2019 Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Sunday Morning, NC Oddfellows

Our National Parks belong to everyone. So why are they so white?
Angela Fichter, Daniel Penner, Nikhil Swaminathan, Amelia Bates | 2018 | 5 min
Only 20 percent of visitors to National Parks are people of color. As the broader conservation movement continues to struggle with diversity and inclusion, many worry that the Trump administration will only make things worse. Watch our video to learn about the troubling history of public lands and to meet the conservationists of color who are trying to change the parks' future.

The Hammocks
Michael O'Connell, Rachel Raney | 2018 | 27 min
While an early generation of climbers was summiting Everest and enjoying Yosemite's spectacular beauty in the 1950s, Africans Americans couldn't gain access to beaches in America. The Hammocks tells the story of an unlikely and defiant turn of the century friendship between a wealthy white doctor and black outdoorsman. Together, they protected and preserved hundreds of acres of pristine coastline. Explore the origins of North Carolina’s Hammocks Beach State Park and a story of how African Americans asserted their rights to open recreational wild places.

The Ocean: Our Foundation
Natalia Polinskey, Chloe Chin, Ka'imi Kaleleiki, Amia Datts-Voluntad | 2018 | 4 min
This short film full of ocean imagery references the coral polyp's central role in the Kumulipo, or Hawaiian creation chant, as a metaphor for its current role as a warning sign of the destruction modern humans are doing to our oceans. The film features voiceovers by local ocean advocates Ekolu Lindsey, Lily Solano, and Paige Alms about rediscovering our kuleana to protect our ocean.

A Word to the Wise
Jordi Esgleas Marroi, Gangway Media | 2017 | 27 min
Strikingly cinematic, A Word to the Wise focuses on Douglas Lui Fo’oa, a husband and father from the Solomon Islands with a flair for anthropology. He recounts the archipelago’s ancient history, the challenges his community faces, and his commitment to preserving their way of life.

takayna
Alex Lowther, Emily Grant, Nate Ptacek | 2018 | 37 min
takayna / Tarkine in northwestern Tasmania is home to one of the last undisturbed tracts of Gondwanan rainforest in the world and one of the highest concentrations of Aboriginal archaeology in the hemisphere. Yet this place is currently at the mercy of destructive extraction industries, including logging and mining. Weaving together the conflicting narratives of activists, locals, and Aboriginal communities through the experiences of a trail running doctor and a relentless environmentalist, takayna unpacks the complexities of modern conservation and challenges us to consider the importance of our last truly wild places.