Silver City, NM: Join the Gila Conservation Coalition for the Wild and Scenic Film Festival On Tour at the Silco Theater on Saturday, February 2 at 6:30 pm.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, now in its 10th year, is a collection of films from the annual festival held the third week of January in Nevada City, CA. Wild & Scenic focuses on films that speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet. "Films featured at Wild & Scenic give people a sense of place," says Tour Manager, Lori Van Laanen. "In our busy lives, it’s easy to get disconnected from our role in the global ecosystem. When we realize that the change we need in this world begins with us we can start making a difference. Come watch and see!"

Featured at the tour venue in Silver City are films that highlight the beauty and importance of water, wild rivers and watersheds and the community efforts to protect these critical resources.  Always funny and entertaining, Charris Ford, star of the film French Fries to Go, will emcee the film festival again this year. Along with local guests, he also will be raffling off lots of cool items from festival national partners and local sponsors.  The raffle is free as part of admission. Items to be raffled include a Patagonia messenger bag courtesy of Gila Hike and Bike, Patagonia t-shirts, reusable shopping bags from Sierra Nevada, Osprey day pack, discount subscriptions to Mother Jones, and lots more!

The Wild & Scenic Film Fest On Tour includes a great variety of films. In Chasing Water, photographer Pete McBride follows the Colorado River source to sea and takes an intimate look at the watershed as he attempts to follow the irrigation water that sustains his family’s Colorado ranch, down river to the sea. Traversing 1500 miles and draining seven states, the Colorado River supports over 30 million people across the southwest. It is not the longest or largest U.S. river, but it is one of the most loved and litigated in the world. Today, this resource is depleted and stressed. Follow its path with an artistic, aerial view on a personal journey to understand this national treasure. McBride teamed up with his bush-pilot father to capture unique footage and also shadowed the adventure of Jon Waterman who became the first to paddle the entire length of the river.

"Rivers are Life" is the unifying theme motivating activists in the global movement to protect rivers from the ravages of big dams. A River Runs Through Us offers a personal and hopeful introduction to one of the biggest threats facing many rivers today, as told by the people at the forefront of the global dam-fighting movement. The documentary describes how climate change will affect rivers and dams; what happens to communities affected by large dams, and what kinds of solutions exist that preserve our life-giving waterways while meeting our needs for energy and water.

Mono Lake is one of the most beautiful and productive lakes on the planet, yet excessive water diversions by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power threatened its ecosystem. A passionate grassroots campaign came to Mono Lake’s defense and through a monumental struggle, won its protection. The course of this historic effort transformed water law in California and forever changed water use in Los Angeles. The Mono Lake Story is a rare environmental success that can inspire and inform the environmental challenges of our time.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is a natural extension of the Gila Conservation Coalition’s work to inspire people to act on behalf of the Gila River and its watershed. Events such as GCC’s annual Gila River Festival are an opportunity for people to appreciate and understand the importance of New Mexico’s last free flowing river and to encourage them to work to preserve this incredible resource. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival shows us through film how communities like ours are working to protect their watersheds and unique landscapes.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival was started by the watershed advocacy group, the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) in 2003. The festival’s namesake is in celebration of SYRCL’s landmark victory to receive “Wild & Scenic” status for 39 miles of the South Yuba River in 1999. The 3-day event features over 100 award-winning films and welcomes over 100 guest speakers, celebrities, and activists who bring a human face to the environmental movement. The home festival kicks-off the national tour to over 100 communities nationwide allowing SYRCL to share their success as an environmental group with others organizations. It is building a network of grassroots organizations connected by a common goal of using film to inspire activism.

With the support of their National Partners: Patagonia, CLIF Bar, Osprey Packs, Sierra Nevada Brewing and Mother Jones, the festival can reach an even larger audience in tour venues coast to coast.

Local sponsors of the Silver City Wild & Scenic Film Festival include: Gila Hike and Bike, Gila Resources Information Project, Guadalupe’s, Javalina Coffee House, www.jeffgoinhypnotherapy.com, Leyba & Ingalls Arts, Mary Hotvedt and Bob Garrett, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, O’Keefe’s Bookshop, Silver City Food Co-op, Stream Dynamics, TheraSpeech, Tom and Martha Cooper, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Yada Yada Yarn.

EVENT DETAILS:

Date and Time: February 2, 2013 at 6:30 pm. Doors open at 6:00 pm and shows start at 6:30 pm.

Location Address: Silco Theater, 311 N. Bullard St., Silver City

Ticket Prices: $8/person; $5 for GCC members, $15 for admission plus GCC membership. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at the Gila Conservation Coalition.
 
Free Raffle: Join in the free raffle for your chance to win a wide variety of cool items, such as a Patagonia messenger bag courtesy of Gila Hike and Bike, t-shirts from Patagonia, a day pack from Osprey, and much more!
 
Snacks & Refreshments: Provided by Javalina Coffee House, Silver City Food Co-op, and CLIF Bar.

Contact: Allyson Siwik, info@gilaconservation.org, 575.538.8078; www.gilaconservation.org

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.