Inaugural Boulder Environmental / Nature / Outdoors Film Festival

The inaugural Boulder Environmental/Nature/Outdoors Film Festival happens at the Dairy Arts Center July 10-13 and it features a variety of films that celebrate the natural world  – the ocean, land, nature, and the air we breathe.

Richard Paradise who brings the festival to Boulder says the films are drawn from around the world bringing local and global perspectives of the challenges and solutions ahead for the environment.

“There are some films in the festival that have a more advocacy orientation but there are films that are more outdoorsy, more an appreciation of nature. How I curate it is I look for films that are both going to be enlightening to the audience and also be entertaining and not just be a lot of talking heads.”

One example of this that Paradise points to is the opening night film The River and the Wall. “It starts off as a journey among five adventurists who want to travel down the 1200 mile Rio Grande along the US Mexico border and they want to look at this pristine area because most people don’t know what the border is like….in the Rio Grande river delta you’ve got curving borders, you’ve got natural water ways, you’ve got beautiful mountainous cliff area and they wanted to explore this before the so-called wall is going to be built…but as they do that they’re also coming across the environmental issues, the human issues of this proposed wall and how it will impact the outdoors, nature and wildlife and of course people.”

The closing night film is Woman at War, a narrative full length film from Iceland which tells the story of a fifty year old woman who leads a double life as a passionate environmental activist.

All films are being screened at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder and several are followed by panel discussions featuring several local environmental and outdoor groups.

“We’ve tried to partner with a lot of local groups, other non profits, that already have expertise, that already have built in communities here in Boulder, to help add and enhance the film experience.”

Find the full schedule of films here.

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