2020 WSFF Featured Films

Tehama Conservation Fund

1. Tehama Terrain: Onion Ridge

   • A unique partnership of public and private organizations set their intentions on the same goal: strategically managing the forest along Onion Ridge for wildfire readiness. Meet the team on a mission to help safeguard the Lassen National Forest, Ishi Wilderness, and the headwaters of Mill and Deer Creeks. 

2. The Sacramento, at Current Speed

   • On a whitewater dory, explore a hidden river, surrounded by farm and freeway, where millions of people live and work. It is a river with two personalities, one that retains a sense of wildness and one that serves as a massive plumbing system. Join Mitch Dion on a row from Redding to the Delta and meet some interesting folks along the way who helped us better understand how water works in California.

3. The Guardian Elephant Warriors of Reteti

   • Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is the first ever community-owned and run elephant sanctuary in Africa. This oasis where orphans grow up, learning to be wild so that one day they can rejoin their herds, is as much about the people as it is about elephants. It's a powerful story about the changing relationship between people and the animals they are protecting.

4. Where The Wild Things Keep Playing

   • An ode to the athlete who relishes in getting dirty, who chuckles after a long day in the mountains, effortlessly glides through the crystal clear waves and most importantly, is unapologetic in pursuing their love of getting rowdy in adventures. Director Krystle Wright brings this next installment since the wild things never stopped playing.

5. Sanctuary

   • Set against the backdrop of the North Umpqua's most famous tributary, Steamboat Creek, which was recently designated as the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary, filmmaker Shane Anderson documents how these famed waters impacted Soul River, a group of veterans and urban youth as they learn about steelhead trout research by Pacific Rivers and meet conservation heroes Frank and Jeanne Moore. 'Sanctuary' explores the healing powers of wild places and rivers and the need to create more sanctuaries on public lands.

6. Daniel: A Cyclist with TBI Making a Difference
   

   • Every day (and, we mean every day) you can see Daniel riding his bike along Highway 50. And, while he's out there, he's picking up trash and doing his part to make the Lake Tahoe area better for everyone. That is an amazing story in and of itself. But it is even more incredible when you learn that Daniel nearly died as a child from a fall and was in a coma for 8 months, and although he still suffers from traumatic brain injury (TBI), that hasn't stopped him from making a difference.

7. Meadows - Yosemite Nature Notes

   • Yosemite National Park has over 3,000 meadows, which hold the greatest diversity of plant and animal species despite only making up 3% of the park. In just the past 150 years, people have negatively impacted these fragile ecosystems. Yosemite National Park, with the help of Yosemite Conservancy, is working hard to rehabilitate these meadows that are an important part of the park's natural and cultural history.

8. Herd Impact

   • North Texas couple, Deborah Clark and Emry Birdwell’s honest and humorous account of regenerating their ranch and lives. The easy-going film of rough-ranching brings the audience right into their lifestyle; grit, guts, and a good amount of light banter to successfully raise one of the largest herds of cattle in Texas.