BERLIN — What has four legs, five arms and three heads?
The Gimp Monkeys – a team of three climbers attempting the first all-disabled ascent of Yosemite’s iconic El Capitan. This tale of true grit amidst a majestic setting is but one of the cinematic treasures that will be on display at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, making its third annual Ocean City appearance at Seacrets Morley Hall on Friday, Feb. 21, with a special kids show set for the Sarbanes Center near Assateague Island on the afternoon of Feb. 22..
This year’s festival offers a menu of 11 short masterpieces, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. The audience will move from a mountaintop lightning strike to a mesmerizing night kayak ride to a prank-filled octenagerian swim meet spanning 18 years.
Hosted locally by Assateague Coastal Trust, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is organized by a California watershed group that each year assembles a catalog of award-winning, mostly environmentally-focused films and offers them to local conservation nonprofits.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to once again share these amazing films from around the world with our local audience,” said ACT Executive Director and Coastkeeper Kathy Phillips. “Many of the films showcase environmental issues which helps us to engage and inspire people around the challenges facing our planet and our local area. There’s even a film this year that features the efforts of our colleagues right here on the Eastern Shore.”
But Phillips noted it’s not all about teaching or preaching, saying, “There is a healthy mix of adventure and pure fun which makes the festival as much about entertainment as education.”
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival will include two screenings at Seacrets Morley Hall on Friday, Feb. 21 — a matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening show at 6 p.m. Both events will feature Morley Hall’s new crystal clear projection system, discounted food offerings and a silent auction. Tickets are only $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
This year, ACT has also selected a separate set of three films from the Wild & Scenic catalog geared especially for a younger audience that will be presented by the organization’s Coast Kids program on the afternoon of Feb. 22 at the Sarbanes Coastal Ecology Lab (adjacent to Assateague Island National Seashore’s Visitors Center) and will be preceded by a special Coast Kids workshop on renewable energy. Tickets will be available only at the door and are $5 for Coast Kids members and $10 for non-members.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.ActForBays.org or call 410-629-1538.