCL and The Wild & Scenic Film Festival.  Admission is $10 and tickets will not be available in advance, only at the Nevada Theatre box office the night of the showing, show starts at 7:30pm on Sunday March 10.  Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle – 86 min – won Honorable Mention.  It depicts the lengthy battle between wind power developers and the residents of Cape Cod.  Out Living It - 44 min – won the Most Inspiring Adventure Film Award and shows how young adult cancer survivors take on the challenge of rock climbing and kayaking during a week long adventure camp in Colorado.  In addition, we’re also showing the audience favorite How The Kids Saved The Parks – 14 min.This show is a benefit for SYRCL, the South Yuba River Citizens League–the organization that produces the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. 

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour provides organizations with a turnkey event which includes all the films, promotional materials, a thorough event Tool-Kit, and support from the On Tour staff.  The thirteen Climate of Change films feature people from around the world, of all ages, and from all walks of life who are asking important questions and finding inspiring new ways to approach climate problems. The program includes a Climate Action Handbook, too, that offers concrete “take action” solutions from non-profit and activist groups across the country.

SYRCL is pleased to announce that several grants are available for college or university organizations who host A Climate of Change event and partner with a local environmental group. These grants are made possible by support from Patagonia and is a direct way for them to increase awareness of environmental issues using a creative and progressive tool—films!

To find out more about A Climate of Change Film Festival On Tour contact Tour Manager, Estrella Acosta at 530-265-5961×21, estrella@syrcl.org .

3D Film Screening

Have fond memories of your experience last month at Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2013?  Reminisce with some photos from the event.  Wild & Scenic has a Flickr Gallery featuring some great photos taken during the four day-extravaganza by our official Festival Photographers Dave Preston (DRP Photography), Josh Miller (Josh Miller Photography), and Sol Henson.

Below are a few favorites, too.

The Brothers Comatose entertain at The Haven.

Beth & George Gage, filmmakers for Bidder 70 collect the Spirit of Activism award.

The Media Lounge in action with Alex Honnold & Elisa Parker!

A packed house Friday night at The Center for the Arts.

Caleb Dardick, SYRCL’s current ED (right) and Jason Rainey, former ED enjoy the fest!

Cafeteria Man, Tony Geraci, and Nevada County School’s Central Kitchen Director, Suzanne Grass talk food.

Before I Die Street Art

Elyna & Flo Emcee a Session

Awards Jury

SYRCL’s Activist table in Fest HQ