NEW YORK WILD’S Best of the Fest
The Picture House Regional Film Center announced that the New York WILD Film Festival, Wildlife Conservation Society and The Picture House will partner to host a captivating afternoon of New York WILD’S Best of the Fest on Sunday, October 29th in Bronxville starting at 2pm. Best of the Fest features five films that were selected from the 9th annual New York WILD Film Festival in March 2023. Films include Walking on Clouds, Haulout, Walking Two Worlds, Greywater, and Path of the Panther.
“We are thrilled to offer this exciting new program, New York WILD’s Best of the Fest, and to continue our long -standing relationship with WCS,” said Clayton Bushong, Executive Director of The Picture House. “The programs showcase a variety of thought-provoking documentaries which will further inform and inspire our community on the important work of WCS and New York WILD.”
“As sponsor, WCS is proud of the festival’s remarkable ability to engage audiences in important wildlife conservation and environmental protection issues,” said John Cavelli, Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, Wildlife Conservation Society. “We are excited to work with the New York WILD Film Festival and The Picture House to bring these awe-inspiring films to Westchester.”
New York WILD Film Festival showcases documentaries about exploration, adventure, conservation, wildlife, and the environment, bringing all things WILD to one of the most urban cities in the world. Through powerful, exhilarating films and conversations, the festival presents an extraordinary opportunity to exchange ideas, celebrate the wild, and effect change. New York WILD is a platform to create excitement, identify critical issues, build partnerships, and reach audiences that care about exploring, discovering, and protecting our planet.
“More than ever people are fascinated with stories connected to the natural world and are increasingly aware of the urgency to save it,” said Nancy Rosenthal, Founder and Executive Director, New York WILD Film Festival. “Documentary film has become an enormously powerful and popular medium for that kind of outreach. New York WILD is delighted to bring a selection of the 2023 best in festival films and expand the impact of these extraordinary stories to The Picture House.”
Best of the Fest was curated from the 35 films featured in the 9th annual New York WILD Film Festival in New York City in March 2023. The program includes Q & A discussions following select films.
Film credits & synopses in order of scheduled programming:
Walking on Clouds
New York WILD Finalist
Director: Renan Kamizi
Brazil, 2022, 7m
This short film shows the highline crossing between two air balloons by athlete Rafael Bridi, performed at the end of 2021, in the city of Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil. He achieved the highest highline record in the world by the Guinness Book.
Haulout
New York WILD Best in Festival
Directors: Evgenia Arbugaeva & Maxim Arbugaev
UK, 2022, 25m
On a remote coast of the Russian Arctic in a wind-battered hut, a lonely man waits to witness an ancient gathering. But warming seas and rising temperatures bring an unexpected change, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed. Nominated for Documentary Short at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Walking Two Worlds
New York WILD Finalist
Director: Maia Wikler
USA, 2022, 29m
19 year-old Quannah Chasinghorse, and her mother, Jody Potts-Joseph, take a stand to defend their sacred homelands and way of life while breaking barriers in Indigenous representation.
Greywater
WILD in New York Award
Director: Daniel Lombroso
USA, 2022, 15m
A filmmaker sets out to investigate a poaching ring and discovers a tangle of environmental justice issues in the New York City waterway.
Path of the Panther
New York WILD Best Conservation Film
Director: Eric Bendick
USA, 2022, 88m
Drawn in by the haunting specter of the Florida panther, Nat Geo photographer Carlton Ward and a coalition of biologists, ranchers, conservationists, and indigenous peoples find themselves on the front lines of an accelerating battle between forces of renewal and destruction that have pushed the Everglades to the brink of ecological collapse.
For more information about The Picture House, visit www.thepicturehouse.org