THE FIRST FEW DAYS... of a new year truly are of two minds, at least around California. On the one hand you have a flurry of top-notch films, movies that are screening as part of swanky cinema festivals, the kind of festivals that roll out during awards season. (Which, spoiler alert, happens to encompass the very start of the year.) On the opposite, nearby, but still quite different hand? You have the kind of resolutions that get announced on the final day of December, promises that very often involve being more active and embracing outdoorsy pursuits with more gusto and regularity. The issue: Heading inside for films is skipping the being-outdoors thing, and vice versa, and so forth. There is one film festival, however, that loves upon both sides of this particularly tempting coin, with the watch-a-movie-indoors side and be-inspired-to-go-climb/kayak/hike side receiving play. It's the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, and it will be back in...
NEVADA CITY... and Grass Valley from Thursday, Jan. 12 through Monday, Jan. 16. It's the 15th annual outing, and "more than 115 films" will roll out over the planet-honoring party. Look also for several world premieres as well as "filmmaker meet and greets, activist workshops, environmental fashion shows, virtual reality experiences," too. Nature is one of the hearts of this storytelling treat, as well as activism, community, H2O, the beasties who also share this spinning-in-space globe with us (and we with them), and a host of other topics both light-of-heart and take-action-now. And after seeing a film, you can head straight to the rugged low Sierra Nevada hills, and the gorgeous Yuba River, to connect with the outside.
