Plaza de Bandos, Salamanca, SPAIN – October 9th, 2013 – 8pm – 10:15pm
October 2013, I was lucky enough to curate an outdoor film festival as part of the 10th World Wilderness Congress (WILD10) in Salamanca, Spain. My co-curator, Morgain Heim and I pulled together a collection of short films to celebrate the connectivity with nature and people. The overarching theme of WILDshorts is wilderness interpreted both literally and figuratively. Above all, WILDshorts was a celebration of wilderness. Many of the featured films can be viewed online – check for links below.
Why?
Film is a powerful tool for bringing environmental issues to life. Through storytelling and breathtaking visuals, film is a crucial element for inspiring awareness and action.
2013 WILDshorts Film Line-Up:
A Life Well Lived
Director: Eric Becker
“It is in the wild places from the damp clean air of an ancient forest, on a heaving ocean in unpredictable winds, on a snowy summit at the top of the world that I enter my own personal cathedral and know where I fit in the vastness of creation.” – Jim Whittaker Fifty years ago, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Mt. Everest. View film online
A World Made of Coral
International League of Conservation Photographers, Living Ocean Foundation & Michele Westmorland iLCP photographer Michele Westmorland joined the crew and scientists of the M/Y Golden Shadow to document a coral reef research expedition in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia conducted by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, a US based non-profit dedicated to conserving and restoring ocean ecosystems through research and education. One of the most extensive assessments of French Polynesia reef systems ever undertaken, the data gathered by the scientists and the images captured by Michele will assist in identifying sites of high priority for protection and in developing conservation strategies to benefit the reef ecosystem and help it to become more resilient in the face of future threats and climate change. View film online
Bandrus Story
Directors: Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele
Each year Badru Mugerwa sets 60 camera traps in the rugged forests of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. His work is part of theTEAM Network, a global web of field stations that provide an early warning system for loss of biodiversity in tropical forests. Badru and his fellow TEAM scientists have collected over one million images of mammals and birds to help guide conservation efforts. This story is the first in a series that will follow three TEAM scientists on three different continents monitoring ground dwelling animals, vegetation and climate. View the film online
Cheetahs on the Edge
Cheetahs are the fastest runners on the planet. Combining the resources of National Geographic Magazine and the Cincinnati Zoo, and drawing on the skills of an incredible crew, we documented these amazing cats in a way that’s never been done before. Using a Phantom camera filming at 1200 frames per second while zooming beside a sprinting cheetah, the team captured every nuance of the cat’s movement as it reached top speeds of 60+ miles per hour. The extraordinary footage that follows is a compilation of multiple runs by five cheetahs during three days of filming.
For more information about cheetah conservation, visit causeanuproar.com/ & view the film online
Julio Solis: A MoveShake film
Director: Alexandira Bombach, Red Reel Productions
The MoveShake film series presents the story of Julio Solis, a sea turtle conservationist in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California, Mexico. In his youth, Julio was a poacher of sea turtles until a life changing mentor shifted his perspective about his relationship with the ocean. Julio is now working to protect the sea turtles by running a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Magdalena Bay’s natural resources. His story is one of perseverance and personal growth as he works to change the tide for the future of his community. View film online
Mexicano vs. La Selva
Luego de su viaje al Congo, Fernando regresa a México donde él y su amigo de la infancia, Victor, se unen en la misión de encontrar la mejor manera de cuidar al planeta. No es la tierra la que se está acabando sino el hombre. De acabar con los recursos naturales, el hombre se extinguirá. A menos que hagamos algo. Y justo ese es nuestro objetivo. Llegar a la acción. En este capítulo conocemos a Bantú, Gorila espalda plateada, cuya especie se encuentra en peligro de extinción por un mineral llamado Coltan. Y a Salvador Dodger Montaño, experto peleador y máximo campeón mexicano de Artes Marciales Mixtas (MMA). Pero las cosas no son lo que parecen. Descubre que tienen ellos que enseñarnos del cuidado al medio ambiente y nuestra propia supervivencia.
Monique Pool’s Sloth Sanctuary
Conservation International
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 rescued more than 200 animals, mostly sloths, and brought 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. View film online
Net-Works
Net-Works™ is designed to tackle the growing environmental problem of discarded fishing nets in some of the world’s poorest coastal communities and to support Interface’s ambitious goals for recycled content for its carpet tile. The program has established a community-based supply chain for collecting discarded fishing nets in rural coastal areas within the Danajon Bank, one of only six double-barrier reefs in the world. View film online
Putting up the fish
Director: Ted Wood
Nondalton, Alaska is a traditional Athabascan village whose residents have lived off the land for 10,000 years. June Tracey tells us about fish camp, the places each year Nondalton residents go to “put up their fish.” The annual salmon run is central to the native culture and diet, but a looming threat could bring an end to an ancient fishing tradition. Nondalton is only 15 miles from the proposed Pebble Mine site and if the mine goes in, it could mean disaster for Nondalton’s and Bristol Bay’s salmon run. View film online
Rey en el Norte
Directors: Nacho Ruiz & Alberto Saiz, NaturaHD Films
Short piece about the Iberian Brown Bear. There are just around 180 individuals living in the mountains of Northern Spain. The population is fragmented in two and they are separated from each other for the past 50 years. Their survival depends on the natural corridors that connect the smallest population in the east of the Cantabrian Mountains with the larger subpopulation in the west area.
Snakes in a Cave
Directors: Dr. Neil Losin and Dr. Nate Dappen
Dr. Neil Losin and Dr. Nate Dappen are two biologists on a mission: to seek out nature’s most amazing spectacles and share them with people around the world. In the first installment of “Biology Road Trips,” they visit a Puerto Rican cave reputed to be the home of 300,000 bats… and a healthy population of boas that specialize in hunting the bats! If the rumors were true, Neil and Nate wanted to see the snakes in action and capture this unique behavior on film. View film online
Sounds like Nature
2013 // produced by Luma.Launisch
Set in the national parks of Austria, ambient sound artists create an orchestral musical composition, recorded from sounds of nature, and accompanied by stunning visuals of the creatures, places and things that produce them. View film online
The Mother
Director: Skip Armstrong, Forge Motion Pictures
Do our mothers still have dreams, hopes and journeys to make? At age 67, Melody reflects on her life, her hopes, her failures and her dreams while exploring the magnificent waters and canyons of the Utah desert. Watch film online
The Scared is Scared
Director: Bianca Giaever
I asked a six year old what my movie should be about, and this is what he told me. View film online
The Way Home
“You shouldn’t have to convince people to go to paradise,”
–Shelton Johnson, Ranger, Yosemite National Park
Although our national parks belong to all Americans, it’s a sad fact that very few people of color ever set foot in some of our country’s most beautiful places. Take a journey to Yosemite National Park with the Amazing Grace 50+ Club, a Los Angeles-based senior church group whose members are looking to reverse that trend. View film online
Unicorn Sashimi
Felt Soul Media
Felt Soul Media teamed up with Nick Waggoner and Yuki Miyazaki of Sweetgrass Productions in January 2012 to hunt the mythical Hokkaido Unicorn. The creature proved difficult to capture on film, so we just decided to do a little skiing. View film online
Valhalla (an Excerpt)
Sweetgrass Productions
VALHALLA, Sweetgrass Productions’ fourth feature film, is the tale of one man’s search to rediscover the freedom of his youth. Beyond action sports—with Valhalla’s totally unique style and structure, is a daring new spin on the ski film, exploding the boundaries of the genre, and opening the eyes and melting the hearts of any story-loving soul. With hard-hitting ski and snowboard action complimenting a more narrative-driven approach than our past films, or perhaps any other ski movie before it, we follow one man’s escape into the Northern woods, and his wild journey towards satisfaction, understanding, and love in some of the deepest snows on earth. Watch the trailer & find a screening near you.
Walk on Water
Andy Maser Films
For each thing we lose, we gain another…
When a skiing accident left Greg Mallory paralyzed from the waist down, he turned to kayaking to help him escape his wheelchair. Now he’s an accomplished Class V whitewater paddler who finds strength, challenge and meaning on the river. This is his story. View film online
Wild India
Director: Sandesh Kadur
In celebration of Republic day, we at Felis Films would like to bring to you a unique assemblage of footage from across Wild India. This video is a tribute to the little-known citizens of India, who also share the same National Anthem as we do. Jai Hind! View film online
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