OCEAN CITY — Picture a mountain biker precariously balanced on the spine of a cliff in the Scottish Highlands. A kayaker careening down a spectral lit waterfall in the dead of night. Two intrepid climbers scaling all of California’s highest peaks without ropes. These and many more dazzling, dizzying and dramatic images will come to life at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, making its fifth Ocean City appearance at Seacrets Morley Hall on Thursday, Nov.19.
This year’s festival features a menu of 11 short masterpieces over a two-hour span ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Proceeds from the event will benefit Assateague Coastal Trust’s efforts to protect local natural wonders, including its campaign to prevent offshore oil and gas exploration threatening critical coastal waters and beaches.
Hosted locally by Assateague Coastal Trust, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is organized by a northern California watershed group that each year assembles a catalog of award-winning, mostly environmentally-focused films and offers them to local conservation nonprofits to help educate and engage their communities.
“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 Philllips. “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.”
But Phillips noted it’s not all about teaching or preaching.
“There is a healthy mix of adventure and pure fun which makes the festival as much about entertainment as education,” she said.
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival will include two screenings at Seacrets Morley Hall on Thursday, Nov. 19 — a matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening show at 6 p.m. Both events will feature Morley Hall’s crystal clear projection system, discounted food offerings and a silent auction. Tickets are only $20 in advance and $25 at the door. As a special bonus, purchasers of three tickets in advance will get a fourth ticket free.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.ActForBays.org or call 410-629-1538.
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival is made possible by national sponsors Cliff Bar, Patagonia, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Kleen Kanteen, Orion Magazine, Barefoot Wine and Bubbly and EarthJustice. Local sponsors include South Moon Under, OC Wasabi, the Maryland Coast Dispatch and Seaside Plumbing Inc.