*WILD & SCENIC GOES VIRTUAL - Information Regarding COVID-19 and Our Festival*
With the forecast for uncertainty around how COVID-19 will continue to impact larger public gatherings, we have decided to move the 19th annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival in January to a completely virtual platform. The health and well-being of our attendees and community is our priority and we feel this is the best way to ensure everyone’s safety. We are putting all our efforts now into successfully pivoting to a digital event and hope that we can all continue to support each other in sharing powerful and inspiring messages to the world. The opportunities that going digital will offer us include reaching new and wider audiences with Official Selections, incorporating even more filmmaker and guest involvement, and lowering the barrier to an event that in previous years may have been inaccessible to some. Wild & Scenic remains committed to the mission of inspiring activism through film.
Please see our letter to filmmakers with more information and an FAQ, which will continue to be updated (https://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org/2021-festival-update-for-filmmakers/). We are grateful for your continued support and eagerly anticipate what the future will bring.
(Updated 7/16/2020)
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
In January 2021, SYRCL’s (South Yuba River Citizens League) 19th Annual Wild & Scenic® Film Festival returns with an incredible selection of films to change your world. Each year, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival draws top filmmakers, celebrities, leading activists, social innovators and well-known world adventurers to the historic downtowns of Nevada City and Grass Valley, California.
ABOUT THE FILMS
Wild & Scenic will feature environmental and adventure films from around the world that illustrate the earth’s beauty, the challenges facing our planet, and the work communities are doing to protect the environment. We welcome shorts and features about nature, community activism, intentional adventure, conservation, health, water, energy, climate change, wildlife, environmental justice, food, and farming. Our objective is to inform, inspire, and ignite solutions and possibilities to restore the earth and human communities while creating a positive future for the next generation, all through stellar filmmaking, beautiful cinematography, and first-rate storytelling. Films are curated into themed tracks, which pair projects with complimentary subject matter or ideas to create a cinematic journey for audiences.
Each year, filmmakers and activists travel from around the globe to speak to festival-goers following their respective films for Q&A, in workshops held in the festival’s activist center, and in talks and chats throughout the weekend. There are many opportunities for filmmakers to connect with peers, audiences, and press alike.
While all films will be considered, we are especially interested in films that interpret our theme, "Resilient by Nature." It is a reminder that, as individuals and communities, we are inherently resilient, drawing on our strengths, talents, and lived experiences to innovate and inspire positive change for a better world. Our theme is also a call to look to nature as a model for resiliency and seek to create solutions to environmental challenges through nature-inspired designs and strategies.
Ten "Yubie" awards are given each year:
Best of Festival
People's Choice
Spirit of Activism
Most Inspiring Adventure Film
Best in Theme
Best Short Short
Jury Award (x2)
Student Filmmaker
John de Graaf Environmental Filmmaking Award
Three Honorable Mention certificates are awarded by our Jury, in addition to a Best Kids Film and Honorable Mention, awarded by our Kids Jury.