Five Montana-themed films (and one not-so Montana-themed) you can catch at the International Wildlife Film Festival
For 37 years the International Wildlife Film Festival has brought groundbreaking, inspirational and exciting films of the natural world to Missoula, Montana. Now with a focus expanded to include ecological films as well as wildlife films and a new permanent home in the renovated Roxy Theater, the IWFF promises to be better than ever.
This year’s festival includes over sixty films from around the world, including these five with subject matter close to Montana’s heart (and one more that’s pretty cool too).
Damnation
As any Montana elementary school student making the classic field trip rounds knows, this state is no stranger to hydroelectricity. An odyssey across America, DamNation explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers. DamNation’s majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.
Damnation screens Tuesday, April 15th at 7pm at the Roxy Theater
Grizzly Man
Bear Tycoon would be remiss if we didn’t mention Grizzly Man was playing at the festival. Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary of the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell was widely considered one of the best films of the 2000s. In October 2003, Treadwell’s remains, along with those of his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, were discovered near their campsite in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Reserve. They had been mauled and devoured by a grizzly, the first known victims of a bear attack in the park. Was Timothy Treadwell a passionate and fearless environmentalist who devoted his life to living peacefully among Alaskan grizzly bears in order to save them? Or was he a deluded misanthrope whose reckless actions resulted in his own death, as well as those of his girlfriend and one of the bears he swore to protect?
Grizzly Man screens Monday, April 14th at 8:30pm at the Roxy Theater
She Wolf
The Lamar Canyon pack is one of the most famous of all Yellowstone’s wolf packs for one unusual reason: its leader was an especially powerful female, “’06″/832F (aka “The ’06 Female”). The ’06 Female amazed wolf watchers around the world and became famous as an incredible hunter, able to kill an elk by herself. Filmmaker Bob Landis retraces the life of this incredible animal, the She Wolf, who was forced to leave her original clan and strike out on her own when she was still a young cub, confronting Yellowstone’s beautiful but merciless wilderness alone.
She Wolf screens Tuesday, April 15th at 7:15 pm at the Roxy Theater
Touching the Wild
A common sight to farmers, hunters and people who are just trying to get to work on time, mule deer are everywhere in Montana. One man decided to join their ranks. Joe Hutto’s idea of research is anything but normal, dedicating seven years of his life to becoming a wild mule deer. The herd would ordinarily run from any human but, incredibly, these keenly intelligent animals come to regard this stranger as one of their own. As he crosses the species divide Joe taps into a new understanding about these elusive animals. The captivating joy he feels for his new family is nothing short of infectious, but this human predator also learns to see the world from the point of view of prey – sharing their world so personally finally takes a toll that sends him back to his own kind.
Touching the Wild screens Tuesday, April 15th at 7:15 pm at the Roxy Theater
An Evening with M. Sanjayan & Years of Living Dangerously
As the only state in the union to have a constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, climate change is a topic on the forefront of Montana politics.
Leading global conservation scientist, writer and an Emmy-nominated news contributor Dr. M. Sanjayan will be presenting an episode from his upcoming Showtime documentary series, Years Of Living Dangerously. Sanjayan has focused on the role of conservation in improving human well-being, wildlife and the environment. He serves on Conservation International’s senior leadership team as Executive Vice President and Senior Scientist.
Years of Living Dangerously is an upcoming 9-part Showtime documentary series focusing on climate change. Produced by James Cameron, Jerry Weintraub and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the series features celebrity investigators traveling to areas around the world and across the US affected by climate change
This event is FREE on Wednesday, April 16th at 6:00pm at the UC Theatre
Science is Fiction: Eight underwater films by Jean Painlevé
Ok, so Montana isn’t exactly full of seahorses, being landlocked and all, but thanks to Jean Painlevé we can still experience ocean life up close! One of the first filmmakers to descend underwater with a movie camera, French avant-garde filmmaker Jean Painlevé created hypnotic and surreal films that capture the beauty and weirdness of life undersea. NextDoorPrisonHotel (The Roxy’s resident silent film duo, John Sporman & Travis Yost) will perform an original score to eight of Painlevé’s rarely seen films.
Science is Fiction screens Thursday, April 17th at 8:00 pm at the Roxy Theater
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The International Wildlife Film Festival runs through April 19th with showings every evening at the Roxy Theater (718 S Higgins Ave). For more information visit wildlifefilms.org.
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