Films
2018 IWFF FILM DESCRIPTIONS
PROGRAM SCHEDULE IWFF 2018
Adaptation Bangladesh: Sea Level Rise – 12 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 11:30AM Theater 2
Director Justin DeShields
United States
The “new normal” of global climate change is, generally, a harrowing reality to contemplate. Cultural anthropologist Alizé Carrére helps us see, however, that it does not need to be a reality devoid of hope. In Bangladesh — the most densely populated country in the world and one that will bear a disproportionate share of the impact of global climate change — Carrére shows us the kind of resilience, flexibility and innovation that will be requisite for the survival of our species.
Screening in FROM ASIA WITH LOVE
SPONSORED BY CLIMATE SMART MISSOULA
Adventures of the American Pika – 56 min.
Monday, April 16th, 1:45 PM Theater 1
Director Jere Folgert
United States
KID FRIENDLY!
The American Pika is one of North America’s toughest and cutest mammals. This film tracks the lives and adventures of two pikas from two very different worlds.
SPONSORED BY WESTERN MONTNA CLINIC
Aging in the Wild – 50 min.
Monday, April 16th, 1:30PM Theater 2
Director Ari Cohen
Canada
This captivating film invites us to see animals differently, through the lenses of longevity, reproductive health, social status, and wisdom. In the process we learn that the process of aging varies as much as animal species themselves.
SPONSORED BY ORANGE STREET FOOD FARM
Albatross – 97 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 8:30PM Theater 2
Director Chris Jordan
United States
On a remote atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, albatross chicks are dying, their bodies filled with plastic. ALBATROSS unflinchingly shows the horror of this tragedy, while ultimately bringing us to a deeply felt experience of beauty and love for life on Earth.
Amazonia Dammed – 14 min.
Saturday, April 14th, 6:45PM Theater 3
Director Ada Bodjolle
United Kingdom
AMAZONIA DAMMED tells the story of the Munduruku people’s urgent struggle to protect the heart of the Amazon against one of the largest mega-dam projects on earth. The film shows how these brave warriors of the modern day fight an impossible war of hope, and joins its voice to the growing chorus proclaiming the need to preserve our planet’s remaining rainforests.
Screening in TROPICAL TALES
Arctic Wolf Pack – 60 min.
Monday, April 16th, 7:30PM Theater 2
Director Oliver Goetzl
United States
At the very northern edge of North America is Ellesmere Island, where the unforgiving Arctic winds tear through the tundra, dipping temperatures to 40 below zero. Running through this shifting sea of snow and ice is one of the most hardened predators on the planet, the White Wolf. But as the spring melt approaches, these roaming hunters must adapt to being tethered parents as new additions to the pack have just been born. With their herds of prey continuing to move, we witness a desperate race to keep up– and bring back a kill to the hungry mothers and cubs. Traveling farther and farther away from their den each day puts these hunters and their children at risk in this fight for survival.
SPONSORED BY THE AXMAN
Atlantic Salmon – Lost at Sea – 55 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6:30PM Theater 3
Director Deirdre Brennan
United States
Narrated by Gabriel Byrne, LOST AT SEA takes the viewer on an epic journey through the oceanic kingdom of the Atlantic salmon in an attempt to unravel the mystery of their life at sea. Despite conservation efforts worldwide, populations of salmon are continuing to plummet. For the first time, using the latest DNA technology, scientists are able to track the salmon from the rivers into the vast North Atlantic and back again, in the hopes of finding an answer to the species’ declining numbers before it’s too late.
Attenborough’s Ant Mountain – 50 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 2PM Theater 2
Directors Joe Loncraine and Martin Dohrn
Austria
KID FRIENDLY!
David Attenborough travels to the Jura Mountains in the Swiss Alps to find out about one of the largest animal societies in the world, where over a billion ants live in peace. After following the lives of these incredible creatures and their dramatic fight for survival for a year, he is able to unravel the secrets of the Swiss super-colony.
Badlands: Hard Rock – Tough Lives – 50 min.
Friday, April 20th, 12:15PM Theater 1
Director Mike Birkhead
Austria
KID FRIENDLY!
In the heart of the American Midwest lies a landscape where lush grasslands have been torn open by towering pinnacles and spires of rock. It’s a place where summers of blistering heat follow winters of punishing cold and some of the country’s most charismatic animals – the black-tailed prairie dog, the burrowing owl, and the American bison – fight to survive.
SPONSORED BY DOWNTOWN MISSOULA PARTNERSHIP
Bears of Durango – 60 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 3:30PM Theater 1
Director Dusty Hulet
United States
Director in attendance
Dive headfirst into bear dens with the biologists who study the effect of human urban development on bear behavior. “If we want our native biodiversity here, if we want these large carnivores to be back on our landscapes, ultimately we’re going to have to figure out, how do we coexist? How do we share a single landscape?” — Heather Johnson, PhD, Lead Wildlife Researcher.
SPONSORED BY THE MONTANA OUTDOOR LEGACY FOUNDATION & GREAT BEAR FOUNDATION
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The Beaver Believers – 50 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 5PM Theater 1
KID FRIENDLY!
Director Sarah Koenigsberg
United States
This whimsical yet inspiring film captures the vision, energy, and dedication of a half dozen activists who share a passion for restoring the North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) to much of its former habitat and range. THE BEAVER BELIEVERS show us how this humble creature can help us restore streams and watersheds damaged by neglect.
SPONSORED BY CLARK FORK COALITION AND NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION
Becoming Water: Art and Science in Conversation – 15 min.
Friday, April 20th, 4:30PM Theater 1
Director Ian Toews
Canada
Art and nature intersect as students from the University of Saskatchewan travel north to participate in a course at the Saskatchewan River Delta, one of the largest unbroken wetlands left on Earth. The students create art pieces inspired by the remote area, searching for links between humans, water, and the natural environment.
Screening in NORTHERN EXPOSURE
SPONSORED BY UM Watershed Clinic
Bird of Prey – 95 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 7:30PM Theater 1
Director Eric Liner
United States
Wildlife cinematographer Neil Rettig embarks on what could be the most challenging assignment of his career: to find and film the rarest eagle on the planet. BIRD OF PREY explores the vanishing world of the Great Philippine Eagle and acknowledges the people determined to save it.
SPONSORED BY THE CATALYST
Birds of May – 28 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6PM Theater 1
Director Jared Flesher
United States
On the sandy beaches of the Delaware Bay in New Jersey, a visitor arrives from the southernmost tip of South America. Its name: Calidris canutus rufa, the rufa red knot. What makes the red knot remarkable is its epic journey of 19,000 miles per year, from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle and back again, one of the longest migrations in the animal kingdom.
Screening in BIRD IS THE WORD
SPONSORED BY HIDE & SOLE
Blue Ventures – 6 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15PM Theater 3
Director Gabriel Diamond
United States
Ten years ago in a coastal village in Madagascar, an elegantly simple model was tested, and put Blue Ventures Conservation on the map. Residents were encouraged to take charge of their local fishery by leaving a small section of their octopus-fishing area alone for a designated period of time. When the area was reopened, the community saw huge increases in their catch and incomes.
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS: OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
Budapest Inferno – 51 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 1PM Theater 1
Director Balazs Lerner
Hungary
Life on Earth is fed by sunlight – so one could think that the lack of sunlight means no life at all. The truth is just the opposite: a closer look reveals that most dark caves present wildlife in abundance. Recently cave divers and biologists have found previously unknown species under the picturesque capital of Hungary. The Molnár János Cave, the largest underwater thermokarst cave in Europe, has many more secrets in store. Following decided explorers, BUDAPEST INFERNO reveals the never before seen underground wonders of Budapest and the deepest secrets of evolution.
Butterfly Wing Development in Vitro: Buckeye & Painted Lady – 1 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 5:30PM Theater 2
Directors Aaron Pomerantz & Nipam H. Patel
United States
The beauty of metamorphosis is illustrated through the development of the hindwing of a buckeye butterfly, and both fore- and hindwing of a painted lady butterfly, imaged during the complete period of pupal development.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Butte’s Berkeley Pit: New Life Emerges from its Toxic Waters – 4 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 5:30PM Theater 2
Director Anna Sagatov
United States
The Berkeley Pit, an abandoned pit mine flooded with highly toxic water in Butte, Montana, has transformed innocuous yeast and fungi growing in the waters into bizarre iterations of their previous forms. This evolution brings about questions of life’s ability to adapt to conditions never before encountered.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Camera Trap – 26 min.
Friday, April 20th, 4:30PM Theater 1
Director Marty O’Brien
Canada
In this half-hour documentary, aspiring wildlife photographer Peter Mather puts everything on the line in his quest to capture one photo that will tell the story of the Porcupine Caribou herd’s migration, one of the greatest land migrations on earth.
Screening in NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Canis Lupus Colorado – 18 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 4:15PM Theater 1
Directors Eric Bendick and Thomas Winston
United States
Ghosts are stirring in Colorado’s high country. They haunt the trees, the water, the animals – the very fabric of the land itself. Gray wolves shaped this place for eons only to disappear nearly overnight. CANIS LUPUS COLORADO is the story of the past, present, and future of Colorado’s now extinct native wolf population.
Screening in RUN WITH THE WOLVES
Cascade Crossroads – 31 min.
Monday, April 16th, 1:30PM Theater 2
Director Ted Grudowski
United States
A documentary film about building bridges, both literal and metaphorical, CASCADE CROSSROADS chronicles the amazing story unfolding on Interstate 90 just east of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington’s Cascade mountains, where the intersection of an east-west transportation corridor and a north-south wildlife corridor resulted in historic conservation, collaboration, and innovation.
SPONSORED BY RELIANCE AUTOMOTIVE
Children of the Sun – Wild Bees – 44 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 1:30PM Theater 2
Director Jan Haft
Germany
SPONSORED BY BOOMER 106.3
There is an incredible diversity of bees, ranging over 560 different species. Fascinating fights, sensational performances, imposing structures, and colorful individuals – the world of wild bees offers all of this and more.
Clay Bolt – 4 min.
Saturday, April 21th, 1:30PM Theater 2
Director Chema Domenech
United States
Clay Bolt is a natural history and conservation photographer for World Wildlife Fund whose work has been featured in prominent magazines such as National Geographic. Affectionately referred to as “the bug guy,” Clay explains how and why he focuses on the 99% of life on earth that is smaller than your finger.
Connected – 7 min
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15PM Theater 3
Director Ziggy Livnat
United States
The film delivers a sense of wonder about the diversity of marine life, moving the viewer to appreciate the complexity of the underwater world. Join underwater filmmaker Ziggy Livnat as he narrates this visual exploration of marine animals and human impact on the oceans and all its life. Original music by Amir Gwirtzman.
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS: OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
The Dassie: A South African Survival Specialist – 52 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 12PM Theater 3
KID FRIENDLY!
Director Marlen Hundertmark
Germany
They are cute, small, and indeed, quite special. Their bigger relatives, the elephants, are well known throughout the world, but these little animals with their special charm haven’t received the same publicity yet. In Africa everybody knows them, in Europe nearly nobody. They’re dassies, and this film tells the story of Rocky, a young dassie, and his family.
SPONSORED BY HOB NOB CAFE
Deeply Invested: Coral Reefs and the Future of Florida – 6 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:15PM Theater 2
Director Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele
United States
Ocean acidification is degrading Florida’s coral reefs, threatening communities that depend upon a healthy ocean. DEEPLY INVESTED tells the intertwined stories of scientists working to understand this urgent problem, and local business owners who rely upon the reef ecosystem.
Screening in DEEP DIVE
Defying Plastic – 5 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15PM Theater 3
Director Talia Schizzano
United States
It may feel impossible to get away from plastic these days. The solution to reversing plastic pollution is complex, but it can be simplified by taking a few easy steps in our everyday lives.
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS: OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
SPONSORED BY CLIMATE SMART MISSOULA
Desolation Follows – 9 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2:15PM Theater 1
Director Burnham Arlidge
United Kingdom
Regions of outstanding natural beauty, the English moorlands elicit in us a sense of the wild and untamed. They appear to be a pristine wilderness, untouched by the advances of civilization. Yet all is not as it seems.
Screening in CONSERVATION NATION
Dodging Extinction: The Black-footed Ferret Recovery Program – 10 min.
Friday, April 20th, 2PM Theater 1
Director Douglas Canfield
United States
In 1979, black-footed ferrets were believed to be extinct. In 1981, a ranch dog discovered a ferret in Meteetse, WY. This led to the discovery of a small population and the first recovery program. Today, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and its many partners are leading an effort to take ferrets off the Endangered Species List.
Screening in THE WILD WEST
Drive Them Buffalo – 18 min.
Friday, April 20th, 2PM Theater 1
Director Daniel Glick
United States
An intimate look at the only indigenous tribal-led buffalo drive in North America, DRIVE THEM BUFFALO follows members of the Blackfeet Nation as they experience the power of the American bison while driving their herd through rough terrain and hostile weather to their winter pasture — a rare ritual of stewardship that brings hope for a cultural rebirth.
Screening in THE WILD WEST
SPONSORED BY JULIE GARDNER REALTY
Dusk Chorus – 62 min.
Monday, April 16th, 4pm Theater 1
Directors Nika Šaravanja & Alessandro D’Emilia
Italy
Follow the eco-acoustic composer David Monacchi on his quest to record pure continuous 24-hour 3D soundscapes in the area with the world’s highest biodiversity in Ecuador’s remote primary forests. DUSK CHORUS is a unique listening experience of the disappearing sonic heritage of millions of years of evolution.
Presented by REIMAGINING WILDLIFE: FILMS FROM IMAGINE SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL
Earth: One Amazing Day – 90 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 5:30PM Theater 2
Directors Richard Dale and Peter Webber
United Kingdom
KID FRIENDLY!
From BBC Earth Films, the studio that brought you EARTH, comes the sequel – EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY, an astonishing journey revealing the awesome power of the natural world. Over the course of one single day, we track the sun from the highest mountains to the remotest islands to exotic jungles.
SPONSORED BY AXMAN
A Family’s Tale: Brown Bears – 50 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 11AM Theater 1
Director Motohiro Amano
Japan
KID FRIENDLY!
Japan’s Shiretoko Peninsula has become the stronghold of the country’s largest land predator, the brown bear. After the peninsula’s bitter winter, mother bears wake from their hibernation dens with newborn cubs in tow. The young families must roam far and wide to find food. Family dynamics are later tested as the cubs embark on their journey to become independent.
SPONSORED BY THE GREAT BEAR FOUNDATION
A Film About Animals (for my children to watch when they are older) – 12 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 11:30AM Theater 2
Director Eric Daniel Metzgar
United States
This harrowing film follows a team of armed Cambodian government soldiers charged with investigating illegal wildlife trade and enforcing national policy prohibiting animals from being taken from the wild. The director chronicles the experience in a “filmed letter” to his children to hear for themselves when they’re old enough to understand it.
Screening in FROM ASIA WITH LOVE
Filtering a Plastic Ocean – 6 min
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15PM Theater 3
Director Rory Banyard
United States
FILTERING A PLASTIC OCEAN highlights the dangers of microplastics – sea-borne plastic that has been broken down into tiny pieces – in our oceans, and profiles a pioneering low-cost solution to removing this toxic material from our beaches and seas. Photographed on the beautiful beaches of the Oregon coast, this film showcases activist Marc Ward and the electrostatic filtration system he has invented. The film features an original music score by noted composer Mark Orton.
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS: OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
The Firefox Guardian – 14 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 11:30 AM Theater 2
Director Gunjan Menon
India
In a small village in Nepal, a native woman steps up as an unconventional warrior to change the unfortunate fate of the red pandas in her community forest. This film takes you on a mesmerizing journey with the first female forest guardian through remote bamboo jungles, scaling the mighty Himalayan wilderness into the hidden world of red pandas.
Screening in FROM ASIA WITH LOVE
Fly Fishing in the Anthropocene – 20 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2:15PM Theater 1
Directors Peter Christensen and Rolf Nylinder
Denmark
The Ozernaya River winds through a remote corner of Kamchatka in Far East Russia. In one of the most intact ecosystems left in the Northern Pacific, rainbow trout eat mice for breakfast and salmon run in the hundreds of thousands. This bounty attracts two kinds of people: those who want to protect, and those who want to exploit. Salmon poaching is big business on Kamchatka, and once the salmon are gone, entire ecosystems will collapse.
Screening in CONSERVATION NATION
Forests, Fins & Footprints – 23 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2:15PM Theater 1
Director Michael Glaser
Canada
In Alberta, public lands in the foothills are being clear cut at a rate faster than they can recover, with little opportunity for public input. FORESTS, FINS & FOOTPRINTS is a community-funded documentation of clearcutting in the Ghost Valley — a watershed located just upstream of Calgary, on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Screening in CONSERVATION NATION
Fox Tales – 60 min.
Monday, April 16th, 7:30PM Theater 2
Directors Susan Fleming and Roderick Deogrades
Canada
KID FRIENDLY!
On a high ridge in Newfoundland, Canada, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the borders of an old grove forest, a Red fox, the matron of her family group, gives birth yet again. Follow the pups as they grow and learn to hunt, adapt, and survive. Explore the family dynamic of these clever creatures as bonds are formed. But the vixen knows that not all her cubs will inherit these tall trees, crystal lakes and the ocean spray. Before the snows come again, she will have to banish some of her offspring for the good of the family. We also hear from scientists in Madison, Wisconsin and Bristol, England, about their studies on urban Red foxes who are facing a much different challenge than their Canadian counterparts. And another scientist tracks how Red foxes are moving out to the Arctic tundra and surviving in one of the harshest landscapes.
SPONSORED BY TOWE & FITZPATRICK
Garden in the Sky – Earth Keepers – 30 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 11:30AM Theater 2
Director Michael Pitts
Hong Kong
David Attenborough narrates as we delve into the work of the ecologists and educators of Hong Kong’s 60-year old NGO, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG). They show us KFBG’s sustainable living, nature conservation and education work in Hong Kong and South China. Filmed over two years, they reveal a side to Hong Kong and China that few visitors see. Dr. Jane Goodall introduces a KFBG program in which children enhance their connection to nature.
Screening in FROM ASIA WITH LOVE
Gathering of Eagles – 8 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6PM Theater 1
Director Darrell Hartman
United States
In British Columbia, birds of prey flock to Canada’s “Eagle Capital” every winter, making a lasting impact on the people who live there.
Screening in BIRD IS THE WORD
Great Hammerhead Invasion – 60 min.
Saturday, April 21th, 11:30AM Theater 2
Narrated by Ted Marcoux
United Kingdom
Every November, great hammerhead sharks start to appear around a tiny island in the Bahamas. No one knows where they come from or why, like clockwork, they leave again in April. Tristan Guttridge and his team at the Bimini Shark Lab track down these normally solitary, nomadic predators to solve these mysteries.
The Great Silence – 16 min.
Tuesday, April 17th 5:30pm Theater 2
Directors Allora & Calzadilla
United States
Arecibo, the world’s largest radio telescope, is located in Esperanza, Puerto Rico, which is also home to a critically endangered species of parrots. The telescope functions as an ear that is capable of capturing signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. The witty messages from the parrots, however, remain unnoticed.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Grizzly Country: Bob Landis Retrospective – 52 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 1PM Theater 2
Director Bob Landis
United States
Grizzly bears have a secret life not easily visible to the casual visitor or observer. This document reveals some of the most astonishing behavior of these great bears, recorded over a ten year period, allowing us to recognize some of the bears individually, such as Scarface, Swimmer and Quad Mom.
SPONSORED BY DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
Grizzly Encounters with Chris Morgan – 52 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 12PM Theater 1
Directors Annette Scheurich and Klaus Scheurich
Germany
When spring arrives on Alaska’s Katmai coast, it’s time for brown bears to emerge from their winter slumber. But this is no ordinary bear habitat – this is bear paradise. An unusual combination of rich food sources draws more grizzlies to its lush sedge meadows, extensive mudflats, and rushing rivers than to anywhere else on Earth. Surrounded by wild grizzlies of all ages and personalities, Chris Morgan grants us a rare glimpse into their daily lives, their triumphs, and tribulations.
Growing Farmers – 11 Minutes
Tuesday, April 17th, 2:15PM Theater 1
Saturday, April 21th, 11AM Theater 1
Director Taylor Redman
United States
This film was made by Maui students ages 12-18 at the Huliau Environmental Filmmaking Club in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United’s Farm Apprentice Mentoring program and the Mālamalama Maui project. It explores the need to grow new local farmers in Maui’s post-sugarcane era and looks at some of the regenerative agriculture projects already underway on former sugarcane lands.
Screening in CONSERVATION NATION & FOR THE TADPOLES
KID FRIENDLY!
SPONSORED BY COMMUNITY FOOD & AGRICULTURE COALITION OF MISSOULA (CFAC)
Gudrun The Viking Princess – 6 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 11AM Theater 1
Director Nigel Pope
United Kingdom
Gudrun is an adventurous and inquisitive young Viking girl on a quest to learn all she can about the wild animals that live beyond her village. With the mountains, forests, and the cold northern seas for a classroom, she has the best guide and mentor of all – her father, the kindly King Sigurd.
KID FRIENDLY!
Screening in FOR THE TADPOLES
Gyrecraft – 5 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15PM Theater 3
Director Petr Krejčí
United Kingdom
A short film about crafting objects at sea, in the past with whale’s teeth and in the future with caught plastic melted with a machine which harnesses the sun. Studio Swine went on a journey of 1000 nautical miles collecting plastic on the way from Azores to the Canaries through the North Atlantic Gyre with the Solar Extruder, a machine they designed and built, which melts and reshapes sea plastic using a solar-powered 3D printer.
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS: OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
H is for Hawk: A New Chapter – 60 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 5:30PM Theater 2
Director Mike Birkhead
United States
Helen Macdonald’s international best-selling book H Is for Hawk told the story of a grieving daughter who found healing after her father’s death, in the form of a goshawk named Mabel. The goshawk is one of Mother Nature’s own fighter jets, capable of finding and killing its prey with the speed of a lightning bolt. For the first time after Mabel’s death, Macdonald tries again to train another one of these secretive birds of prey and intimately explores their lives in the wild forests they call home.
The Healing Lizard – 12 min.
Saturday, April 14th, 6.45 PM Theater 3
Director Fernanda Prudencio
Plurinational State of Bolivia
In the heart of South America lies a land of contrasts and ancient traditions: Bolivia. High up in its mountain lives a tiny lizard. A whole culture is about to be revealed through this incredible reptile. THE HEALING LIZARD highlights the fragile relationship that exists between nature, tradition and culture, showing the various elements of its complex interaction, which needs to find a balance in order to achieve sustainability.
Screening in TROPICAL TALES
A Herd of Orphans – 85 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 3PM Theater 1
Director Kelly Bakos
United States
When poachers kill adult elephants for their ivory, the orphaned calves are unable to survive without the care of their herd. This endearing film takes us on a journey to Africa to meet these young elephants and explore the orphanage that gives them a second chance.
SPONSORED BY KMSO 102.5
Hidden Life – 19 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:15PM Theater 2
Director Hannah Mattner, Kaitlyn Satter, Ethan Stupp, Aaron Kohn, Brianna Brinzo
United States
An exploration of the controversy behind the “Rigs to Reefs” program, which allows decommissioned oil platforms to stay in the marine environment to act as artificial reefs.
Screening in DEEP DIVE
High Hopes – The Future of Dungeness Crab – 6 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15PM Theater 3
Directors Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele
United States
Dungeness crab is one of the most valuable commodities on the West Coast. As ocean acidification changes the chemistry of our oceans, scientists and fishermen are just beginning to understand how it will impact this important species.
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS: OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
The Hollow Heart – 48 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2:15PM Theater 3
Director Barend van der Watt Director in Attendance
South Africa
This is the incredible story of a tree that has been around for eight hundred years. It can withstand the harshest condition, and is more loved by insects, birds and animals than any other: the enormous baobab.
Hotel Armadillo – 60 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 5:45PM Theater 1
Directed by Nigel Pope Director in Attendance
United States
KID FRIENDLY!
In the heart of the Brazilian Pantanal lives an animal so elusive, few have ever seen it in the wild. Solitary, nocturnal and incredibly rare, it is the giant armadillo. David Attenborough narrates the story of scientist Arnaud Desbiez, whose pioneering work is uncovering extraordinary behaviour and revealing the vital role of giant armadillo burrows to the Pantanal ecosystem. Welcome to Hotel Armadillo.
The Hunt for the Elusive Basking Shark – 12 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:15PM Theater 2
Director Omar Badr
United Kingdom
Conservationist Omar Badr decides to take on his most challenging conservation effort yet: turning his brother, Fareed, from a slob into a conservationist. To that end, Omar takes Fareed to witness the incredible summer basking shark migration in the Scottish Hebrides.
Screening in DEEP DIVE
In the Valley of the Wolves: Bob Landis Retrospective – 110 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 3:15PM Theater 1
Director Bob Landis
United States
It is 10 years after wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone, on the Northern Range wolf densities has reached an all time high. Three large packs contest the area centered on the Lamar Valley. IN THE VALLEY OF THE WOLVES follows the struggle of the Druid Peak Pack over a three-year period. This National Geographic PBS NATURE coproduction follows the Druids as they first retreat from their rival packs then triumph in the end by chasing the Slough Creek Pack from the valley. Two individuals stand out, the alpha male 21 a large roguish wolf and his mate wolf 42, the film covers their lives in intimate detail The production contains many dramatic wolf behavior sequences all set to Scottish Highland theme., with music and script blending to make a truly spectacular film. IN THE VALLEY OF THE WOLVES was a finalist in the animal behavior category at the 2008 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Producer/cameraman, Bob Landis considers this film to be his most artistic.
SPONSORED BY DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
Irreparable Harm – 20 min.
Friday, April 20th, 4:30PM Theater 1
Directors Colin Arisman and Connor Gallagher Director In Attendance
United States
The Tlingit people have called the vibrant coastline of Southeast Alaska home for over 10,000 years, and continue to practice a way of life intimately tied to the ocean and the largest remaining temperate rainforest on earth. Now, contamination from industrial mining is threatening the safety of the wild food sources that make Alaska so unique.
Screening in NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Island – 20 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6PM Theater 1
Director Kadir Dabak
Turkey
Istanbul, where skyscrapers and magnificent historic buildings sit side by side, is both one of the oldest and one of the most populated cities in the world. A tiny island right next to Istanbul embraces wild life despite the surrounding highways and the constant urbanization around it. Terns, the tiny guests of the tiny island, calmly continue their survival and raise generations despite all the chaos going on around them throughout the day.
Screening in BIRD IS THE WORD
Islands in Time: Bewitched by the Moon – 50 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 1:30 PM Theater 1
Director Paul Reddish
Austria
The richest seas in the world surround the islands that lie between Asia and Australia. The moon holds sway over these seas where fiddler crabs dance to the moon whilst bizarre fish run away from water, and even odder fish hide in trees. The power of the moon is still felt beyond the range of the tide. Manta rays and whale sharks feast on the plankton and mobula rays attack the millions of tiny fish that thrive in these rich tropical seas.
JANE – 90 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2PM Theater 1
Director Brett Morgen
United States
Drawing from over 100 hours of never-before-seen footage, director Brett Morgen tells the story of JANE, a woman whose chimpanzee research revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.
KEEP TALKING with Save the Chimps at Imagine Nation Brewery after the film. Half off your first pint of Jane Good Ale with your movie ticket or IWFF pass!
Jewels of the Gulf – 17 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:15PM Theater 2
Director Allison Albritton
United States
On April 20th 2010, approximately 50 miles from the Louisiana coastline, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig experienced a catastrophic failure that resulted in the largest marine oil spill in history. Over the course of 87 days, an estimated 210 million gallons of oil surged into the Gulf of Mexico from a wellhead nearly one mile deep. A team of scientists sets out each year since the spill to document the ongoing impacts of the accident on the unique and beautiful deep sea corals that form the basis of diverse biological communities deep beneath the surface.
Screening in DEEP DIVE
The Journey of Water – 7 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 3:30PM Theater 2
Directors Matthew Von Kleindorfer and Christopher Lunn
United States
Streams cascade down mountainsides and flow through valleys, calming in slow pools, filing marshes and wetlands. Along this path water is the vital source of life, sustaining a wide variety of insects and animals that rely upon this natural force for their survival.
Kangaroo – 103 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 7PM Theater 2
Directors Mick Mcintyre & Kate Mcintyre Clere
Australia
This groundbreaking film reveals the truth surrounding Australia’s love-hate relationship with its beloved icon. The kangaroo ‘image’ is proudly used by top companies, sports teams and tourist souvenirs, yet as they hop across the vast continent they are often considered pests to be shot and sold for profit.
Keepers – 6 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 1:30PM Theater 2
Director Michelle Lotker
United States
Bobby Jack Smith won’t tell you his age, but he will tell you how he met organic farmer Kelley Penn at a local beekeeper meeting in Bryson City, North Carolina, and decided to help her in her efforts to start keeping her own hives. Years later, the two are inseparable. Although they don’t always see eye to eye, this unlikely pair is bound by their mutual admiration for bees and a concern for their future populations.
SPONSORED BY BIG SKY BEE KEEPERS
Keepers of the Wild – 12 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 12:30PM Theater 1
Director Adam McClelland
United States
With the numbers of elephants dwindling, KEEPERS OF THE WILD exposes the necessary human role in preserving wildlife in Tsavo National Park, Kenya. Shot entirely in Kenya, it shows the evolving bond between the Keepers and their elephant families as they face poison arrows, gunshot wounds, drought, births and deaths.
The Last Animals – 90 min.
Saturday, April 14th, 7PM Theater 2
Director Kate Brooks Director in Attendance
United States
Conservationists, scientists and activists battle poachers and trafficking syndicates to protect elephants and rhinos from extinction. From Africa’s front lines to Asian markets to the United States, the film takes a look at the global response to this slaughter and the efforts to rescue the Northern White rhinos who are on the edge of extinction.
SPONSORED BY LAKE MISSOULA TEA COMPANY
Last Call – 12 min.
Friday, April 20th, 2PM Theater 1
Director RC Cone
United States
Few places are more tightly bound to their rivers than Paradise Valley, Montana, where the Yellowstone River flows out of America’s most iconic National Park and begins its journey across the country. Join a fourth generation Paradise Valley rancher, BBQ and bakery owners freshly transplanted from Georgia, a lodge owner, a naturalist, a fly fishing guide, a sitting U.S. senator, and an iconic musician as they come together to protect the Yellowstone River ecosystem from a proposed gold mine. With original score and narration by Bill Payne of Little Feat, LAST CALL brings you into the heart of a community as they work to maintain the river that connects them all.
Screening in THE WILD WEST
The Last Rhino – 60 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 3PM Theater 3
Director Rowan Deacon
United States
NATURE: THE LAST RHINO introduces viewers to Sudan, the very last male Northern white rhinoceros. His harrowing journey is told through the international cast of characters who have been involved in Sudan’s life, from when he was snatched as a calf from his mother’s side in war-torn Central Africa, to his captivity as a prized exhibit in a cold, concrete zoo behind the Iron Curtain while poaching devastated his kind back home. Now 43 years old and half-blind, Sudan is living out his days under the 24-hour watch of an armed guard on a protective sanctuary in Kenya. Meanwhile, a team of scientists and experts led by Professor Thomas Hildebrandt from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research turn to technology in a race against time to save this majestic rhino subspecies whose origins date back at least five million years.
In memory of Sudan, who passed away March 20th, 2018.
Last Stand: The Vanishing Caribou Rainforest – 35 min.
Friday, April 20th, 4:30PM Theater 1
Director Colin Arisman Director In Attendance
United States
LAST STAND: THE VANISHING CARIBOU RAINFOREST is a cinematic journey into the tragically threatened world of endangered mountain caribou, their home in the world’s largest remaining inland temperate rainforest, and the critical human choices that will ultimately decide the fate of this stunning ecosystem.
Screening in NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Laws of the Lizard – 45 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2:15PM Theater 3
Directors Neil Losin & Nate Dappen
United States
When scientists ask big questions about the rules of nature, they often seek out unlikely creatures to find the answers. In THE LIZARD’S TALE, two filmmakers embark on a year-long adventure to reveal the surprising story of anoles, the most important lizards in the world!
Lions of West Texas – 9 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 8:15PM Theater 3
Director Ben Masters
United States
Researchers put a GPS collar on a captured mountain lion in order to study mountain lion prey, home range size, and to get a glimpse into the secretive lives of Texas’ largest apex predator. The data collected only adds to the mystery: how do mountain lions continue to persist in West Texas where they can be trapped, shot, and killed without regulation?
Screening in BORDER STORIES
Los Osos Anteojos (The Spectacled Bears) – 7 min.
Saturday, April 14th, 6:45 PM Theater 3
Director Kristen Heard
Peru
In the Andean dry forest, South America’s only native bear is struggling for survival. The Andean Spectacled Bear faces habitat destruction from deforestation, illegal farming, and human encroachment. One organization, Spectacled Bear Conservation Society – Peru, is working to find ways for this gentle creature to exist and thrive in an increasingly threatening world.
Screening in TROPICAL TALES
Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story – 76 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 6:30PM Theater 2
Director Ashley Bell
United States
Elephant rescues in Thailand are rare, unpredictable, and often life-threatening. After waiting 2.5 years, actor/director Ashley Bell and a team of elephant rescuers led by world-renowned Asian elephant conservationist and TIME Magazine’s Hero of Asia, Lek Chailert, embark on a daring mission 480 miles across Thailand to rescue Noi Na, a 70-year old blind trekking elephant, and bring her to freedom.
SPONSORED By THE GOOD FOOD STORE
Mabingwa – 37 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 12:30PM Theater 1
Director Matt Mays
Kenya
In Mabingwa, we meet four young men from four different corners of Kenya. We see their daily struggles to make ends meet and to relate to their country’s natural heritage. Some want access to the ecosystems but are denied. Some are too poor to even bother. Some have turned their lives around because of their involvement in conservation. These four young people exemplify how starting a simple discussion can change the course of a life, and a country, forever. Mabingwa is the Swahili word for “Champions.” The youth of Kenya must be the champions for wildlife if it is to survive.
Meadow of Horror – 48 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 2PM Theater 2
Director Lothar Frenz
Germany
It is horror! It is murder! Brutal death and exciting fights with an exceptional last-minute rescue. If you like thrilling horror movies you will love this documentary. And after seeing it, you’ll know the creepiest spot of all is actually the meadow in your neighborhood. With stylistic devices cribbed from the horror genre this extraordinary nature documentary follows a well-known hero with six legs, red wings, and seven black dots through a meadow that seems normal, but is full of monsters.
Sponsored by the UM Department Ecosystem & Conservation Sciences
Meet the Real Wolf – 3 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 4:15PM Theater 1
Directors Thomas Winston and Avela Grenier
United States
What happens when fairy tales and reality collide? Throughout history, myths about the “big bad wolf” have generated fear and concern that has crept out of our storybooks and into the real world. MEET THE REAL WOLF introduces a new chapter where the apex predator becomes the protagonist, changing the narrative of the ecosystems they are rebuilding.
Screening in RUN WITH THE WOLVES
Megeti – Africa’s Lost Wolf – 50 min.
Monday, April 16th, 3:30PM Theater 2
Director Yann Sochaczewski
Germany
The highlands known as the Roof of Africa are home to the world’s last Ethiopian Wolves. This film tells the touching story of Megeti, a lone wolf who has lost her pack and is suddenly left to fend for herself, wandering across the highlands on a quest to find a new family. Over a period of two years, a crew of wildlife filmmakers from Altayfilm has been filming Ethiopian wolves and other rare species across the high plateaus. Their work offers audiences a chance to experience charismatic protagonists in an extraordinary African scenery that has rarely been seen.
Memoirs of Acacia – 48 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 4PM Theater 2
Director Barend van der Watt
Director in attendance
South Africa
On the wind-swept grasslands of the southern Kalahari towers a magnificent Camelthorn. Pygmy falcons sweep between the tree’s branches in pursuit of rodents and lizards. Cocktail ants utilize the thorns as a place to raise their young. From the colony of sociable weavers, to the much larger herbivores who feed on its pods, there is an abundance of life that visits the tree.
SPONSORED BY AE ARCHITECTS
Mexican Fishing Bats – 6 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 8:15PM Theater 3
Director Edward M. Roqueta
Canada KID FRIENDLY!
Director in attendance
In the Sea of Cortez, researchers delve into the mystery of a bat that inexplicably makes its living at sea. Watch PhD candidate Edward Hurme and his team in action, as they untangle the mystery of how these endangered bats find their prey.
Screening in BORDER STORIES
The Mountain Lion and Me – 51 min.
Friday, April 20th, 5PM Theater 2
Director Casey Anderson
United States
SPONSORED BY MONTANA OUTDOOR LEGACY FOUNDATION
A wild mountain lion reveals her secret life in the backyard of Casey Anderson, and an even greater discovery: her three kittens as they thrive in Montana.
MT6 – Is There a Place for the Wolf in Germany? – 19 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 4:15PM Theater 1
Director Sandra Spethmann
Germany
The film tells the story of a young wolf struggling to find a place in a country that is no longer used to his kind. Following him on his journey, we search for an answer to the question: Is there a place for the wolf in Germany?
Screening in RUN WITH THE WOLVES
Music and Leopards – 5 min.
Friday, April 20th, 5PM Theater 2
Director Munmun Dhalaria
India
A well-camouflaged urban misfit, Ashwani is an unlikely voice for conservation. A Bhajan singer by day and a wildlife filmmaker at night, he seems recklessly passionate as he follows leopards on the streets of Shimla. This film follows him into the many isolated forests of Shimla, where we enter the mind of a god-fearing wildlife conservationist and learn the philosophy which motivates him to do what he does.
The Mystery of the Gnaraloo Sea Turtles – 25 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:15PM Theater 2
Director Dof Dickinson
Australia
KID FRIENDLY!
In remote Western Australia, scientists attached satellite trackers on the backs of ten females for the first time to plot their top-secret routes. The results – and the amazing cinematography – will astound you! Dive in and learn about life after the nesting beaches. All proceeds go towards the Gnaraloo Wilderness Foundation.
Screening in DEEP DIVE
Naledi: One Little Elephant – 60 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 5:30PM Theater 1
Director Ben Bowie and Geoff Luck
United States
KID FRIENDLY!
Defending the lives of Africa’s elephants from poachers and human development can be a thankless and desperate job for their caretakers and researchers. But when an elephant orphan is in need of a new family, it takes precedence over everything. Born inside an elephant sanctuary in the wilderness of Botswana, Naledi the baby elephant loses her mother and faces the world alone. It is now up to a team of guardians to help save her life, urge her to survive, and help find her place in the herd. Join NATURE on a heartwarming journey from tragedy to triumph, as Naledi faces loss and rejection along with the men who desperately race to save her life.
Nature’s Wildest Weapons: Horns Tusks and Antlers – Natural World – 60 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 4PM Theater 3
Director Peter Fison
United Kingdom
The animal kingdom possesses a fearsome arsenal: a variety of extreme weapons used in epic battles to gore, stab, crush and batter. But are they more than just instruments of deadly force? University of Montana Professor Doug Emlen’s life-long ambition has been to discover the secrets of nature’s arms races, what triggers them and what they can teach us about the most formidable weapons on Earth: our own.
Nematodes – 3 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 5:30pm Theater 2
Directors Peter Burr & Alexandra Grote
United States
Some parasitic nematodes have an endosymbiotic relationship with the bacteria Wolbachia. In NEMATODES, we reconstruct this symbiotic relationship and break it down, finding ourselves at the model’s writhing core.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Nesting with the Devil – 11 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 12:30PM Theater 1
Director Stephen Matter
United Kingdom
NESTING WITH THE DEVIL tells the story of great blue herons, bald eagles, and their mysterious nesting relationship on the coast of British Columbia.
Screening in FLY HIGH
A New Message for Smokey – 9 min.
Friday, April 20th, 2PM Theater 1
Director Joseph Leibrecht
United States
Forest fires across North America are as natural as sunshine and rain, and have been burning regularly since the end of the last ice age. Not only are large fires natural, they create needed habitat for many plants and animals. Contrary to the story told by the media, politicians, timber industry, and US Forest Service that large fires are common and destructive, they actually are rare, and restorative to our forests.
Screening in THE WILD WEST
Nex – 5 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 5:30pm Theater 2
Directors Michael Loithaler, Marlene Raml, Philipp Buschauer
Austria
NEX is a hybrid symbiosis of computer-generated pictures and filmed material. The film is about the attack of a cordyceps fungus on a rhinoceros beetle and the following struggle between life and death, showing that even the tiniest things can have a great impact and that death is not merely the end, but can be the beginning of something new and beautiful.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Norway’s Magical Fjords – 52 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 12PM Theater 2
Director Jan Haft
Germany
The Norwegian Fjords are one of the most dramatic landscapes in Europe. Billions of herring darken the waters, orcas and humpback whales feast on the fish banquet. Migrating salmon leap up waterfalls, strange sea pens flash their lights, and colorful sea slugs glow in the deep.
Oceanic Aliens – 6 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:15PM Theater 2
Director Mike Johnson
United States
OCEANIC ALIENS is an internationally award-winning short documentary that explores one aspect of how little we truly know about Planet Earth. This film illustrates just one example of a little-known class of marine species and their amazing attributes.
Screening in DEEP DIVE
Once Upon a Time: The Savannah – 27 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 3PM Theater 3
Director Robert Henno
Belgium
KID FRIENDLY!
The sun rises and ignites the Savannah. A new day begins for all the animals who live in this habitat. The film invites you to follow a few of them over the course of the day. The birth of an antelope calf, lions on the hunt, mother cheetahs and lionesses who tend to their newborns, as well as the solidarity and bravery of buffaloes when they attempt to save one of their young from the claws of big cats are just a few of the scenes from their everyday lives that you will witness.
Operation Wolf Patrol: Poacher’s Kingdom – 12 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 4:15PM Theater 1
Director Joe Brown
United States
OPERATION WOLF PATROL: POACHER’S KINGDOM is a short documentary that focuses on the controversial group “Wolf Patrol.” The film follows Rod Coronado, Wolf Patrol’s leader, as he endeavors to raise awareness about wolf poaching in Northern, Wisconsin. The film also tackles the issue of Wisconsin’s new “Hunter Harassment” law – making it illegal to take photos of hunters on public lands.
Screening in RUN WITH THE WOLVES
Our Wonderful Nature – The Common Chameleon – 4 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:30PM Theater 3
Director Tomer Eshed
Germany
The feeding habits of the common chameleon as never seen before.
Paradise Nest – 9 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6PM Theater 1
Director Arif Ahmed
Bangladesh
PARADISE NEST is an experimental film based on life of birds in Bangladesh. This short film portrays a mated pair of paradise flycatchers and their challenging living conditions.
Screening in BIRD IS THE WORD
The Path Back – 5 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 12PM Theater 1
Friday, April 20th, 2PM Theater 1
Saturday, April 21st, 11AM Theater 1
Director Neil Losin
United States
KID FRIENDLY!
For thousands of years, the buffalo or plains bison (Bison bison) sustained the many native tribes that inhabited the Great Plains region of North America. But when Europeans arrived in the area, they nearly exterminated the buffalo and an indigenous way of life. In recent years, however, the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Montana’s Fort Peck Reservation have joined with other tribal groups throughout the region to bring buffalo back to their ancestral lands and into their lives.
Screening in THE WILD WEST & FOR THE TADPOLES
The Patterns of the Ocean – Protecting Indonesia’s Manta Rays – 45 min.
Sunday, April 15th 1:30pm Theater 1
Director Hendrik S. Schmitt
Germany
Manta ray numbers are declining because their gills have recently become a dubious ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. The filmmakers document the efforts of scientists and conservationists in Indonesia like Elitza Germanov and Sarah Lewis (Indonesian Manta Project/Manta Trust), who are working tirelessly to save these beautiful animals from extinction.
SPONSORED BY DA DAVIDSON
The Perfect Runner – 49 Minutes
Thursday, April 19th, 7:30PM Theater 2
Director Niobe Thompson
Canada
Director in attendance
Explore the miracle of running through the science of human evolution. From the highlands of Ethiopia, to the most remote place in Arctic Siberia, to a grueling ultramarathon in the Canadian Rockies, THE PERFECT RUNNER weaves cutting-edge science with gripping adventure, and leaves the viewer with a new and inspiring understanding of our common evolutionary inheritance as the “running ape”.
Person of the Forest – 17 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 11:30 AM Theater 2
Directors Melissa Lesh & Tim Laman
United States
In the vanishing lowland rainforests of Borneo, research is underway to uncover and understand the unique cultural behaviors in wild orangutans. There, photographer Tim Laman, researcher Cheryl Knott, and young explorer Robert Suro shed new light on the similarities between ourselves and our ancient ancestors, before it’s too late.
The Plastic Vagabond – 7 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15PM Theater 3
Director Sharif Mirshak
Canada
Horsea plasticus is a toy seahorse is lost at sea. He takes us on a wild journey through the plastisphere, meeting fellow drifters and a team of scientists during an expedition. Discovering the massive extent of micro-plastic pollution in the world ocean, he continues his quest and encourages humans to take action!
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS: OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
Poisoning Paradise – 75 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 5PM Theater 1
Directors Keely Shaye Brosnan and Teresa Tico
United States
Journey to the seemingly idyllic world of Native Hawaiians, where communities are surrounded by experimental test sites for genetically engineered seed corn, and pesticides are sprayed upwind of homes, schools, hospitals, and shorelines. Discover what’s at stake for Hawaii, as local activists, scientific experts, and healthcare professionals expose the effects of environmental injustice on a local population.
Protecting Paradise – 17 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 11:30 AM Theater 2
Directors Paro Natung and Chandan Patro
India
Who better to tell the stories of the forest than those who protect it on a daily basis? PROTECTING PARADISE is a film made by, for, and about the staff of Pakke Tiger Reserve in north-east India. This is an inspiring story created and directed by two first time filmmakers who were trained at a video-documentation school and had never used a video camera or computer before. They sketch an intimate portrait of how many of their colleagues have lost their lives on the field in an attempt to save one of the most remote but one of the best-managed tiger reserves in India.
Screening in FROM ASIA WITH LOVE
Protectors of the Penguins – 5 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6PM Theater 1
Director Jessie Ayles
Canada
They’re black and white and full of charm, but African penguins need more than charisma to avoid extinction. Near Stoney Point on South Africa’s Western Cape, a dedicated group of people isn’t giving up on the penguin just yet. Day after day, Cuan McGeorge and his colleagues monitor the breeding colony for injured birds. Every bird they successfully save bolsters the species’ potential for the future.
Screening in BIRD IS THE WORD
Queen Without Land – 53 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 12PM Theater 1
Director Asgeir Helgestad
Norway
A beautiful film about a polar bear mother and her cubs living on the arctic islands of Svalbard. We follow Frost through five years and learn how she is affected by rising temperatures as ice disappears from her fjords.
Rancheros del Jaguar – 12 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 8:15PM Theater 3
Director Sara Matasick
United Kingdom
In Snora, Mexico, the familiar human-predator conflict story is taking on an unfamiliar ending. With the help of an innovative group of biologists, traditional cattle ranchers are changing their relationships with the jaguars they have historically persecuted, earning them the name RANCHEROS DEL JAGUAR.
Screening in BORDER STORIES
SPONSORED BY ADVENTURE SCIENTISTS
The Realm Of The Little Owl – 26 Minutes
Wednesday, April 18th, 12:30PM Theater 1
Saturday, April 21st, 11AM Theater 1
Director Robert Henno
Belgium
KID FRIENDLY!
The population of the little owl has been decreased by hedge clearance, the replacement of old pollard willows with metal poles, the destruction of ancient orchards, and intensive use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers. The film is an invitation to discover this delightful bird of prey evolving in her habitat, as well as the fauna which populates her ‘realm’.
Screening in FLY HIGH & FOR THE TADPOLES
Rhacophorus – 6 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 5:30pm Theater 2
Director Laura Verlinden
Belgium
A contemplative journey through nature and its various facets, guided by a mysterious being. The voyage encourages us to question our place in the universe and to reflect upon the elements that surround us.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
The Rise of Black Wolf: Bob Landis Retrospective – 45 min.
Thursday April 19th 1P Theater 2
Director Bob Landis
United States
Follow the journey of a rebel named Black Wolf who breaks from his pack and survives to be one of the oldest wolves in Yellowstone. He’ll travel paved roads most wolves avoid at all costs as he ventures out to mate with a rival pack’s females. At nearly twice the age most wolves reach, Black Wolf’s unorthodox lifestyle likely means he has more pups than any other wolf in Yellowstone. National Geographic cameras capture the action when he finally achieves alpha male status in his own pack.
SPONSORED BY DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
River of Life – 18 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6:30PM Theater 3
Director Todd Moen
United States
RIVER OF LIFE features the reflections of three women out fly fishing in the Pacific Northwest. Barbara Schmierer, Trisha Campbell and Carol LaBranche compare the challenges they face with breast cancer to the struggles of wild, native fish. Filled with the magic and joy of fly fishing, this film reveals how our human stories are tied to the life and health of rivers, reminding us how easily all that makes our world beautiful can be lost. RIVER OF LIFE is dedicated to Carol LaBranche, aged 56, who battled with cancer and passed away October 8, 2016 before the film was finished.
Rodents of Unusual Size – 71 mins.
Saturday, April 21st, 3:30PM Theater 2
Directors Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler & Jeff Springer
United States
Hard-headed Louisiana fisherman Thomas Gonzales doesn’t know what will hit him next. After decades of hurricanes and oil spills he faces a new threat: hordes of monstrous 20-pound swamp rats. Known as “nutria”, these invasive South American rodents breed faster than the roving squads of hunters can control them. And with their orange teeth and voracious appetites they are eating up the coastal wetlands that protect Thomas and his town of Delacroix Island from hurricanes. It is man vs. rodent. May the best mammal win.
Saiga Saga – 8 min.
Friday, April 20th, 12:15PM Theater 1
Director Kate Bradbury
The Netherlands
A murder mystery unfolds on the vast plains of Kazakhstan. Hundreds of thousands of saiga antelope, gathered together to calve, begin to drop dead without explanation. Across an area the size of the United Kingdom, and in the span of only a few days, their population is nearly wiped out. So what caused 220,000 animals to die seemingly overnight? An investigation is launched to get to the bottom of this disastrous death on the steppe.
Salmon: The Wild Connection – 10 min.
Monday, April 16th, 6:30PM Theater 3
Director Liz McKenzie
United States
Director in attendance
Along a stream crowded with spawning salmon, award-winning nature writer and anthropologist Richard Nelson explores the story of these extraordinary creatures based on his more than fifty years in Alaska. His personal relationship with salmon is a story for all of us who love these fish. The film features intimate views of salmon and other wildlife amid Alaska’s spectacular mountains and seacoast—the environment that gives rise to one of the earth’s true natural miracles.
Saving Warru – 60 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 6PM Theater 1
Director Daniel Clarke & Amy Pysden
Australia
The warru, or black-footed rock-wallaby, is one of South Australia’s most endangered mammals. The Warru Recovery Team was formed to help save the precious species from extinction. Come on a remarkable adventure of conservation and culture as the indigenous people of the wild red deserts of Australia fight to save a national icon.
SPONSORED BY PEPSI
The Secret World of Moths – 25 min.
Tuesday April 17th 5:30P Theater 2
Directors Hannes Vartiainen & Pekka Veikkolainen
Finland
Using 3D X-ray tomography we shed light on the moth’s hidden macrocosm and explore their way of life in an unprecedented way. Geographically, the film spans from the Arctic Circle to the Equator. Observing these two extreme environments helps us learn about and understand the diversity and complexity of their world and our fragile existence on planet Earth.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Sex, Lies and Butterflies – 60 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:30PM Theater 3
Director Ann Johnson Prum
United States
Butterflies have been making our planet more interesting and beautiful for more than 50 million years, and today a dazzling array of nearly 20,000 different species inhabit the globe. NATURE: SEX, LIES AND BUTTERFLIES follows the lives of these incredible and important insects from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to the emergence of the mature winged creature. This vibrant new Nature special explores the astonishing survival techniques of butterflies, including their 360° vision, deceptive camouflage, chemical weaponry, and fantastic flight across continents. Through sophisticated macro-filming, viewers get a rare glimpse beyond the butterflies’ bright colors and fragile beauty as they follow them on one of the greatest migrations on Earth.
The Singing Ape – 45 min.
Friday, April 20th, 2:30PM Theater 2
Director Choi Pyeongsoon
Republic of Korea
Gibbons’ intelligence is similar to that of humans, and their social structure is based on monogamy. Gibbons are in fact the only anthropoids that are able to sing like humans and communicate through song, and this film explores their musical expression.
Sky Migrations – 15 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 8:15PM Theater 3
Director Charles Post, Forrest Woodward and Max Lowe
United States
Each fall our skies fill with the wings of raptors, a migration that relies on two hemispheres worth of wild and healthy ecosystems. Join ecologist and filmmaker, Charles Post, as he shines a light on the network of backcountry scientists and sentinels at the front lines of raptor conservation.
Screening in BORDER STORIES
Skywards – 5 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 12:30PM Theater 1
Director Eva Weber
United Kingdom
As pigeon keepers give long and short whistles, the birds copy the keepers’ movements over the rooftops, flying in tight circles and big loops, before returning gracefully back to the roofs. This film is a sensory study in movement and sound and, at its core, a celebration of the passion, camaraderie, and freedom that pigeon keeping brings.
Screening in FLY HIGH
Snakeskins for Luxury Goods: The Python Code – 29 min.
Sunday, April 22nd, 4PM Theater 2
Director Andreas Ewels
Germany
Pythons are both threatening and fascinating. As a luxury product in the world of fashion, python leather is an almost uncontrollable industry. Could a genetic fingerprint protect these snakes?
The Snowy Plover and You – 10 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 12:30PM Theater 1
Director Michael Love
United States
The western snowy plover is a small shore bird that was once abundant on our west coast beaches. This film tells the story of their unique natural history, how their numbers dwindled because of human impact, and the remarkably successfully recovery efforts on breeding sites up and down the western coast.
Screening in FLY HIGH
Song Dog: Bob Landis Retrospective – 28 min.
Monday, April 16th, 5:30PM Theater 2
Director Bob Landis
United States
The American Plains Indian thought of the coyote as a trickster, an animal that had to live by its intelligence in order to survive. The Native American theme runs throughout SONG DOG, a 30-minute documentary produced and filmed by Bob Landis. SONG DOG features many unusual sequences including: coyotes fighting with a black bear. Contesting a carcass with a Bald Eagle, and its attempts to steal fish from otters. The documentary is a window on what the American plains looked like in an earlier time, as it records what Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley looked like prereintroduction of the wolf. SONG DOG was runner up in the short form category at the 1985 IWFF and a finalist at BBC’s Wildscreen.
SPONSORED BY DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
The Spawn Tide – 4 min.
Friday, April 20th, 7:15PM Theater 2
Director Roshan Patel
United States
Each year, millions of horseshoe crabs migrate to Delaware Bay on the full and new moons of May and June. This short depicts one of these “spawn tides” in which the beach fills, for a brief moment, with this living fossil.
Screening in DEEP DIVE
Spiny Forest of Madagascar – 3 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 11AM & 3PM Theater 1
Director Dustin Trayer
United States
KID FRIENDLY!
Rich with diversity, Madagascar’s spiny forest is home to accent trees and highly specialized flora and fauna. From lemurs to chameleons, this habitat is teeming with life. Join us on an adventure to Africa’s island paradise and learn more about the plants and animals that call the spiny forest their home.
Screening in FOR THE TADPOLES
Spy in the Wild – 55 min.
Saturday, April 14th, 3PM Theater 2
Director John Downer
United States
KID FRIENDLY!
In the most innovative series that NATURE has ever presented, SPY IN THE WILD employs over 30 animatronic cameras disguised as animals to secretly record behavior in the wild. These “spy cameras” reveal animals as having emotions and behavior similar to humans – specifically, a capacity to love, grieve, deceive, cooperate, and invent. Featured spy creatures include a spy hippo, spy cobra, spy sloth, spy orangutan, spy bushbaby, spy warthog, and many more. The robotic look-alikes infiltrate the natural world to film surprising behavior among wildlife from around the globe.
Squid: Coming to Life – 7 min.
Tuesday, April 17th 5:30pm Theater 2
Nipam H. Patel
United States
Embryos of squids and cuttlefish, among the most enigmatic of marine creatures, rapidly develop into small versions of the adults and flash their chromatophores as young hatchlings.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Stewardship with Vision: David Spicer – 9 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2:15PM Theater 1
Director Jason Roehrig
United States
David Spicer’s leadership in restoring springs, wetlands, and riparian areas on his ranch and beyond has helped keep a species from being listed under the ESA and supported the return of many more to this Nevada desert valley. We thank him for sharing his story.
Screening in CONSERVATION NATION
Tainted Love – 13 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 12:30PM Theater 1
Director Eleanor Paish
United Kingdom
In Indonesia millions of wild birds are trapped every year to be kept as pets, pushing populations to the brink of extinction. Through candid interviews, this short documentary reveals the motivations of those involved in Indonesia’s bird trade and its alarming consequences.
Screening in FLY HIGH
Throw Away Culture – 7 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 6:15P Theater 3
Nikki Dodd and Rory Moon
United States
Plastic is all around us. From packaging for our food to synthetic fabric for our clothes, plastic has become an inescapable reality. A significant portion of this plastic winds up in the ocean, where it not only threatens marine life, but human health too. When did we become so addicted to plastic, and what can we do to break our addiction?
Screening in AUDIENCE AWARDS OCEAN FILM CHALLENGE
Tipping Point – 27 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2:15PM Theater 1
Director Dylan D’haeze Director in Attendance
United States
KID FRIENDLY!
TIPPING POINT explains climate change from a kid’s perspective, and shows kids what they can do to help solve the problem. Dylan is a 14 year old filmmaker from the San Juan Islands in Washington who has gone on a quest to make environmental films for his peers to help save the planet.
Screening in CONSERVATION NATION
To Catch a Macaw – 13 min.
Saturday, April 14th, 6:45 P Theater 3
Director Angela Prochilo
United Kingdom
Field biologist Erica Pacífico and her team are on a mission to find endangered Lear’s macaw chicks. The task, however, is not easy. These birds nest in small natural caves on sheer sandstone cliffs, difficult to access. The Lear’s macaw is one of the rarest birds in the world, being found only in the arid Caatinga forest of northeast Brazil. Despite their rarity, they are at great risk from the pet trade and habitat loss.
Screening in TROPICAL TALES
Toad People – 80 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 5PM Theater 3
Directors Isabelle Groc and Mike McKinlay
Canada
In British Columbia, toads are on the decline because of habitat loss, fragmentation, and roadkill. In different parts of the province, families and neighbours of all ages work hard to save the toads as they undertake their annual migration from the wetland habitat where they breed to the forest where they spend most of their lives.
SPONSORED BY FARMERS STATE BANK
Trapped – 13 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 8:30PM Theater 2
Director Greta Santagata
United Kingdom
In September 2016 Greta Santagata set off to the island of Cyprus, where every autumn the largest massacre of songbirds in Europe takes place. They are caught in mist nets and branches covered in glue, their fragile throats slit, bodies boiled and pickled, to be served on the island as an expensive delicacy. Her plan? To join a group of environmental activists who have been fighting for a decade to put an end to this practice.
Tribe vs. Pride – 53 min.
Saturday, April 21st, 12:30PM Theater 1
Directors Dereck and Beverly Joubert
Austria
For thousands of years, Kenya’s Maasai people had an ancient ritual: young men ventured out into the savannah to find and kill a lion. Due to habitat loss, poaching and hunting, today there only 20,000 lions left in Africa. As a means to stop the falling lion numbers, they decided to change their culture. In 2008, the Maasai Olympics were founded and now instead of killing lions, the young men compete in athletics.
The Trouble With Wolves – 57 min. FREE EVENT!
Monday, April 16th, 6PM University Center Theater on University of Montana Campus
Director Collin Monda
United States
Director in attendance
Death threats, court battles, and, in the middle of it all, an iconic endangered species. This story takes an up-close look at the most controversial wildlife conservation issue of our time: the reintroduction of wolves. The film aims to find out whether coexistence is really possible by hearing from the people directly involved.
Tucúquere: The Trackers – 6 min.
Monday April 16th, 6PM Theater 1
Directors Francisco Valdés and Diana Vásquez
Chile
In this short film, Eduardo Pavez, President of the Union of Ornithologists of Chile, teaches us about the tucúquere, a nocturnal bird of prey native to Chile.
Screening in BIRD IS THE WORD
Underwater Wilderness: Sudan – 50 min.
Thursday, April 19th, 3:30PM Theater 2
Directors Balázs Lerner and Zsolt Sásdi
Hungary
Two dedicated divers, cameraman Zsolt Sásdi and nature photographer Dániel Selmeczi visit one of the richest marine habitats on Earth: the coral reefs of the Western Red Sea Coast. On their journey, they come across abandoned shipwrecks, sharp-toothed sharks and Jacques Cousteau’s abandoned underwater living experiment. They visit the most beautiful reefs of the Red Sea, and experience firsthand the infinite variety of the underwater wilderness.
Water from the Mountain – Agua de El Yunque – 16 min.
Saturday, April 14th, 6:45 PM Theater 3
Directors Jeremy Monroe and David Herasimtschuk
United States
SPONSORED BY GREEN HANGER
Follow the path of water from the rainforests of Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest to the coastal communities that rely on fresh water… and discover one of the world’s most amazing water treatment (eco)systems.
Screening in TROPICAL TALES
White Wolf: Bob Landis Retrospective – 52 Min.
Monday, April 16th, 5:30PM Theater 2
Director Bob Landis
United States
For ten years a wolf pack has struggled to survive in Yellowstone’s Hayden Valley. The alpha female is a rare color in Yellowstone. Ten years of filming these wild wolves have resulted in this intriguing program.
White Wolves – Ghosts of the Arctic – 54 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 7:45PM Theater 2
Director Oliver Goetzl
Germany
WHITE WOLVES – GHOSTS OF THE ARCTIC is a fascinating look into the lives of these elusive animals, focusing on their astonishing cooperation, and the dedication needed to raise their pups in the harsh arctic environment of Ellesmere Island.
Wild Formosan Macaques – 53 min.
Friday, April 20th, 2:30PM Theater 2
Director 廖東坤 (Dong-kun Liao)
Taiwan
The Formosan macaque is Taiwan’s most well-known species. Approximately 1,400 Formosan macaques live in Shoushan National Park. Macaques are fascinating creatures with special hierarchies and communication styles.
Wildlife and The Wall – 5 min.
Sunday, April 15th, 8:15PM Theater 3
Director Ben Masters
United States
Construction of a USA-Mexico border wall would have huge impacts on wildlife. Migratory corridors would be eliminated, dispersal events could no longer occur, and access to the Rio Grande River would be cut off for both wildlife and humans.
Screening in BORDER STORIES
SPONSORED BY JEANNETTE RANKIN PEACE CENTER
Wolves from Above – 6 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 5:30pm Theater 2
Director Demelza Kooij
Scotland
A meditation on a pack of quiet and elusive wolves filmed from above. The weight of their paws on the grass and some playful growls can be heard in this very still space. The tranquil silence draws the spectator in and allows the viewer to see the wolf in a whole new light.
Screening in IMAGINE SCIENCE SHORTS BLOCK
Wolverine: Ghost of the Northern Forest – 52 min.
Wednesday, April 18th, 7:45PM Theater 2
Director Andrew Manske & Jeff Turner
Canada
WOLVERINE: GHOST OF THE NORTHERN FOREST recounts the fascinating story of Canadian wildlife filmmaker Andrew Manske’s relentless, five-year quest to find and film one of the most legendary and elusive creatures on the planet.
SPONSORED BY DICK ANDERSON CONSTRUCTION
Yosemite – 60 min.
Saturday, April 14th 5:00P Theater 2
Yosemite was forged by time and shaped by the power of water. Water made life possible in this “stone wilderness,” carved out the iconic Yosemite Valley, and gave birth to the Earth’s largest living trees. But with climate change, Yosemite is feeling the heat. Join scientists and adventurers as they explore the past, present, and future of the Sierra Nevada’s (a mountain range which stretches from California into Nevada through Yosemite) most precious resource, its water.
Zan: Japan’s Last Dugongs – 73 min.
Tuesday, April 17th, 12:30P Theater 2
Director Richard Grehan
Japan
This films follows Okinawan dugong (closely related to the manatee) and the people who strive to protect them, located in the outstandingly beautiful and bio-diverse Henoko and Oura Bays. This film follows imageMILL’s Yu Kisami as he brings us on a journey of discovery, aided by the Nature Conservation Society of Japan.