2022 Boulder Environmental/Nature/Outdoors Film Festival
Opening Night Program (Reception at Hilton Garden Inn and Film at the Dairy Arts Center)
Opening Night Reception & Film
Thursday, July 14 at 5:30PM to 9:00PM
Reception at Hilton Garden Inn Boulder on Canyon. Outdoor Courtyard
Heavy Appetizers & Libations (each attendee gets one ticket for either a cocktail, wine or beer, cash bar thereafter)
Live Music by The Atom Collective, a jazz band making people happy on Colorado’s front range since 2019.
Kyle Banker at Piano, Tobin Munsat on Drums, Adisa Nickerson on Trumpet, & Todd Van Selus on Bass. Short show clip link
Film at 7:30PM at Dairy Arts Center RIVER
We suggest you park free at the DAC and walk 2 blocks to the Garden Inn
Click to BUY Ticket for Reception and Film Combined - $60
To avoid online service charges, purchase your opening night tickets in person at the DAC Box Office prior to dates!
Or Purchase A Festival Pass - no service charges on any festival tickets!
Opening Night Film - RIVER
Dairy Arts Center — Gordon Gamm Theater at 7:30 pm
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Throughout history, rivers have shaped our landscapes and our journeys; flowed through our cultures and dreams. RIVER takes its audience on a journey through space and time; spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers on scales and from perspectives never seen before. Its union of image, music and sparse, poetic script will create a film that is both dream-like and powerful, honoring the wildness of rivers but also recognizes their vulnerability.
Spoken word by Willem Dafoe
“River does not request your attention. It demands your surrender. Flowing against the current of today’s commercial moviemaking, it’s out to slow the pulse rate and induce a trancelike state of reflection.” -Sydney Morning Herald
“An impressive visual event for the big screen.” -the Guardian
2022 FESTIVAL FILMS at the DAIRY ARTS CENTER
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Stewart Brand and George Church. Deep in the ice caves of Pleistocene Park in Northern Siberia
Friday, July 15 at 4:00 PM @ Boedecker Cinema
WE ARE AS GODS
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WE ARE AS GODS offers a deep dive into the many sides of Stewart Brand—creator of The Whole Earth Catalog, an influential member of Ken Kesey’s “The Merry Pranksters,” and founder of the modern environmental movement. Brand’s approach to his work and life influenced many, including Steve Jobs, who have gone on to shape our modern world. Now in his 80’s, he looks to leave a legacy for the long-term future with his efforts to resurrect ecosystems through de-extinction.
The man who coined the phrase “we are as gods and might as well get good at it” is now under fire from former allies who believe he’s gone too far, but Brand won’t be easily deterred from a mission he feels is necessary to save the future of the planet.
Stewart Brand has been at the center of some of the most influential movements of the last century: he was a Merry Prankster organizing acid tests with Ken Kesey; his LSD trip inspired the photograph that helped catalyze the modern environmental movement; he organized the first Hackers Conference; and he created the revolutionary do-it-yourself publication The Whole EarthCatalog, which Steve Jobs famously called “Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google existed.” He has a showman’s uncanny ability to be at the center of cultural and technological shifts. Today, he is channeling his considerable energy into one of his most ambitious projects yet: a new form of wildlife conservation using biotechnology called de-extinction.
Musician and visual artist Brian Eno contributed a timeless and indelible score to WE ARE AS GODS. Brian and Stewart are friends and founding board members of the Long Now Foundation, whose mission is to foster long-term thinking and responsibility. The filmmakers interviewed Brian on Stewart’s contribution to the counterculture, cyberculture, and the Clock of the Long Now. Brian Eno contributed 24 original tracks to the soundtrack, in addition to some classics.
Friday, July 15 at 4:30PM @ Gordon Gamm Theater
Tracking Notes: The Secret World of Mountain Lions
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Director Colin Ruggiero will join us for a discussion afterwards
A unique, non-invasive, mountain lion study uses a giant network of trail cameras scattered throughout the mountains over a decade to piece together the life story of a female mountain lion. This film weaves clips of mountain lions and their complex interactions with each other and the rest of the forest world into a story that contains never-before-captured events and behaviors at every turn.
“Hats off and deep bows to you, Colin, for your exquisite film! I rarely find myself captivated for a 45 minute documentary film, never mind 90 min! Masterfully composed, telling many stories within one. I highly recommend everyone find a way to see this film.”
-Jim Berkey, The Nature Conservancy
Colin is a filmmaker and photographer based in Missoula, Montana whose films strive to convey the beauty and importance of the natural world. He received his M.F.A. in Documentary Filmmaking from MSU's Science and Natural History Filmmaking Program in 2005 and since then has produced a variety of award-winning films and shorts for both broadcast and independent release, including work for National Geographic, Discovery, the BBC, ESPN, PBS, The Nature Conservancy and the The National Wildlife Federation among many others. His love of the ocean led to his award-winning 2014 art film, “Exuma,” about the Bahamas, as well as underwater cinematography work for clients such as the Bahamas National Trust, The Canadian Film Board, The Mexican Board of Tourism and National Geographic Wild. In addition to his other film and photo work, he also teaches occasional filmmaking courses at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. To find out more about Colin and his work, please visit: www.ColinRuggiero.com
2022 FESTIVAL FILMS at the DAIRY ARTS CENTER
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Friday, July 15 at 7:30PM @ Gordon Gamm Theater
THE SANCTITY OF SPACE
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More than eighty years after Brad Washburn first photographed Denali in Alaska, climbing buddies Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson look at some of Washburn’s images and have this crazy idea: rather than go up, their dream is to go sideways — across the range’s most forbidding peaks, the Moose’s Tooth massif. It’s a decidedly new school way to explore the same landscape Washburn first discovered.
As they pioneer the route over the course of two expeditions, enduring freezing bivies, cut ropes, and rockfall along the way, their desire to be the first to complete the audacious line grows into an obsession.
Inspired by Washburn's iconic images of Alaska, Ozturk and Wilkinson attempt the unprecedented traverse of the Mooses Tooth massif.
“WHEN YOU DISCOVER A BIG CLIMB THAT’S NEVER BEEN DONE, IT KIND OF FEELS LIKE FALLING IN LOVE”
Renan Ozturk
There Is A Place On Earth is a feature length documentary exploring the role of artists in wilderness conservation on a beautiful and poetic journey around the world.
Saturday, July 16 at 4:00 PM @ Boedecker Cinema
THERE IS A PLACE ON EARTH
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Filmmaker Ellen van den Honert will join us afterwards for a discussion
There Is A Place On Earth is a feature length documentary exploring the role of artists in wilderness conservation.
Dutch Filmmaker Ellen van den Honert takes us on a beautiful and poetic journey around the world where we meet artists/conservationists who share extraordinary creative work and a commitment to the environment.
A musician and artist herself, Ellen asks why and how creative work can become a vital pathway to wilderness conservation.
Realizing that art can ignite our own emotional and intuitive connection to the wild, her curiosity takes us to meet other artists from diverse disciplines who are also inspired by nature and wildness in their work.
From Harvey Locke, whose photography and writings have played a critical role in the Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative, to acclaimed South African poet Ian McCallum whose poem’s connect readers to their own sense of wildness, to multi-media environmental artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford who collaborates with the elements and a diversity of performers to create a living art piece.
Along with the work of many other visionary and compelling artists shown, viewers are treated to an experience that can open up their own sense of the wild – and the necessity to protect it.
Ellen van den Honert holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam. She has worked internationally as a music teacher, project manager, and entrepreneur, while also managing a career as a songwriter and performing artist, successfully releasing the critical acclaimed albums, Breath of the Soul (2006), and Hummingville (2010). In 2015, Ellen established the Wild About Music Foundation dedicated to promoting the synergy of art and conservation. This led to the production of her first feature-length documentary, There Is A Place On Earth, exploring the role of artists in wilderness conservation on a beautiful and poetic journey around the world.
2022 FESTIVAL FILMS at the DAIRY ARTS CENTER
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Saturday, July 16 at 4:30PM @ Gordon Gamm Theater
TO THE END
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Special Guest Sam P Weaver will join us afterwards to talk about Green Initiatives.
Stopping the climate crisis is a question of political courage, and the clock is ticking. Over three years of turbulence and crisis, four remarkable young women of color fight for a Green New Deal and ignite a historic shift in US climate politics. This is a follow up to the critically acclaimed documentary ‘Knock Down the House’ by once again teaming with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three other young women activists engaged in halting climate crisis.
“TO THE END shines a light on how progress on climate change will actually be made in a galvanizing film.”
-Stephen Saito, The Moveable Fest
“Rachel Lears picks up where she left off in KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE, and in many ways TO THE END is a logical continuation… but the struggle to be heard continues.”
-Rob Aldam, Backseat Mafia
Sam Weaver, former Mayor of Boulder
Sam P Weaver is CEO and a co-founder of Cool Energy, Inc. as well as the former Mayor of Boulder, CO. Cool Energy’s equipment produces electricity from wasted industrial heat and renewable thermal sources. Sam is also a Director of Proton Power, a biomass-to-fuels company whose core technology extends to advanced materials and electric power production. He was an elected member of the Boulder City Council from 2013 to 2021, supporting aggressive climate action and serving his final 2 years as Mayor. During his Council service, Sam championed high-efficiency building codes, climate resilience actions, cleaner power from Xcel Energy, and expanded affordable housing programs. He holds a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from the California Institute of Technology, and is an inventor named on thirty-three issued U.S. patents. Sam is a former Chief of the Sugarloaf Fire Department, a former member of the City of Boulder Planning Board, and served on the Colorado Clean Energy Development Authority from 2008 through 2012.
Kelp Forest
Saturday, July 16 at 7:00PM @ BOEDECKER CINEMA
SHORT FILM Competition Program
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Finalists of short films curated from over 100 submissions to the festival in 2022
MAIDEN RACE — Britain — 19:30 min
Directed by Markus Stitz
Riding GBDURO, his first unsupported bike-packing race from Land’s End to John O’Groats, is Mark Beaumont’s 'Maiden Race'. Holding the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by bike he is used to tough challenges, but GBDURO is a whole different level.
WITH NATURE — Switzerland — 3 min
Directed by Noemi Müller, Tina Gerber
Celebrating the gratitude of slow moments in a world full of chaos and distraction. two girls riding bikes and spending a good time outdoors to find inner peace and calmness.
BIRD’S EYE VIEW — USA — 16:53 min
Directed by Beth Osnes
Bird’s Eye View is an art-science exploration of interspecies friendship between young people and birds for a survivable future that is looking up. This film integrates their embodied movement with science, words, puppets, and music from the imaginations of our Boulder City’s youth and is filmed on Boulder’s majestic Open Space Mountain Park trails.
JEFF BANKS: GUILDING PRINCIPLES— USA — 9:53 min
Directed by Nicky Wolff
Jeff Banks is an internationally certified mountain guide living in Crested Butte, USA, and Chamonix, France. Over his tenure as a guide he has developed a unique approach to dealing with the dangers inherent to back-country skiing.
CRACKED — TURKEY — 5:00 min
Directed by Mahmut Taş
A little girl lives in a village with her mother where water sources are dwindling by day. Drought effects her imagination, even her doodles and drawings. Not only people but the nature struggles with the unrelenting aridness. This little girl though, never loses hope. She tries to do as best she can, sacrificing from herself for her beloved nature.
CLIMATE EMERGENCY: FEEDBACK LOOPS — USA — 13:09 min
Directed by Susan Gray
Narrated by actor Richard Gere, Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops is a series of five short films, featuring twelve leading climate scientists, that explores how human-caused emissions are triggering nature’s own warming loops.
SONGSCAPE: GREEN RIVER — USA — 4:18 min
Directed by Harrison Goodale, Betsy Mortensen
MAKE ME LIGHT was inspired by the Green River, life blood of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah and Dinosaur National Monument. In this first ever river-focused Songscape, BEEBE rafted the Green River from Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (US Forest Service), through the John Jarvie Ranch (Bureau of Land Management), down to Brown’s Park National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish & Wildlife Service). They concluded the retreat exploring the fossils and human history of Dinosaur National Monument (National Parks Service).
MALPELO: MOUNTAIN OF SHARKS — USA — 14:53 min
Directed by Kevin Mannens
Days away from the closest land, lies a mythical underwater volcano. Beneath the waves: a bonanza of life. Massive shoals of fish darken the water and hundreds of sharks patrol the seamount. But like all wild places, this one too is in grave danger. Illegal fishing and shark-finning might soon deplete this natural wonder and UNESCO heritage site of its natural wonders.
North Atlantic Right Whale and Calf
Saturday, July 16 at 7:30PM @ Gordon Gamm Theater
THE LAST OF THE RIGHT WHALE
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Special Guest Jenna Oliver from the Ocean First Institute will join us afterwards
North Atlantic right whales are dying faster than they can reproduce. With just over 330 remaining, these great whales rarely die of natural causes. Instead, they are run over by ships or suffer lethal injuries from fishing gear. If we don’t stop killing them, in 20 years they could be extinct.
From the only known calving grounds to the shifting feeding grounds, Last of the Right Whales follows the North Atlantic right whale migration and the people committed to saving a species still struggling to recover from centuries of hunting. Now climate change is forcing right whales further north in search of food, putting them on a collision course with deadly ships and fishing gear.
With unprecedented access to film the whale migration, Last of the Right Whales brings a message of hope about the most at risk great whale on the planet.
Special Guest Jenna Oliver from the Ocean First Institute will join us afterwards
Jenna Oliver has dedicated her career to inspiring positive change in the world through education and advocacy. She comes to the Ocean First Institute through her love of the ocean, scuba diving and her commitment to education, conservation, and research. Oliver has diverse leadership experience in education, media, communication and nonprofit management. She completed her Master's degree in Media Studies and Management at the distinguished New School University, where she was part of a prestigious International think tank of Pulitzer Prize winning poets, professors, forward-thinking legislators, actors, and activists with a goal of impacting global change. She has worked and studied with premiere faculty and thought leaders from all over the world in various capacities. In her 20 years of teaching, Oliver was an adjunct professor at The New School University, Regis University, Colorado State University, as well as an Assistant Professor at Metro State University and a lead faculty at The Art Institute. Oliver is a proud alumnus of the Northern Colorado Leadership program and has received numerous accolades and awards for her work in education, communication, and media. Oliver was recently named to the friends of the Institute for Science and Policy at The Denver Museum of Nature and Science. She also served a full term on the executive committee of the board directors at the Public Education and Business Coalition and continues to serve on the Catalyst committee of the PEBC to advocate for youth, education, social and environmental justice.
2022 FESTIVAL FILMS at the DAIRY ARTS CENTER
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Sunday, July 17 at 1:00PM @ Boedecker Cinema
INHABITANTS: INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES ON RESTORING OUR WORLD
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INHABITANTS: INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES ON RESTORING OUR WORLD follows five Native American communities as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate. For millennia Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain these processes. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities across the US are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. The five stories include sustaining traditions of Hopi dryland farming in Arizona; restoring buffalo to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana; maintaining sustainable forestry on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin; reviving native food forests in Hawaii; and returning prescribed fire to the landscape by the Karuk Tribe of California. As the climate crisis escalates, these time-tested practices of North America's original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.
Climate Change documentary from Greenland
Sunday, July 17 at 1:30PM @ Gordon gamm theater
INTO THE ICE
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Special Guest Scientist Bruce Raup will join us afterwards to talk about Ice.
INTO THE ICE follows a number of groundbreaking and dangerous research expeditions over the Greenland Inland Ice. The ice at the poles is melting. This will result in huge rises of the sea level and have major consequences for the whole world. Director Lars Ostenfeld has gained unique access to follow some of the world's leading glaciologists deep into the melting heart of climate change. They risk their own lives as they search for new and essential data to help answer one of the most urgent questions of our time: How fast is the ice melting -- and how much time do we have to make a new plan for the world? The answer lies within the ice itself.
ICE ICE Scientist Bruce RauP
Bruce Raup is a scientist and data manager at the National Snow and Ice
Data Center (NSIDC), within the Cooperative Institute for Research in
Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU. Bruce focuses on the study of
glaciers and ice sheets using remote sensing (satellite) data and is the
director of the international initiative called Global Land Ice
Measurements from Space (GLIMS). He received the B.S. degree in
engineering physics in 1987 from Washington University, St. Louis,
Missouri, and the M.S. degree in geological sciences in 1995 from the
University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado. He spends his free time
hiking, birding, reading, and playing in a jazz combo.
Closing Night Film at Dairy Arts Center and Reception at the Hilton Embassy Suites
Curiosity is stronger than fear
Sunday, July 17 at 4:00PM @ Gordon gamm theater
FIRE OF LOVE Q&A with Dr. Chuck Stern
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FIRE OF LOVE tells the story of two French lovers, Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of our planet, while simultaneously capturing the most explosive volcano imagery ever recorded. Along the way, they changed our understanding of the natural world and saved tens of thousands of lives. Previously unseen hours of pristine 16-millimeter film and thousands of photographs reveal the birth of modern volcanology through an unlikely lens — the love of its two pioneers.
“The film oscillates between the playfully on the nose and the existentially profound with the confidence of a volcano chaser surfing on a river of lava.”
-SLANT MAGAZINE
“Their passion for volcanoes, and the way they thought it might translate into helping mankind, helps us see who they really were, and the result, built largely from archival footage, is breathtaking.”
-VOX
Speaker Dr. Chuck Stern PhD.
I earned a PhD at the University of Chicago in 1973, but there were no volcanoes there
I started working on volcanoes in Patagonia in 1974 as a post-doc at Columbia University and have continued this work for the last 48 years with support from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society and the Chilean and Argentinian governments.
I joined the faculty in the geology department at CU in 1979, and retired just last year.
My research work involves understanding the origin of volcanoes in the context of plate tectonics and studying the history of eruptions of individual volcanoes in order to predict their future impacts.
I also work with archaeologist tracing the sources and distribution of volcanic rocks like obsidian found in archaeological sites.
Most of my work has been in Patagonia but I have also been involved in work on volcanoes in Colorado (yes Colorado has volcanoes), the Mediterranean, and the middle east.
Closing NIGHT FILM & Reception
Film at 4:00PM at Dairy Arts Center FIRE OF LOVE
Reception from 6:00PM to 7:30PM
Reception at Hilton Embassy Suites on Canyon.
Libations & Appetizers, Live Music by Shawn Cunnane Trio
Shawn Cunnane Trio is an eclectic jazz combo that performs instrumental versions of pop classics. Drawing from such greats as Van Morrison, Jim Croce, and Smokey Robinson the group focuses on smooth grooves and texture to create an enjoyable atmosphere for any event. With all three members hailing from the Northeast, they love to bring their own brand of soul to every performance.
We suggest you park free at the DAC and walk 2 blocks to the Garden Inn
Click to BUY Ticket for Reception and Film Combined - $45
Film Only (limited) - $15
To avoid online service charges, purchase your opening night tickets in person at the DAC Box Office prior to dates!
Or Purchase A Festival Pass - no service charges on any festival tickets!