SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival Unveils 2026 Official Selections

The South Yuba River Citizen League has unveiled the full lineup for its 2026 Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Taking place February 19-23, 2026, in Grass Valley and Nevada City, CA, the 24th annual film festival will feature over 110 environmental and adventure films including:

10 world premieres
3 U.S. premieres
2 North American
9 West Coast premieres
5 California premieres

Tickets and passes to the festival are now on sale at WSFF.eventive.org — just in time for people to give the gift of inspiration this holiday season.

Purchase Tickets and Passes Here

For over two decades, SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival has welcomed audiences to the picturesque Sierra foothills of Nevada County, CA for this annual event. The 2026 edition will feature a program including 17 features and 117 short films, while bringing together top filmmakers, activists, and social innovators to inspire environmental awareness and action.

The festival will also feature an array of non-film programming, including activist workshops, art exhibitions, youth programs, outdoor excursions, the community EnviroFair, Q&A sessions, and countless opportunities to interact with filmmakers and special guests. A special festival event returning this year will be a Dinner & a Movie program on both Saturday and Sunday evenings at the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley. Enjoy an intimate three-course meal paired with a specially curated selection of films. Stay tuned for the full announcement of non-film programming to be released in January.

Each year, SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival chooses a particular theme to guide its programming. This year’s festival theme, “Mobilize,” is a call to action and a celebration of movement and progress towards tangible change. Films that mobilize elevate voices, organize efforts, and address challenges with urgency and persistence. From grassroots resistance to international coalitions, from Indigenous land stewards to youth climate strikers, our films honor those who are mobilizing to create change. The official 2026 artwork – created by artist Jeremy Collins – celebrates these ideas, and audiences can expect to see it reflected throughout this year’s programming.  

Summing up what audiences can expect during the event, Wild & Scenic Film Festival Director Eric Dunn says, “SYRCL and Wild & Scenic are honored to bring audiences engaging and impactful stories of people and places around the world. We’re proud to provide a space to gather and share stories and wisdom and be able to look around and know we are not alone on the pathway to environmental justice and wellbeing.”

Some of the films highlighting this year’s festival theme include:

Best Day Ever follows the stories of adaptive mountain bikers Greg Durso and Allie Bianchi as they navigate the relentless challenges of their disabilities and embrace the tremendous support, friendship and joy they find in their rural Vermont riding community. Allie and Greg navigate disability and regain independence with humor, attitude, and grit on mountain bike trails that dismantle ableism, build community, and become a blueprint for trails anywhere.

The Book of George – From Brooklyn’s concrete jungle to the heart of the Everglades, meet George McKenzie Jr., a Black photographer transforming his lens into a beacon of change. Swapping the weight of a gun for the promise of a camera, George found his calling amid nature’s raw grandeur, capturing everything from city pigeons and rats to elusive panthers. His unique perspective earned him the title of National Geographic Explorer, but his mission runs deeper than recognition. George, a rare gem in the predominantly white canvas of wildlife photography, is empowering kids of color to shift their gaze to conservation. He’s proof that the color of your skin shouldn’t define the wild dreams you pursue, nor the impact you aspire to make.

Out of Plain Sight – From the Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rosanna Xia, OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT is a cinematic exposé of an environmental disaster lurking just off the coast of Southern California. Not far from Catalina Island, aboard one of the most-advanced research ships in the world, David Valentine discovered a corroded barrel on the seafloor that gave him chills. The full environmental horror sharpens into greater clarity once he calls Xia, who pieces together a shocking revelation: In the years after World War II, as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been quietly dumped into the ocean – and the consequences continue to haunt the world today.

Heart of a Lion follows cougar biologist Mark Elbroch into the parallel worlds of two mountain lion mothers: F61, who revealed their hidden social lives, and Yoko, struggling to raise her young on the edge of human encroachment. From the rugged wilderness of Wyoming’s Tetons to the misty forests of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, this intimate and immersive journey reveals one of North America’s most misunderstood predators—asking us to see them with admiration instead of fear.

Catching Pinecones is the story of Jan and Herb Conn, pioneering rock climbers and cave explorers who lived life to the fullest on their own terms. Rejecting a conventional lifestyle in pursuit of adventure and fun, the Conns’ story reveals a legacy of renowned discoveries and their philosophies for a simple, well-lived life.

Mountain Roots – A 9-year-old climber travels from Wyoming to the Italian Alps with her grandfather to scale a mountain together, embarking on a journey to reconnect their family after more than a century of separation.