Get ready for a wild ride.
Durango Nature Studies will team with the Great Old Broads for Wilderness to co-host the Patagonia Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Feb. 28 at the Smiley Building in Durango.
The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is in its seventh year. It is the largest environmental film festival in the United States.
The program will start at 1 p.m. Feb. 28 with a children's matinée. A reception is scheduled for 6 p.m. The feature portion of the film festival will start at 7 p.m.
The Wild and Scenic Festival tour brings together a selection of films from the annual festival held in Nevada City, Calif., in late January.
"The films tell a story about our planet, highlighting issues, providing solutions and giving a call to action," said Susie Sutphin, tour manager.
"Their collective energy empowers communities to initiate conversations that can bring out compromise and collaborative efforts that positively impact our wild places."
One of the featured films this year highlights Colorado and the many energy experiments and explorations in the state.
"National Sacrifice Zone" is a 19-minute film that covers the long and tumultuous study of America's secret oil resource - oil shale. The film looks at past and future attempts to unlock this resource's 3 trillion barrel potential.
Another film features hardrock mining. "Hardrock Mining - Rethink Reform," approaches the need for metal - from climbing carabiners and bike frames to ski edges.
However, as the film explores, there are 19th-century values and policies guiding 21st-century high-tech mining.
Another film is called, "I Love Trash." According to the film trailer: "Two rules: nothing purchased for three months; and living off of only the things found in the trash (clothing and food)."
Yes, it's about Dumpster diving and survival.
Another film with a Durango affiliation is called "Last Descent." A group of world-class whitewater kayakers hit some of the world's amazing rivers, some for likely the last time.
The rivers - the Marsyangdi River of Negal, the Brahmaputra River in India and the White Nile River in Uganda - are threatened by large hydroelectric projects. The film, 35 minutes long, closes in California with the Tuolumne River and the growing movement to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park.
Films are as short as the 2-minute "Roadless," which approaches backcounry areas and the conflict with motor-driving outdoor enthusiasts.
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