Patagonia Presents:
The Wild and Scenic Environmental
Film Festival On Tour
About the Festival
The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival --- the largest environmental film festival in North America --- is coming to Wise County on September 19-20! The Clinch Coalition will be hosting the event, showing two nights of inspiring films.
(Click on the links to view a trailer for select films.)
Friday, September 19: 7 - 9 pm
Sergio Cannella
Before sleeping, a child in her apartment is lovingly watching a fish in the aquarium. In the meantime her younger brother is being mindless of the open tap the water flowing out of the washbasin ... a waste that could turn into a tragedy. Many awards,including: Best Short, Vatavaran FF; Best Spot, Festival International Du Film Sur L’Énergie de Lausanne. (Italy, 2006, 2min)
Edge of Eden: Living With Grizzlies
Jury Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008
Jeff & Sue Turner
Grizzly bears are considered by many to be the most dangerous animal in the world. But there is one man, Canadian Charlie Russell, who thinks differently. He believes that grizzlies are misunderstood animals and that our fear of them is not only unnecessary but driving them to extinction. His beliefs have taken him to Russia, where he has raised orphaned grizzly bear cubs for the past ten years in the wilderness of the Southern Kamchatka Peninsula. Multiple awards. (Canada, 2006, 89min)
Saturday, September 20: 6 - 9 pm
Rita
Young Filmmakers Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008
Alison Teal Blehert-Koehn
This film is a true story about Alison, a seven-year-old girl who has been dragged around the world by her adventure travel guide/photographer/yoga-teaching parents and longs to be a kid and stay in one place long enough to have friends and go to school with children her own age. Unexpectedly, during one of the family’s expeditions high in the Himalaya of Nepal, she befriends a seven-year-old Sherpa girl named Rita. Alison sneaks out to join Rita and they embark on a wild and touching adventure over an 18,000 ft. pass near the base of Mt. Everest—a journey that plops them right in Alison’s dream world. Kids Choice, Telluride Mountainfilm, Best Family Short, Boulder Adventure FF, Nomintated for MTV Movie Award. (USA, 2006, 6min)
Water Loving Doggies
Will Kier
There are places in this world and moments in time when PARADISE does exist ... join some furry friends down on the Yuba. (USA, 2007, 3min)
For The Price of a Cup of Coffee
Hypatia Porter
Follow the life cycle of a paper cup and the environmental repercussions of a society reliant on convenience. Filmed in the San Francisco Bay Area with interviews from local activists and experts. Maybe you’’ll remember now to bring your own cup to the cafe! Best Documentary Epidemic Student Film Festival, Best Environmental Documentary, Cabbagetown Short Film Festival, Toronto. (USA, 2007, 15min)
Oil and Water Project
People’s Choice Award - Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2008
Seth Warren
Two kayakers embark on an endless summer-style 35,000 km road trip from Alaska to Argentina in a retro-outfitted Japanese fire truck without a single drop of petroleum. They converted their regular diesel engine to run on everything from pig lard to palm pulp and they traveled for 9 months in pursuit of the best whitewater in the Americas. The pair coordinated with schools, local governments, farmers, agricultural research centers and media to conduct demonstrations advocating for the use of alternative energy all along the way. Best Environmental Film, Taos MountainFilm, Everest Award Recipient for Advocacy. (USA, 2007, 33min)
Isaac Brown, Eric Flagg
Lawns are undeniably an American symbol. But what do they really symbolize? Pride and prosperity? Or waste and conformity? Gimme Green is a humorous look at the American obsession with the residential lawn and the effects it has on our environment, our wallets and our outlook on life. From the limitless subdivisions of Florida to sod farms in the arid southwest, Gimme Green peers behind the curtain of the $40-billion industry that fuels our nation’s largest irrigated crop—the lawn. College Television Award, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; Best Documentary Short, Beverly Hills Shorts Festival; Best Documentary Short, Phoenix FF; plus more. (USA, 2006, 27min)
A Forest Returns
Jean Andrews and Steve Fetsch
The Success Story of Ohio's Only National Forest as told By Ora E. Anderson Documentary that presents an inspirational message about citizen participation and forest advocacy during the 1930's Depression era. Film producer, Jean Andrews, was inspired by Ora Anderson, a storyteller featured in documentary, as he traces the rebirth of a forest in Southeastern Ohio after generations of clear-cutting and farming. The project came about through her friendship with Anderson and her academic interest in the historical geography of Appalachian Ohio. Ninety-three year-old Ora Anderson, an Athens-area resident, nature writer, and radio commentator, was a journalist living in Southeastern Ohio during the Great Depression. In the video, Anderson vividly recalls the environmental and social conditions that led to the establishment of the Wayne National Forest. This video illustrates our evolving relationship with the land through Anderson's movingly personal account, archival photographs, 1930s newspaper reports, "then and now" imagery, and features music composed and performed by Southeastern Ohio musician Bruce Dalzell. (USA, 30min.)
Jean Andrews will be present to give insight into the film and answer your questions.
Buy Tickets
Ticket prices:
- Regular: $12 for two nights or $8 for one night
- Students/seniors: $6 per night
- Bring a friend and get the second ticket for half off!
Tickets are now on sale at the following locations:
A Glass Expression
8429 Main St., Pound, VA
Phone: 796-2228
Appalachian Office of Justice and Peace (inside the Oxbow Center)
16620 E. Riverside Dr., St. Paul, VA
Phone: 762-5050
The Clapboard House
207 Main St., Wise, VA (near Hardee's)
Phone: 328-4470
Lonesome Pine Office on Youth
Radio Shack/Clintwood Electronics Center
Main Street, Clintwood, VA (across from a closed EXXON station, just up the street from Jettie Baker Center)
Phone: 926-8509
Scott County Virginia Star
255 West Jackson St., Gate City, VA
Phone: 386-6300
Shelly's Place
736 Park Ave, Norton, VA
Phone: 679-6084
Summit City
208 Main St., Whitesburg, KY
Phone: 633-2715
Or make out a check to "VOP/TCC" and mail it to "The Clinch Coalition, 1986 Inthepines Cir., Dungannon, VA 24245". Be sure to make a note that you are reserving tickets for the film festival.
Volunteers Wanted
The Clinch Coalition needs lots of help to make the film festival a success. We're looking for volunteers willing to help out before, during, and after the event. We have a job that will match your talents. All volunteers will receive one complimentary ticket to the film festival!
For more information, please contact Anna Hess at anna@kitenet.net or (276) 467-1417.
Corporate Sponsors
The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is made possible by the generous support of:
Rex and Lisa McCarty
Thank you!
Want to become a corporate sponsor? Contact Anna Hess: anna@kitenet.net or 276-467-1417.
Gimme Green