Young Filmmakers Included in Wild & Scenic
From Scotland to Hawaii, from animation to documenting a tree sit; films by young filmmakers represent some of the diversity of films selected for the 2012 Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Both High School and College students approach topics with ingenuity, humor and a sense of wonder. Wild & Scenic encourages these filmmakers with our annual Young Filmmaker Award. Attend our Awards Ceremony to celebrate these and other filmmakers Saturday, January 14 at 4:15 in the Stone Hall at the Miner’s Foundry.
The Adventures of Oranges (6 minutes) boldly pioneers the environmental comedy genre. Created by four Maui middle and high school students, the film centers around a conversation between a Maui orange and a Florida orange in the produce section of the supermarket. The film reveals the comic absurdity of how far most of our food travels before we eat it. The four young filmmakers are fundraising in order to attend our festival. Local residents are donating their Hawaiian Airlines frequent flier miles to help the students attend our festival. Visit their Facebook page on how to help. We hope the filmmakers will be able to attend both the Saturday Kid Films and our Friday morning School Program to talk with other students about their film. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival will be the West Coast Premier of The Adventures of Oranges.
Tuned In (5 minutes) tells the story of Steve Greevy who is fascinated by the natural world and by amateur radio. When he discovered that nature produced its own radio signals, be began a quest to capture these sounds – a quest that has taken him to the most remote parts of the continent. This film explores Steve’s motivations and takes the viewer on a sonic journey into this hidden world. College student Kevin Gordon created this award winning film. For more visit his website.
Where the Wild Things Were (15 minutes) follows several species that have played an essential role in regenerating Scotland’s ancient Caledonian pine forests. The documentary also explores the history of deforestation and its effects on the remaining Caledonian pine forests. Scottish college student Amber C Eames captures the delicate balance in a disappearing ecosystem. It will have it’s US Premier at Wild & Scenic.
In addition, we will screen The Huia, a fictional short about hunting a bird to extinction by a New Zealand College Student; Among Giants, follows an activist during a tree sit in an ancient redwood canopy; Anna, Emma and the Condors tells the story of two sisters who have been raised surrounded by California Condors; Beaver Creek Episode Four, is the world premier of a stop motion animation of two friends: a duck and a beaver; I wish I went to Ecuador, is an animated campaign to protect Ecuadorian rainforest through a child’s perspective, and Roots and Hollers chronicles the hunt for wild ginseng root from Appalachia to Asia, and uncovers an underground trade threatened by urban sprawl, over-harvesting and strip-mining.
Watch these films throughout the festival weekend, and encourage creativity and environmental education by attending the Saturday Kids Films with your favorite young person.
