Wild & Scenic Film Festival Statement of Inclusion

SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival inspires people and unites communities to heal the earth. We screen adventure and environmental films from all over the world that illustrate our planet’s beauty, the challenges facing it, and the work communities are doing to protect the environment. This is our mission. We cannot fulfill this objective without recognizing the intersectionality of social justice and the environmental movement. If we want a better planet for all, we must invite and include all voices.

We encourage film and art submissions from all skill-levels, backgrounds, and geographic locations.

We are committed to providing diverse programming to our festival goers.

We are passionate about telling the stories that belong to voices and perspectives that often go unheard.

We welcome all gender identities and expressions, races and ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, geographic locations, ancestries, education levels, physical abilities and body types, mental abilities, political and religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, and all other identities represented among our diverse landscape to participate in and be a part of our festival.

We celebrate the differences among us and seek to improve our inclusivity efforts in every aspect of our event.

Filmmakers and artists, please submit your films and art that showcase the beautiful diversity that makes up our planet. We do not want submission fees to be a deterrent to anyone. If you have a significant financial need, please complete the Film Submission Fee Waiver Application (applications accepted through August 9). We cannot guarantee fee waivers as the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is a fundraising event for SYRCL. But we will continue to strive toward supporting the work and goals of filmmakers, artists and activists, knowing that socioeconomic barriers exist and are, in some cases, associated with deeply rooted power dynamics and systemic injustices. While not all film/art submissions can be included in official selection, the same considerations (i.e. gender identity, socioeconomic background, race, age, etc.) are not a factor when making final selections.

Note: We thank you for your feedback and suggestions as we embark on this effort for more inclusivity. We are aware that we will make mistakes and we appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow in this crucial endeavor. Wild & Scenic Film Festival WELCOMES YOU – and if that statement does not resonate with you, please reach out and let us know how we can work toward changing that. You can connect with Festival Staff directly with any feedback or questions.