Wild & Scenic Featuring Local Films

Join Wild & Scenic Film Festival this January 14-24 for more than 100 environmental and adventure films, including 13 world premieres! This year the festival is taking place as an entirely virtual experience over the course of eleven days and will feature activist workshops, an art exhibition, youth programs, as well as opportunities to interact with filmmakers and special guests.

Get Your Tickets or Passes

Through our virtual platform, you will be able to purchase tickets and passes that suit your budget and schedule then decide which film sessions you’d like to experience.Watch curated sessions of shorts and features on your favorite devices from the comfort and safety of your own home. 

Each year, Wild & Scenic unites top filmmakers, activists, and social innovators to inspire environmental awareness and action through film and art. This year’s program combines superb filmmaking, breathtaking cinematography, and second to none storytelling to inform, inspire, and help actualize change. With the event going 100% virtual, this is a great year to give your friends and family the opportunity to experience the magic of Wild & Scenic. Passes and tickets can be purchased as gifts so we hope you will consider giving the present of inspiration this year. 

Explore the Films

Ticket questions? Email us at tickets@wildandscenicfilmfestival.org.

We are ecstatic to share our 2021 Official Selections with you! Click here to explore the full list of films.

In exploring this year’s theme of Resilient by Nature, festival-goers can expect to see award-winning films about nature, community activism, adventure, conservation, water, energy and climate change, wildlife, environmental justice, agriculture, and more.

Throughout the programming, you will see the theme reflected and be reminded 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. The theme also offers a lens to help us look to nature as a model for resiliency and seek to create solutions to environmental challenges through nature-inspired designs and strategies.

There are so many wonderful films this year it’s hard to choose which to highlight, but below are a few local films. Stay tuned for other film highlights and synopses along with trailers, filmmaker interviews & more.

The Local Woods
11 minutes | United States | 2020
Filmmaker: Tom Weistar

In the pine forest of the Yuba River watershed, on the San Juan Ridge, lives a master craftsmen. Bob Erickson has devoted his life to perfecting his art, and is passing his knowledge onto his son Tor. Take a look inside their shop and watch as they cut, assemble and shape local rough lumber into an exquisite chair.

Rebuilding Paradise
91 minutes | United States | 2020
Director: Ron Howard

On the morning of November 8, 2018, a devastating firestorm engulfed the picturesque city of Paradise, California. By the time the Camp Fire was extinguished, it had killed 85 people, displaced 50,000 residents and destroyed 95% of local structures. It was the deadliest U.S. fire in 100 years — and the worst ever in California’s history. Rebuilding Paradise, from Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard, is a moving story of resilience in the face of tragedy, as a community ravaged by disaster comes together to recover what was lost and begin the important task of rebuilding.

The Hidden Bear
24 minutes | United States | 2020
Filmmaker: Jeff Litton

Centennial Dam would flood 8.5 miles of incredibly beautiful river. You have never seen Bear River like this, from end to end. Join a National Geographic Educator, an Emmy Filmmaker, and the lovely Tessa Taft for an adventure hiking and tubing every inch that would be destroyed before it’s too late.

River’s End: California’s Latest Water War
81 minutes | United States | 2021
Director: Jacob Morrison
Filmmaker: Benjamin Fischinger

Using California as a microcosm, River’s End explores the global water crises. It draws the parallel between the draining of the Owens Valley by LA, made famous by CHINATOWN, and what is happening in real time in Northern California’s Bay-Delta. Except this time, the water grab is at the hands of Big Agriculture. River’s End implores viewers to learn where their water comes from so that we can save our rivers and the ecosystems and communities that depend upon them.

Rise Beyond Gold
13 minutes | United States | 2020
Director: Jennifer Ekstrom

This is a film about a proposal to re-open a relic gold mine in Nevada County, CA. The community faces a foreign corporation that would take the gold from under their property and leave a toxic legacy. Rise Beyond Gold raises bigger questions for the world at large. Why do we desire gold; and ultimately, is it worth it?

Explore more Films


Get Your Tickets or Passes

Hosted and produced by SYRCL, our flagship festival is our largest fundraising event of the year, helping to sustain integral programs such as River Water Monitoring and River Ambassadors. ​If you are a SYRCL member please keep your eyes out for another separate email with a special member-only discount code! Not a member? Click here to learn about the huge impact our members make in the Yuba River watershed and buy your membership to receive your pass discount.