Wild & Scenic Film Festival - Silver City - Jan. 28

FILMS TO CHANGE YOUR WORLD!
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival Returns to Silver City!

EVENT DETAILS:
Date and Time: January 28 - Kids Program Doors open at 1:30 show starts at 2:15. Main program doors open at 6:00 pm and show starts at 6:30 pm.

Location Address: Silco Theater, 311 N. Bullard, Silver City

Ticket Prices: Kid's program $5/family; Main program $8.00/person; $5 for GCC members, $15 for admission plus GCC membership. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at the Gila Conservation Coalition.

Please join the Gila Conservation Coalition for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival OnTour at the historic Silco Theater on Saturday, January 28. The Kids' Program begins at 2pm and the Main Program begins at 6:30pm.

Wild & Scenic OnTour brings together a selection of films from the annual festival held the third week of January in Nevada City, CA which is now in its 9th year! Wild & Scenic focuses on films which speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet. "Films featured at Wild & Scenic give people a sense of place," says Tour Manager, Lori Van Laanen. "In our busy lives, it's easy to get disconnected from our role in the global ecosystem. When we realize that the change we need in this world begins with us we can start making a difference. Come watch and see!"

Featured at the tour venue in Silver City are films that highlight the beauty and importance of water, wild rivers and watersheds and the community efforts to protect these critical resources. Always funny and entertaining, Charris Ford, star of the film French Fries to Go, will emcee the film festival this year. Along with local guests, he also will be raffling off lots of cool items from festival national partners and local sponsors.

Here's a selection of what we'll be screening during the Main Program:

Wild Water features river people from multi generations who share a deep passion for wild places, rivers and running whitewater. The viewer crosses beyond generational and experiential boundaries, even beyond whitewater, to look at the soul of adventure sports and what they mean to all of us as a practice that is about far more than just fun. Wild Water won Best Adventure Film, Kendal Mountain Film Fest and Best Short Film, Salem Film Fest.

One Percent of the Story tells the tale of 1% for the Planet a growing global movement of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet.

In The Fishman, Mike Kasic snorkels the Yellowstone River like a human-fish through swift river canyons and scenic mountain views, watching trout in fast currents filled with frothing water tornadoes, stopping only to body surf river waves. His message is simple: a river is more than its water; what lies beneath is a wilderness that is often overlooked, but critical for the Yellowstone ecosystem to thrive.

New this year in Silver City, the Kids' Program, emceed by beloved Jose Barrios 5th Grade teacher, Mark Cantrell, features nine short films, including animated shorts, such as Oktapodi in which two octopuses help each other in their comical escape from the grasps of a stubborn restaurant cook and The Windmill Farmer in which a nurturing farmer is in danger of losing his crop of windmills when he struggles against the cyclical forces of nature. Using hand-drawn animation techniques (cut-outs and flipbooks), 6th - 8th grade students from Sidney Gutierrez Middle School in Roswell, NM created all the artwork, sound effects, music, and narration in Darkened Horizons about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The film won Best Student Doc at the Montana CINE International Film Festival.

Doors open at 1:30 so come early for face painting, fun activities, and healthy snacks before the films begin!

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is a natural extension of the Gila Conservation Coalition's work to inspire people to act on behalf of the Gila River and its watershed. Events such as GCC's annual Gila River Festival are an opportunity for people to appreciate and understand the importance of New Mexico's last free flowing river and to encourage them to work to preserve this incredible resource. The Wild and Scenic Film Festival shows us through film how communities like ours are working to protect their watersheds and unique landscapes.

Thanks to our national partners and local sponsors:

National Partners: Patagonia, CLIF Bar, Klean Kanteen, Osprey Packs, Sierra Nevada Brewing and Grist.org

Local sponsors:

Frank Merritt and Carlene Roters, Gila Hike & Bike, Gila Resources Information Project, Javalina Coffee House, Martha and Tom Cooper, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Silver City Food Co-op
SW NM Green Chamber of Commerce, Stream Dynamics, TheraSpeech, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, WNMU/Silver City International Film Society.

Free Raffle: Join in the free raffle for your chance to win a wide variety of cool items, such as a Patagonia backpack courtesy of Gila Hike and Bike, t-shirts from Patagonia, Kleen Kanteen water bottles, a backpack and camera bag from Osprey, and much more!

Snacks & Refreshments: Provided by Silver City Food Co-op and Javalina Coffee House.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival was started by the watershed advocacy group, the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) in 2003. The festival's namesake is in celebration of SYRCL's landmark victory to receive "Wild & Scenic" status for 39 miles of the South Yuba River in 1999. The 3-day event features over 100 award-winning films and welcomes over 80 guest speakers, celebrities, and activists who bring a human face to the environmental movement. The home festival kicks-off the national tour to over 100 communities nationwide allowing SYRCL to share its success as an environmental group with other organizations. It is building a network of grassroots organizations connected by a common goal of using film to inspire activism.

With the support of their National Partners: Patagonia, CLIF Bar, Klean Kanteen, Osprey Packs, Sierra Nevada Brewing and Grist.org, the festival can reach an even larger audience in tour venues coast to coast.

Gila Conservation Coalition
305A North Cooper Street
Silver City, NM 88061
575.538.8078
Gila Conservation Coalition
info@gilaconservation.org