Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival Los Angeles a success!

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

This post was written by Carolyn Weddle, 2012 Project Specialist.

This past Thursday, March 8, the Mono Lake Committee hosted SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Los Angeles. The event took place at The Landmark West Los Angeles and was a fun-filled evening with a great selection of inspirational environmental and adventure films.

The 2012 Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Los Angeles.
Lively discussions followed the premiere of The Mono Lake Story at intermission. Mono Lake Committee Board member Vireo Gaines chatted with festival attendees at the Landmark Theater West Los Angeles. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

This was the LA premiere of the Committee’s new film, The Mono Lake Story. Recently accepted into the Colorado Environmental Film Festival, Sedona International Film Festival, Sun Valley Film Festival, and the Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival, we were very excited to show this film in LA to our members, Board, and lots of new faces. Filmmaker Ryan Christensen from Bristlecone Media and score composer Cody Westheimer were both in attendance. The film was introduced by Executive Director, Geoff McQuilkin, Board member Tom Soto, and Elsa Lopez from the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, a local sponsor of the event.

On hand at the event were Mono Lake Committee Board members Sally Gaines, Vireo Gaines, Tom Soto, and Doug Virtue, as well as education program staff Herley Jim Bowling and Jennifer Odum, and the festival organization team of Bartshe Miller, Arya Degenhardt, Elin Ljung, and myself. We were thrilled to see one of our Outdoor Experiences program groups, Communities for a Better Environment, at the festival as well!

In addition to the premiere of The Mono Lake Story, we showed a great lineup of six environmental and adventure films:

  • Dark Side of the Lens: day in the life of an ocean based photograph-Ireland’s west coast
  • The Wolf and the Medallion: climbing film portrayed through a powerful letter from father to son with beautiful animation
  • Yelp: short film about addiction to technology
  • Chasing Water: film about following the Colorado River to the sea
  • The Craziest Idea: dramatic dam removals on the Elwha and White Salmon rivers in Washington state
  • Kadoma: adventure film about kayaking in the heart of Africa

On top of the film program, there were lots of free goodies for festival attendees provided by our sponsors, without which this evening could not have been possible:

We had a great turnout and loved seeing many new faces as well as Mono Lake Committee members who came from all over southern California and beyond. Thank you to all who attended and volunteered; we hope to see you at Mono Lake soon!

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