Courtesy photo.
LOS OLIVOS — Films have been selected for the third annual NatureTrack Film Festival (NTFF), the only nature-focused film festival between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The festival will take place in Los Olivos on March 20-22, 2020. More than 65 long and short films from 21 countries, in both live and animated form, will be judged and then screened during the festival. Categories are Adventure, Animation, Biography, Conservation, Kids Connecting with Nature, Scenic, Student, and a special category, Outdoors & Out of Bounds.
Festival film highlights include:
83° Ski the North
Director: Matthias Mayr (2018 NTFF Award Winner, Best in Outdoor & Out of Bounds category for “White Maze”)
Country: Austria
Less than 800 kilometers away from the north pole is the Arctic Cordillera, the most northern mountain range in the world, located on Ellesmere Island – remote, hostile, beautiful and one of the coldest places on earth. Two adventurers, Hauni Haunholder and film director Matthias Mayr, set off to ski the Cordillera but getting there is the real adventure. The island is home to polar bears, arctic wolves and native Inuit, indigenous people who actively support the two skier mountaineers. On their journey, Hauni and Matthias not only face major athletic and filmmaking challenges, but they also have to accept that they won’t be the alpha leaders on this outing.
STREET SURFERS
Director: Arthur Neumeier
Country: South Africa
Frank Solomon, a big wave surfer and marine activist from Cape Town, South Africa, travels to Johannesburg to meet two exceptional men, Thabo and Mokete, who indirectly serve the environment through “street surfing” for recyclables as a means of income. For anyone who has cruised the streets of Johannesburg, the site of the city’s “street surfers” is as much a part of the landscape as that of the high-rise metropolitan skyline. This is the untold story of new friendships, shared experiences and common interests between individuals who are worlds apart.
Lost Kings of Bioko
Director: Oliver Goetzl (2019 NTFF Award Winner, Audience Favorite category for “White Wolves—Ghosts of the Arctic,” 2018 NTFF Award Winner, Best in Conservation category for “Yellowstone”
Country: Germany
Goetzl returns to the NTFF with this fascinating film about one of the world’s least known primate species, the Drill Monkey. Off the coast of Central Africa lies Bioko, an isolated island covered by primeval rainforests and surrounded by dark ocean waters. Island folklore tells of a Drill king who ruled the island’s forests, a place where Drills still play a critical role in the health of an ecosystem known to scientists as a biodiversity hotspot. The Lost Kings of Bioko explores the secret lives of the Drills and their mysterious island home.
Threats in the Northern Seas
Director: Jacques Loeuille
Country: France
About three billion tons of chemical and conventional warfare lies at the bottom of the North and Baltic seas. These silent witnesses of both World Wars have become a true threat to the environment. How and why were these weapons dumped in the sea, and is this massive propagation of highly toxic products an avoidable disaster? This chilling film takes us to Bornholm (Germany), to the Skarregak Straight (between Finland and Denmark), to the French North Sea and Channel coasts, to the south of England, to Knokke Heist (Belgium), the Netherlands and Denmark to examine this underwater stockpile of dangerous munitions, and to defend the cause of our seas’ survival.
The entire list of participating films with full descriptions will be posted after January 1 on the festival website. “We’re honored and excited to bring exceptional, award-winning films to the festival every year,” says Sue Eisaguirre, NatureTrack Film Festival founder and director. “Word is getting out that if you’ve produced a quality nature, conservation or adventure film, you want it shown at the NatureTrack Film Festival.”
All-Access Passes, ticket packages and single tickets are now available and can be purchased by going to the festival website, www.NatureTrackFilmFestival.org. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the festival goes to support the NatureTrack Foundation.
About NatureTrack Film Festival
NatureTrack Film Festival is a three-day celebration of nature and outdoor adventure through film. Held in Los Olivos, California in the heart of Santa Barbara wine country, the festival showcases dozens of national and international filmmakers’ works. The festival was founded by Sue Eisaguirre, who conceived the idea as an extension of and fundraiser for the non-profit NatureTrack Foundation she started in 2011. NatureTrack introduces schoolchildren to outdoor spaces from the seashore to the inland oak woodlands of Santa Barbara County by providing cost-free outdoor field trips. Since it began, NatureTrack has provided more than 22,000 outdoor experiences for school-aged students. More information about NatureTrack Foundation can be found at www.naturetrack.org.
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