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.

2013 Wild & Scenic Film Festival Los Angeles: Another success!

This post was written by Angie Glaser, 2013 Project Specialist.

On Saturday, March 9, the Mono Lake Committee brought together 110 members, old friends, and new friends for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Los Angeles.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival–Los Angeles lit up in lights. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

Among those in attendance were Mono Lake Committee staff members from Lee Vining and Los Angeles, participants in the Outdoor Experiences program, Mono lake Story film composer Cody Westheimer, friends from Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and Hunter Public Relations, and Committee Board members Sally Gaines and Doug Virtue. We were honored to also host a very special guest at the festival—Edith Gaines, Mono Lake Committee co-founder David Gaines’ mother.

Geoff introduces the evening film session. Photo by Lynette Villagomez.

Wild & Scenic LA proved to be a day of unique films, celebration, and conversation. With two film screenings, we were able to bring 18 eye-opening, inspiring, wacky, and flat-out fun films to a diverse audience. A few of the favorite films of the day were:

  • Wild Bill’s Run: Wild Bill had the audience laughing, groaning, and gasping as they followed him on arctic adventures so wacky they had to be true. Using interviews and footage from the 1970s, filmmaker Mike Scholtz recreated the story of a ragtag group of “ordinary guys” and their attempts to snowmobile from Minnesota to Moscow—all the while contending with gas shortages, food shortages, polar bears, melting sea ice, customs agents, and poor navigation.
  • All.I.Can Street Segment: This film was so fun and so well-received, we just had to show it twice. For their feature length film All.I.Can, Sherpas Cinema filmed skier JP Auclair skiing through the streets of suburban British Columbia. Dodging vehicles, snowballs, clothes lines, and snow-free asphalt, JP takes skiing to a whole new level.
  • Streams of Consequence: Filmmaker James “Q” Martin took the audience on a journey that extended the length of Chile as he looked for insight into Chile’s energy future. This film takes an investigative look at the ongoing, passionate fight to save the rivers of Patagonia from large dam projects that would alter one of the last truly wild places on the planet. Q talks to lawyers, activists, gauchos, homesteaders, and experts as he paints a comprehensive picture of a country at an important crossroads.

Apart from a line-up of films unavailable elsewhere, Wild & Scenic LA  featured a special Barefoot Wine & Bubbly reception to honor Mono Lake Committee co-founder Sally Gaines. Keep a lookout for photos and a recap of the reception here on the Mono-logue.

Thank you to all who shared the films and conversation with us at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival–Los Angeles—your support made the event a success. A huge thank you goes out to all our enthusiastic volunteers, from Communities for a Better Environment, Roosevelt High School, Kid City South Park, and beyond. The event would not be possible without the support of our sponsors: Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Environment Now, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., and Mother Jones Magazine.

We hope to see you next year at the third annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival—Los Angeles!