Contact: Emily Nelson, (928) 202-1325, emily@gcwolfrecovery.org
Films about Wolves and about our Planet! Films that Inspire!
Flagstaff, Arizona: Join the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project members and volunteers when they host the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival On Tour at the Orpheum Theater on February 19, 2010 at 7:00 PM.
Wild and Scenic On Tour brings together a selection of films from the annual festival held the second week of January in Nevada City, CA. “The films tell a story about our planet, highlighting issues, providing solutions and giving a call to action,” says Tour Manager, Susie Sutphin. “Their collective energy empowers communities to initiate conversations that can bring about compromise and collaborative efforts that positively impact our wild places.”
The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival was started by the watershed advocacy group, the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) in 2003. SYRCL is sharing their success as an environmental group with other organizations to bring the festival to over 90 communities nationwide. It is building a network of grassroots organizations connected by a common goal of using film to inspire activism. The festival’s namesake is in celebration of achieving Wild and Scenic status for 39 miles of the South Yuba River in 1999. They celebrated their 8th annual film festival in January 2010 in Nevada City, CA. The 3-day event featured over 125 award-winning films and welcomed over 80 guest speakers, celebrities, and activists who brought a human face to the environmental movement. With the support of their National Partners: Clif Bar, Tom’s of Maine, Osprey Packs, Patagonia and Sierra Nevada Brewing the festival can reach an even larger audience in tour venues coast to coast.
The film festival brings a community together. “Film is an artistic language that crosses political and social boundaries and offers a place for diverse perspectives to intertwine and mingle,” says environmental activist Lesley Adams of Medford, OR. “Film is a wonderful medium with which to bring divergent interests together around universal issues and discover that we have more in common then our perceived and historical differences suggest.”
In Flagstaff, the evening film festival will include wildlife films with an emphasis on predators’ role in the ecosystem. In the film, Lords of Nature, wolves and cougars, once driven to the edge of existence, are finding their way back—from the Yellowstone plateau to the canyons of Zion, from the farm country of northern Minnesota to the rugged open range of the West. A brief film about young farmers in America leading the way into a new world of agriculture, sustainability, and economics will inspire viewers to consider food issues in our region. There will also be several short children’s films about actions that can be taken in their community to benefit the earth.
“The festival is a natural extension of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project’s work to encourage citizens to act on behalf of wolf recovery and the restoration of ecological health to the Grand Canyon region,” says coordinator Emily Nelson.
The Recovery Project works to build an educated and supportive community to welcome the return of wolves to their historic home range. The Wild and Scenic Film Festival will bring together northern Arizonans for an inspirational evening focusing on a variety of important environmental issues close to home. An opening reception and environmental fair with local conservation groups, drinks, food, and music by Dave McGraw and Crow Wing will connect festival attendees with local environmental issues and ways to become involved. A raffle will benefit the work of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. One free raffle ticket will be included in the price of the $10 admission ticket, and door prizes will be given away by several of the film festival sponsors.
Event Details:
Date and Time: February 19, 2010. Doors open at 6:30 PM with an opening reception and music by Dave McGraw and Crow Wing. Event begins at 7:00 PM.
Location: The Orpheum Theater, 15 W. Aspen Ave., Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Ticket Price: $10.00 (admission price includes one free raffle ticket). Tickets are available in advance at Anima’s Trading Co., Rainbow’s End, and Bookman’s Entertainment Exchange in Flagstaff, and at the door on the night of event.
For more information: Contact, Emily Nelson, emily@gcwolfrecovery.org, (928) 202-1325. www.gcwolfrecovery.org
