We are ecstatic to share our 2022 Official Selections with you! Click here to explore the full list of films.
In exploring this year’s theme of Currents of Hope, festival-goers can expect to see award-winning films about nature, community activism, adventure, conservation, water, energy and climate change, wildlife, environmental justice, agriculture, and more.
The theme speaks to momentum toward a brighter future. In aligning the festival with this theme, we envision a hopefulness grounded in tangible and measurable action, constantly moving us forward like the mighty rivers that are the lifeblood of this planet. Artist Maile Claire created the official 2022 artwork with this idea in mind, and audiences can expect to see it reflected throughout this year’s programming.
There are so many wonderful films this year that it’s hard to choose which to highlight, but a few favorites are below. Stay tuned for other film highlights and synopses along with trailers, filmmaker interviews & more in the forthcoming newsletters throughout December and January.
Black Ice – A crew of aspiring ice climbers from the Memphis Rox gym travels to the frozen wilds of Montana, where mentors Manoah Ainuu, Conrad Anker and Fred Campbell share their love of winter adventure in the mountains.
My Garden of a Thousand Bees – A veteran wildlife cameraman seeking refuge from the pandemic records the wild bees that live in his city garden with mind-blowing results. From giant bumblebees to scissor bees the size of a mosquito, he sees over 60 species of bees. More importantly, he develops a close relationship with an individual bee he follows through its entire life.
Inhabitants – For millennia Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain their traditional land management practices. From deserts, coastlines, forests, mountains, and prairies, Native communities across the US are restoring their ancient relationships with the land. The five stories include sustaining traditions of Hopi dryland farming in Arizona; restoring buffalo to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana; maintaining sustainable forestry on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin; reviving native food forests in Hawaii; and returning prescribed fire to the landscape by the Karuk Tribe of California. As the climate crisis escalates these time-tested practices of North America’s original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.
