Wild and Scenic Film Festival to celebrate Hill Country rivers

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
October 13, 2016

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival will be screening at Texas State University on 7:30 p.m. October 27 in the LBJ Student Center Teaching Theater.

The theme of the festival will be “Celebrating Hill Country Rivers,” and the featured films will celebrate individuals and communities coming together and taking action for the protection and restoration of natural resources. The event is open to the general public. Admission is $12.

“The festival is a natural extension of our work to inspire and ignite a passion for preserving the Hill Country that we love,” said Katherine Romans, executive director of the Hill Country Alliance. “The audience will take a journey into some of the most beautiful places on earth, complemented by stories that will inspire and excite.”

The film screening will showcase seven award-winning short films that highlight adventures in remote wilderness, the stunning beauty of the natural world and a variety of pressing environmental issues. Audiences will be transported by the incredible imagery of Alaska’s wild and spectacular Brooks Range, to the parched sections of the Colorado River, to the habitat of the iconic monarch butterfly.

“Living in rural, small-town Texas, I personally love documentaries as a way to help open my eyes to see the big picture and get a better world view,” said Emily Nieman, president of the Llano River Watershed Alliance Board of Directors. “A film fest seems like a simple, fun way to get friends and neighbors out to talk about land and water stewardship.”

Presenting sponsors include the Hill Country Alliance, Wimberley Valley Watershed Association and the Llano River Watershed Alliance. Each event will feature door prizes, speakers, and information from local sponsors.

On tour at more than 150 locations in the world, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival partners with environmental groups, businesses and schools who host the film festival to bring global and regional issues to the local level for each city it visits.

Supporting sponsors of the Texas Hill Country Wild and Scenic Film Festival Series include Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Living Waters Project (a partnership of the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation), Whole Earth Provisions Co., the San Marcos River Foundation, the Hill Country Land Trust, Friends of Enchanted Rock, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and the Texas Land Conservancy.

For more information about the films and to purchase tickets, visit www.hillcountryalliance.org/wildandscenic.

About The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment

The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment was named following a generous gift from The Meadows Foundation in August 2012. The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment is dedicated to environmental research, stewardship, education and service. It is run by renowned conservationist Andrew Sansom.