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Daryl Hannah highlights environmental film festival weekend

Nevada City is earning its place on the map for being more than just a quaint, historic gold mining town. The largest single watershed organization in the state, the South Yuba River Citizens League(SYRCL, pronounced ‘circle’), calls the town home, and they have spawned an event that people are talking about all over the West—the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival.

On January 9 and 10, 2004, the 2nd Annual Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival brought together speakers, activists, and award-winning environmental and adventure films, as well. The sold out crowd found standing room only at Nevada City’s Miners Foundry and Nevada Theatre. Actress and environmental activist Daryl Hannah was the featured guest on Saturday evening. She was joined by leading bio-diesel activist Charris Ford. The pair were featured in the festival film about the bio-diesel movement, French Fries ... To Go.
Carlos Buhler, one of the most accomplished mountain climbers in the world, was also a featured keynote speaker. He shared his stories and the film, Last Horizon: The First Ascent of Sepu Kangri, which features his legendary climb of a Tibetan peak. Buhler’s career spans 30 years and includes major ascents on five continents. Other featured guests at the festival included extreme boater, Scott Lindgren, speedclimber Hans Florine, as well as numerous filmmakers and activists.

The nearly 40 films chosen for the festival were carefully selected from more than 200 that were both solicited by the viewing committee and submitted by independent filmmakers through a Call for Entries process. The films explored a variety of environmental subjects, including wildlife, natural resources, Native American issues, rivers and water, and people making a difference in the natural world.
The festival also featured a variety of adventure films about mountaineering, climbing, and boating. A childrens’ section of films was featured on the Saturday morning of the festival.

Be a Part of History in the Making
The attention garnered by this unique festival is already beginning to rival that of the several large mountain and environmental film festivals across the country, such as MountainFilm in Telluride and Banff and the DC Environmental Film Festival.
“We want to make our festival stand out from the crowd, and our mission is to inspire festival-goers to take action on behalf of the natural world,” says Kathy Dotson, festival director.
“It is a film festival for activists by activists,” adds Janet Cohen, executive director of SYRCL.

This year, SYRCL presented awards to three films. The Best of the Entries Award was granted to the film, Hetch Hetchy: Yosemite’s Lost Valley by Deborah Landowne. The People’s Choice Award went to filmmaker Frank Green’s Counting Sheep, a film about the Big Horn Sheep and Mountain Lion issues in the Sierra Nevada. The Best of the Festival was awarded to Pale Male by Frederic Lilien, a film about a red-tailed hawk in Central Park.
“The Wild & Scenic Film Festival provided a first-class opportunity for many people to be educated about our effort to restore Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley. SYRCL deserves an A+ for organizing such a wonderful experience for everyone,” said Ron Good, executive director of the organization Restore Hetch Hetchy,
SYRCL already has the activist platform to stand on. The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival supports the critical work of the organization, California’s most effective and largest single-watershed protection organization. populations. “SYRCL’s effectiveness as an organization is based on our ability to engage people around environmental issues that affect their lives,” says Cohen.