Anyone who lives in or visits the Skeena region knows the beauty of its diverse landscapes and inhabitants.
An area the size of Switzerland, it remains an undammed, intact watershed of three major salmon rivers, a unique place that deserves celebrating – the ultimate goal of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, which hosts the SkeenaWild Film and Photo Festival, coming to Terrace with two showings Nov. 18.
“The festival is a way to promote the Skeena Watershed and its beauty, and really bring the community together,” says Alice Arbuthnot, Communications Manager with SkeenaWild, founded in 2007 to make the Skeena River and nearby coastal communities a global model of sustainability.
“It’s our yearly community outreach event as we work to showcase our local watershed.”
While open to all, Skeena locals account for most of the submissions across both film and photography, both professionals and amateurs.
“It’s a way of connecting everyone to where they call home,” Arbuthnot says. “We’re now in our 12th year, and people look forward to it every fall, and submissions keep growing every year. It raises awareness of our goal to conserve the watershed.”
And that includes local youth – key to conserving the watershed for generations to come.
“We have a really strong education program at SkeenaWild, and we work to engage youth to be the future stewards of the watershed,” Arbuthnot says.
What to expect at this year’s festival
Submissions closed earlier this month in a variety of categories, which offer $150 prizes for photography and $200 prizes for film:
- Photography – Wild people; Wild places; Wild things; and youth (age 16 and younger).
- Film – Short films (shorter than 10 minutes); feature films (between 10 and 30 minutes); and Youth (age 16 and younger).
Finalists will be presented in two showings in the Sherwood hall Nov. 18, with the first airing at 1 p.m. and a second evening showing at 6 p.m. All ages are welcome and refreshments will be available in the brewery.
Both events kick off with the film shorts, followed by a digital display of photo finalists during the intermission, with the features closing out the presentation, Arbuthnot says, thanking their sponsors for making the festival possible.
Tickets will be available soon from skeenawildfilmfestival.com
While in the past, Skeena Wild would take the festival showcase on the road themselves, this year, they’ve opened it up to community partners to share it with people in other communities. B.C. North residents can look for additional events coming up in Kitimat, Smithers, Haida Gwaii and Prince Rupert, with others to come, Arbuthnot says.
To learn more about the film festival, visit skeenawildfilmfestival.com and see previous winners here. Learn about the work of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust – including how you can help – at skeenawild.org