WESTFIELD-The Westfield River will be celebrated on March 8 at Westfield State University during a special evening of hosting the SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival currently on tour across the country.
The 6:30 to 10 p.m. event is planned in Dever Auditorium in Parenzo Hall and is sponsored by the Westfield River Watershed Association and the Wild & Scenic Westfield River Committee. Members of the university’s Departments of Geography and Regional Planning and Environmental Science will host the free event which is open to the public. Donations will be accepted to help support the cost of the festival. A suggested donation is $10 and $5 for students.
“The festival honors the 50th anniversary of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, and the 25th anniversary of the initial designation of portions of the Westfield River as ‘wild and scenic,’” said Bill Rose, president of the Westfield River Watershed Association, during a phone interview. “The film festival will educate and inform area residents of what is considered wild and scenic.”
The two groups met recently to determine which short documentary films would be screened at Westfield State. The film choices – which are related to rivers and the environment – had premiered in January during the 16th anniversary of the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, Calif. Brief descriptions and trailers for the films can be viewed at www.westfieldriver.org.
Film topics range from the history of the national parks, river management partners joining forces to protect rivers, and a watershed turned upside down by a gold dredge, to the Mighty Yellowstone which is both a partner and provider as its path shapes the land and lives along its course.
Other topics include how a subsistence farmer in Peru stood up to the giant Newmont Mining Corporation over the development of a gold and copper mine on her property, and how modern day pioneers helped map the new Patagonia Park in Chile. A short film also examines biomimicry, the practice of looking deeply into nature for solutions to engineering, design and other challenges, and another film documents how three friends set off on a 400 km bike and backpack expedition through the heart of the sacred headwaters in northwestern British Columbia, birthplace of three critical salmon rivers and home to the Tahitan people. In the wake of a mining disaster, the team’s goal seeks to understand what is at stake as a wave of new mines are developed across this remote corner of the province. Also, films look at failed marine conservation efforts, a young father teaches his son about the value of shared adventures, exploration and his ancestral Inuit heritage, and a community activist pushes government officials to provide comprehensive lead testing and cleanup of East Los Angeles homes contaminated by a battery smelter that had been operating for more than three decades.
Lastly, films document the environmental effects of how man-made barriers influence the movement of wildlife, and how the Elwha River in Port Angeles, Washington is the stage for the largest dam removal in American history.
As part of a call to action, organizations across the country are teaming up to host film festivals to share these messages that celebrate the natural world and the activists working to protect it.
In addition to the March 8 film festival, a special evening of film screenings is planned April 20 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in the auditorium at Gateway High School in Huntington to coincide with the Westfield River Whitewater Races. Hosted by students of the Gateway Enterprise Club and the Gateway Outdoor Club, tickets are $5 at the door.
For more information on both events, visit www.westfieldriver.org.
