Norwalk Seaport Association Hosts

Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival

(Still from “Sand Dancer,” one of the films that will be shown on Friday, January 29, 2010, during the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival on Tour.  The event will be at the Dolce Norwalk Center and is hosted by the Norwalk Seaport Association.)

Films with humor, adventure, extraordinary scenery, inspiration and more will be featured during the 2010 Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival on Tour hosted by the Norwalk Seaport Association on Friday, January 29. The festival, which is supported by grants from Patagonia Westport and The Sounds Conservancy, will be at the Dolce Norwalk Center, 32 Weed Avenue in Norwalk, CT.

This year’s event includes an after-school screening from 4:00-5:30 p.m. plus an evening screening from 7:00-10:00. In addition to viewing diverse films from around the world that focus on protecting natural resources and wild places, attendees can inspect a gallery of photographs by students in the Seaport Association’s Nature Photography classes and peruse environmental displays. Reservations can be made on-line at www.seaport.org or by calling 203-838-9444.

Films that will appeal to youngsters have been selected for the after-school screening. They range in length from 1-9 minutes and include animated films like “Gorilla in the Greenhouse: Great Pacific Garbage Patch” and “Wombat” along with regular features like “Chickens of the Sea” and “Once Upon a Tide.” The $10.00 admission fee includes a special film festival membership in the Norwalk Seaport Association.

Refreshments will be served at the evening screening. The highlights include “Red Gold,” an award-winning 55-minute feature film. Other films, which range in length from 2-29 minutes, include “I Met the Walrus,” which weaves together “a cascading flood of multi-pronged animation” and the 1969 interview taped with John Lennon by a 14-year-old Beatles fanatic.  Among the other films are “Sand Dancer,” in which a New Zealand beach is the canvas on which Peter Donnelly creates vast art works that are washed away by the tide, and “The Last Descent,” which follows a group of world-class whitewater kayakers to some of the worlds most amazing rivers  … descending them, possibly, for the last time. The evening admission fee of $25.00 for individuals and $40.00 for couples includes door prize tickets, special film festival membership in the Norwalk Seaport Association and a subscription to E –The Environmental Magazine, which is published in Norwalk.

All films were selected from the 2009 Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival that is produced by the South Yuba River Citizens League and held each January in Nevada City, CA. Directions to the Dolce Norwalk Center and a description of all of the films is at www.seaport.org.