SYRCL's Wild & Scenic Film Festival has celebrated over 20 years of inspiring activism through film and art.

YRCL's Wild & Scenic Film Festival inspires environmental activism and a love for nature–through film. Wild & Scenic shares an urgent call to action, encouraging festival-goers to learn more about what they can do to save our threatened planet.

Our 5-day flagship festival is held annually in Nevada City and Grass Valley, California. Featuring 100+ films, workshops, visiting filmmaker and activist talks, family-friendly programs, art exhibitions, parties, and more.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival is the largest annual fundraiser for the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL). Locally, we raise funds and awareness to recover California's wild salmon and protect the Yuba River watershed.

We take our festival On Tour to around 120 events each year, partnering with groups working to protect and restore the important places in their communities. Wild & Scenic On Tour generates critical funds and increases awareness for grassroots environmental causes globally.

Schedule of Events

February 11th, 2025

8:00 AM - 3rd-5th School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Yuba Salmon Dance
Above Sinai
Tule
Freya
Hoofs on skates

8:00 AM - 6-8th School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Yuba Salmon Dance
Friends of the Frogpool Lane
SANDCASTLE - The Secret Life Of Potter Wasps
2 Legs is 2 Easy
Reforesting California after Wildfire
Healing Giants
Above Sinai

8:00 AM - K-2 School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Aldo's Bug Extravaganza
Three Trees
Yuba Salmon Dance
Metamorphosis
Unseen Peaks
PUFFERFISH
Make it Myself
MONCH!
Freya

12:00 PM - High School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Various

Obibini
Survival on the Edge
Polar Bear Country
Eyes on the Forest
Both & Neither | Ambos y Ninguno
Unseen Peaks

February 12th, 2025

8:00 AM - 3rd-5th School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Yuba Salmon Dance
Above Sinai
Tule
Freya
Hoofs on skates

8:00 AM - 6-8th School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Yuba Salmon Dance
Friends of the Frogpool Lane
SANDCASTLE - The Secret Life Of Potter Wasps
2 Legs is 2 Easy
Reforesting California after Wildfire
Healing Giants
Above Sinai

8:00 AM - K-2 School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Aldo's Bug Extravaganza
Three Trees
Yuba Salmon Dance
Metamorphosis
Unseen Peaks
PUFFERFISH
Make it Myself
MONCH!
Freya

12:00 PM - High School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Various

Obibini
Survival on the Edge
Polar Bear Country
Eyes on the Forest
Both & Neither | Ambos y Ninguno
Unseen Peaks

February 13th, 2025

8:00 AM - 3rd-5th School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Yuba Salmon Dance
Above Sinai
Tule
Freya
Hoofs on skates

8:00 AM - 6-8th School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Yuba Salmon Dance
Friends of the Frogpool Lane
SANDCASTLE - The Secret Life Of Potter Wasps
2 Legs is 2 Easy
Reforesting California after Wildfire
Healing Giants
Above Sinai

8:00 AM - K-2 School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Del Oro Theatre

Aldo's Bug Extravaganza
Three Trees
Yuba Salmon Dance
Metamorphosis
Unseen Peaks
PUFFERFISH
Make it Myself
MONCH!
Freya

12:00 PM - High School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Various

Obibini
Survival on the Edge
Polar Bear Country
Eyes on the Forest
Both & Neither | Ambos y Ninguno
Unseen Peaks

4:30 PM - Art Reception & Awards at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage

Join us as we kick off the film festival with the opening of the 2025 Wild & Scenic Art Exhibition, "Wild at Heart," at the Granucci Gallery. Celebrate the selected artists featured in the exhibition and be part of the public announcement of the Arts Awards. Enjoy complimentary refreshments at this free, public event.

7:30 PM - Local at Heart at Nevada Theatre

Explore stories from the festival's backyard in these films from around Nevada County

The Wolf Creek Anthem
Yuba Salmon Dance
A Radical Thread

February 14th, 2025

8:00 AM - High School Program (PRIVATE EVENT) at Various

5:00 PM - Welcome Ceremony at LFA

Start the fest with a warm welcome, including beverages and delicious small bites. Opening remarks from SYRCL staff, Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribal Council member and spokesperson Shelly Covert, and more

7:00 PM - Feathers in Focus at Nevada Theatre

As they say in Portlandia, this session puts a bird on it. Enjoy wild stories of feathered friends.

The Bird in My Backyard
The Joy of Parrots
Flight Of The Swans

7:30 PM - The Cigarette Surfboard at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage

Impassioned surfer Taylor Lane builds a functional surfboard with 10,000 cigarette butts collected from California beaches. The Cigarette Surfboard becomes a platform to learn from professional surfers who are working to protect the ocean, and the symbol of a grassroots campaign to hold Big Tobacco accountable for their toxic, plastic waste. Surfing is the medium, but the message is universal.

7:30 PM - Standing Above the Clouds at Oddfellows Nevada City

When the massive Thirty Meter Telescope is proposed to be built on Mauna Kea, an uprising of kia?i (protectors) in Hawai?i and around the world dedicate their lives to protecting the sacred mountain from destruction. Through the lens of mothers and daughters in three Native Hawaiian families, Standing Above the Clouds explores intergenerational healing and the impacts of safeguarding cultural traditions.

The session will begin with the short film Cham, which beautifully depicts Indian monks on their winter pilgrimage to the Thiksey Monastery to participate in a ceremonial dance that honors their sacred traditions.

Cham
Standing Above the Clouds

February 15th, 2025

9:30 AM - Wild Child at Del Oro Theatre

This family-friendly session showcases several shorts and a feature film curated for kids and adults alike.

Like the Snail
Freya
Attacks!
Tule
Cactus Hotel

10:00 AM - Farming Tales at Oddfellows Nevada City

This sessions has films focused on people with dirt under their nails and the intersection of farming, food systems, and the environment.

It's Time
Nevada County: A Case Study for Legal Cannabis
To Be a Good Home
The Hard Part
Solar Punk Diaries I : SOLAR PUNK FARMS

10:00 AM - Wildlife Conservation at The Stone House

This session is full of films featuring wildlife and the efforts being made to help preserve them and their habitats

Tahlequah the Whale: A Dance of Grief
Managed to Extinction
Lead It Go
Wingspan
Polar Bear Country

10:30 AM - Stream Journeys at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage

Adventurous journeys through open water and down rivers.

Obibini
Mother River
About Damn Time
River Mamma
Canyon Chorus
Open Water

10:30 AM - Solutions at Nevada Theatre

Films in this session highlight the brilliant minds around the globe helping to create solutions to the problems we face.

Freetown: Cooling a City
Black Water
Designed by Disaster
Wild Hope: Mission Impossible (full length)

11:00 AM - Honoring Heritage at Sierra College NC Building N12

Films featuring indigenous voices from around the globe.

Preserve our Culture
Indai Apai Darah (Mother, Father, Blood)
Meet Me at the Creek
The Spirit Who Swims

1:30 PM - Land Legacy at The Stone House

Explore stories of preservation and restoration and see how humans are working to restore and preserve lands for generations to come.

Reforesting California after Wildfire
The Fire Poppy
Dos Rios: A Story of Renewal
Decades in the Making
Regen-a-Nation: Farming For Our Future
Against the Herd

2:00 PM - Youth Workshop: Intro to Stop Motion Film at Center for the Arts - Studios

Youth Workshop: Intro to Stop Motion Film

Are you interested in filmmaking? Join SYRCL's Education Director, Monique Streit, to learn how to create a mini stop-motion animated film. Chaperones are welcome for free - bring your Phone if you have one.

2:00 PM - Wild at Heart at Oddfellows Nevada City

A session full of films that embody the 2025 theme of Wild at Heart.

Half Life
JAMIE
Between the Lines
hitoláayca (Going Upriver)

2:30 PM - Champions of the Golden Valley at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage

Winner of the Baff Grand Prize and Audience Choice, Champions of the Golden Valley captures the spirit of a classic underdog sports story with the heartfelt portrait of a community finding hope amid disrupted dreams. Revealing a stunning unseen side of Afghanistan, it is an uplifting exploration of what it means to be a champion – in all its forms.

In the remote mountains of Afghanistan, a newfound passion for skiing attracts young athletes from rival villages to the slopes. With minimal gear and makeshift wooden skis, the determined coach Alishah Farhang organizes a ski race like no other that unites the community in a moment of joy and triumph, just before the country's collapse.

Both & Neither | Ambos y Ninguno
Champions of the Golden Valley

2:30 PM - A Call from the Wild at Nevada Theatre

Filmmaker Asgeir Helgestad documents the state of nature at his home country Norway, where he has photographed all his life. From the lives of bees at his farm, to wild reindeer on the high mountains, and puffins at the ocean's edge, he shows the beauty of threatened nature and tracks down human actions responsible for its decline. This is a personal story on our connection with the non-human world, the relations between the small and the big, and a reminder of nature's strength and vulnerability.

For You
Local Climate Solutions: Biodiversity & Forest Conservation in the Sierra Gorda
A Call from the Wild

2:30 PM - Turtle Walker at Sierra College NC Building N12

In the late 1970s, Satish Bhaskar embarked on an epic journey along India's coastlines and the spectacular Andaman and Nicobar islands, where he uncovered the vital nesting beaches of sea turtles. During his death-defying quest, he unravels mysteries surrounding these enigmatic ocean creatures – and sets out to save them from extinction. After a devastating tsunami strikes in 2004, Bhaskar grapples with a pressing question: What happens to sea turtles when their nesting beaches disappear?

Clean Up Sayu
TURTLE WALKER

6:00 PM - Fight the Power at Oddfellows Nevada City

Stories of activism and bravery in the face of climate change and environmental damages, this session embraces the roots of what Wild & Scenic is all about.

Boca Chica
People of Red Mountain: Life Over Lithium
VALVE TURNERS

6:30 PM - Outdoors Adventure at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage

From mountain biking to kitesurfing, this session embraces Wild at Heart through action and adventure!

CANAFORNIA
One Inch From Flying
Above Sinai
Rhythm of Water
2 Legs is 2 Easy
Unseen Peaks
Ride to Slide
The Forgotten Coast

6:30 PM - Mollie's Pack at Nevada Theatre

On January 12,1995 wolves returned to Yellowstone, 50 years after their extirpation. Mollie Beattie, director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, carried the first Canadian born wolf into The Park's experimental acclimation enclosure, Alpha Female Wolf No. 5. From that day forward, their lives would be forever connected. This is the true story of Mollie's Pack.

6:30 PM - Dinner and a Movie - Saturday at The Stone House

A special event at The Stone House in Nevada City. Limited seating - must reserve your ticket with your Watershed Pass, or purchase an individual ticket.

Flora, Fauna, Funga
Worm Land
Wild Hope: Mission Impossible (short cut)
Tides of Tradition
Surf and Turf

February 16th, 2025

10:00 AM - Timelines of Transformation at The Stone HouseThe Stone House

These films explore the passage of time at the intersection of the environment and climate change.

Terminus
Saving Silence
Arctic Ice: Under The Midnight Sun
The Memory of Darkness, Light, and Ice

10:30 AM - Embracing the Journey at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage

From indigenous races on the reservation to searching for the elusive snow leopard, this session will take you on a variety of journeys to learn how people are transforming their lives and dealing with life issues in nature.

Dancing Warrior
The world is ours
Nature Always Finds A Way
Hidden Spirit

10:30 AM - Among the Wolves at Nevada Theatre

Sharing an entire year in the life of a pack of wild wolves... a dream for Yves the painter and Olivier the photographer. Somewhere in the no-man's-land between Finland and Russia, they'll be waiting for the pack, in a hut just a few meters square. Throughout the four seasons, motionless and silent in the midst of an unchanging scenery, they gradually become part of the "picture" and immerse themselves in the life of the wolves.

Nozawa Story
Among the wolves

11:30 AM - Resilience & Reconciliation at Oddfellows Nevada City

The films in this session embrace stories of indigenous and the work being done to reconcile the past through resilience in the present.

Nature for All
The Return of Nóouhàh-Toka'na (Swift Fox)
How the Land Remembers Us
Return to Spur Lake: Bringing back the food that grows on water
Signal Fire: Towards Reconciliation

1:30 PM - Inspiring Activism at The Stone House

You too can make a difference - get inspired to do just that through these stories of activists from around the world.

Rivers Cannot Defend Themselves
Judy's Creek - Discovering the Secret Life of the Streambed
WILD HOPE: PROTECTING PARADISE
The Human Side Of Plastic: Babacar Thiaw
Portrait of a Ranger: Connie
R.E.S.C.U.E.

2:30 PM - Green Missions at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage

From mangroves of the Dominican Republic to the shores of Alaska to the rapids of the Salmon River, this session will take you on an insightful and adventurous journey.

Roots
Footprints on Katmai
The Grand Salmon

2:30 PM - Chasing Time at Nevada Theatre

How much longer can we cherish and admire the beauty of our world and nature? Scientists, artists, and even children invite us to reflect on this through the films presented in this session.

Water Ashes
The Last Observers
THE ISLAND
Chasing Time

3:30 PM - United Impact at Oddfellows Nevada City

We can do more together - and these films will show you how others are doing just that!

Here the Wild Things Are
Don't Doubt the Trout
WILD HOPE: THE GREAT OCEAN CLEANUP
River Cowboys: Keepin' it Wild
Cycling Without Age

6:30 PM - Award Winners Night at Nevada Theatre

Join us to watch some of the 2025 award-winning films. The films at this session will play at Del Oro tomorrow (Local's Night).

6:30 PM - Dinner and a Movie - Sunday at The Stone House

A special event at The Stone House in Nevada City. Limited seating - must reserve your ticket with your Watershed Pass, or purchase an individual ticket.

Flora, Fauna, Funga
Worm Land
Wild Hope: Mission Impossible (short cut)
Tides of Tradition
Surf and Turf

7:00 PM - Award Winners Night at CFTA at Center for the Arts - Cal Solar Main Stage
Join us to watch some of the 2025 award-winning films.

9:00 PM - That's a Wrap: A Wild & Scenic Dance Party w/ Par Avion at Oddfellows Nevada City

Wrap up the festival weekend with the band Par Avion, as seen and heard in the 2025 Official Selection Don't Doubt the Trout. Par Avion is a surf-influenced instrumental rock project out of Southern California.

February 17th, 2025

1:30 PM - Volunteer Appreciation Session at Nevada Theatre
To thank and honor our volunteers, we are glad to offer this special session. Volunteers Only!

6:00 PM - Locals' Night Award Winners at Nevada Theatre
Join us to watch some of the 2025 award-winning films.

6:30 PM - Locals' Night Award Winners at Del Oro Theatre
Join us to watch some of the 2025 award-winning films.

Date:
In-Person: February 13-17, 2025
Online: February 13-23, 2025

Locations: Various Venues in Nevada City, CA 95959

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