2021 FILM LINE-UP
Opening Night
Friday April 23 7pm
KIFARU
Director David Hambridge
Run Time 80 mins
Kifaru follows the lives of two young, Kenyan recruits that join Ol Pejeta Conservancy's rhino caretaker unit - a small group of rangers that care for and protect Sudan, the last male northern white rhino or kifaru in Swahili. Spanning over the course of the caretakers first four years on the job, 'Kifaru' allows viewers to experience the joys and pitfalls of conservation firsthand through the lens of these men and view extinction in real-time.
BEING WITH ELEPHANTS
Director James Martin
Run Time 12 mins
BEING WITH ELEPHANTS follows a group of local Maasai rangers who educate their community about the importance of elephants to the ecosystem as well as methods to coexist on the land that they all live upon. The rangers, as part of the Elephant Aware Conservancy, strive to aid in the prevention of human-animal conflict by engaging with those that may come face-to-face with wildlife. During the course of the film the rangers will make a heartbreaking discovery which stands as a continuing reminder of the work that lies before them.
Shorts Block
Saturday April 24 7pm
THE PRODIGY
Director Lewis Rapkin
Run Time 3 mins
Tyler "The Prodigy" Lau set out to be the first person of color to complete what's known in hiking as the Calendar-Year Triple Crown. To promote diversity in the outdoors, Tyler attempted to hike the 8000 mile journey of the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail and Appalachian Trail all within a year.
ADA BLACKJACK RISING
Director Brice Habeger
Run Time 6 mins
In the pre-dawn twilight of an Alaskan shore, a young Native woman reflects on the story of Ada Blackjack, the sole survivor of a disastrous 1921 Arctic expedition, and the loneliness she must have felt waiting for a rescue through the months-long polar night.
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ALPHA MARE
Director Victor Tadashi Suarez & Mimi Wilcox
Run Time 10 mins
A dreamlike meditation on mental health and the search for self-love, Alpha Mare is the story of Karin Dilou told from the horses’ perspective. Karin is a sage elderly woman who lives a solitary life above the Nicasio Reservoir in California with a herd of Danish Warmbloods. When she suffers a catastrophic break from reality, she looks to her horses for help
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MOTHERLAND
Director Emily Mkrtichian & Jesse Soursourian
Run Tim 19 mins
What if fighting for your country meant going against some of its most traditional values? Motherland is a documentary about the women who shake tradition to rid their country of landmines leftover from a devastating ethnic war. Individually outcast; together, a collective - the deminers support each other as they take on the dangerous role of breaking stereotypes and securing the future of their war-torn republic.
LOVE IS THE WAY
Director Jeremy Là Zelle
Run Time 45 mins
Love is the Way brings together the voices speaking in defense of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, highlighting the generations of stewardship by Gwich'in and Iñupiaq people. Inspired in part by footage of the late photographer Michio Hoshino, this film explores the friendships, values, and stories shaped by the place, and the strong commitments to its protection. As the Trump administration pushes a decades-old political agenda, this film reminds us of the sacred connections between us, and the ways that a place can teach us how to live with respect and compassion.
Closing Night
Sunday April 25 7pm
ANCHOR POINT
Director Holly Tuckett
Run Time 90 mins
Women have been a force in wild-land firefighting since 1942. Still, they remain outnumbered 10-to-1 on the fire lines and do double-duty battling both the infernos that scorch public lands and the smoldering embers of discrimination, misogyny and sexual harassment that continue to suppress their voices. Told in cinema verité, ANCHOR POINT chronicles the 2019 fire season through the eyes of two women, generations apart, as they push to change the culture of wild-land fire. Much of the film was shot in and around the Eastern Sierra.
