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The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival comes to Harrisonburg

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film2Wild Virginia is proud to be hosting the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival “On Tour.” The Festival will be held in Harrisonburg at the Court Square Theatre on Monday, September 29, 2014 (41-F Court Square).   Screenings will be at 7:00 pm and tickets are $10 each. There will be nine different films shown.

Wild and Scenic On Tour brings together a selection of short films that tell a story about our planet, our beautiful and precious wildlands, and the people of the communities who love and defend them.  They open our eyes and hearts to fantastic experiences in remarkable places.  They beckon us towards action, highlight issues, and provide solutions.

The Harrisonburg show will feature Dying Green.  Set in the foothills of the Appalachians, this film explores one man’s vision of using green burials to conserve land. The efforts of small town physician Dr. Billy Campbell have radically changed our understanding of burials in the United States. Dr. Campbell’s dream is to conserve one million acres of land.

In addition to a variety of other short films listed below, Wild Virginia will be showing Return to the Tepuis.   “I hear the most beautiful sound in the world,” says Dr. Bruce Means. Referring to the call of a toad that he and his expedition team – North Face Climber Mark Synnott and National Geographic contributing photographer Joe Riis — travelled to the tops of the Tepuis of South America to find. Means has a hypothesis that he calls a paradigm and this little toad is the missing link. Braving the elements and first time repels into crevices will they find the illusive pebble toad.

Attendees can win door prizes. We will be raffling a framed print of an enormous 1,600 year old redwood tree generously donated by National Geographic photographer, Michael ‘Nick’ Nichols.

Admission is $10 each night and advance tickets are available online at www.wildvirginia.org. Wild Virginia will be offering special  $10 memberships at the door.

For more information and links to film trailers, visit the Wild Virginia website, www.wildvirginia.orgWild Virginia is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving wild forest ecosystems in Virginia’s National Forests.

Other films that will be shown on the evening include:

Reynaldo Dan Childs, Nick Werber (UK/Peru, 2013, 6 min) Reynaldo lives in the Amazon Rainforest. He used to cut down trees and farm the land to survive. He learned the hard way that it was not a sustainable way to live. He saw his land turn barren and his crops die. Then he woke up. He changed the way he worked and began planting trees. Then he learned how to farm in balance with the forest. Now he travels all over the region helping others to do the same. Finally he sees the true beauty in the forest and the message it has to offer.

Field Spotlight: Monique Pool Peter Stonier, John Martin, Becca Field, Sebastian Perry (Suriname/USA, 2013, 6 min) Monique Pool, CI partner and founder of the Green Heritage Fund Suriname, finds herself “slothified” after an area of forest in Paramaribo, Suriname, is cut down. Monique rescues more than 200 animals, mostly sloths, and brings them to an emergency shelter, which also happens to be her home. Watch how Monique manages to feed, house, and release the sloths back into the wild.

Fall Run Todd Moen (USA, 2013, 15 min) “Fall Run” is the ultimate Pacific Northwest steelhead adventure. This is the true story every angler dreams about retelling around the campfire forever. Hooking and landing a steelhead on a fly is not easy. It is arguably the most difficult type of fly fishing in the world. Add the challenges of Mother Nature’s moods, an unpredictable wild creature and one single, split- moment chance to capture it all on film……..and you’ve got a recipe for a movie house flop. But against all possible odds, luck lands on the right side for the filming of this high-action angling adventure.

I Am Red Pete McBride (USA, 2013, 4 min) The Colorado River runs 1450 miles across seven states and two countries supplying water for 36 million people. It flowed to the sea for six million years but has not kissed the ocean since the late 1990s. A video poem to highlight the beauty and challenges of this national icon, American River’s Most Endangered River for 2013.

Stories of TRUST: Calling for Climate Recovery – TRUST Montana Kelly Matheson, Deia Schlosberg (USA, 2011, 7 min) John Thiebes, a 24-year-old beginning farmer, shares that one of the most important moments in his life was when he realized climate change was real. Even more important was the moment he realized he personally had to do something significant about it. And he has. John has set out to change agricultural practices to protect food supplies and permanently alter our connection to food. John believes that the value of a stable climate is not worth something, but is worth everything, and he is leading by example on his small farm in the agricultural heart of Montana.

Paramos: Water for Life John Martin (Colombia/USA, 2012, 8 min) At 2,640 meters, Bogota, Colombia’s capital, is home to more than eight million people who depend on the surrounding mountains for their water. Here one finds the paramos, a stunning landscape that’s part of a natural machine that has sustained Bogota for centuries. This ecosystem is now threatened by mining, ranching, and large-scale agriculture, and millions could suffer if it is not conserved.

Ryan’s Stories Anson Fogel, Aimee Tetreault, Camp4 Collective Living in poverty for as long as he remembers, Ryan Hudson grew up in and out of homeless shelters. At 14, Ryan was introduced to snowboarding through Outdoor Outreach, a non- profit organization dedicated to using outdoor activities to empower at risk youth, and his life took a 180. Now competing as a semi pro athlete and serving as a brand ambassador for The North Face, Ryan’s story shares just how transformational the outdoors can be.

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