Charlotte 101.3 - Greenville 97.3 - Boone 92.9 - WSIF Wilkesboro 90.9
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Warren Wilson College Students to Attend Wild & Scenic Film Festival through WNCW Sponsorship

Conservation Filmmaking Class at Warren Wilson College
Conservation Filmmaking Class at Warren Wilson College

Six students studying Conservation Filmmaking at Warren Wilson College will attend the 2017 Wild & Scenic Film Festival taking place at Sierra Nevada’s Mills River Brewery on Thursday, May 11 at 7:00pm.  These students are attending this sold out event thanks to a ticket donation by media sponsor, WNCW-FM 88.7. 

An important part of the learning process for these students is to watch and critique films.  The films featured at The Wild & Scenic Film Festival are some of the year’s best short-form nature, wilderness and outdoor adventure films. Students attending are currently working on class projects, so it will greatly benefit them to see good examples of conservation storytelling paired with various filmmaking styles and techniques.

Peter Erb, class instructor, says “Our students go on to a myriad of careers, ranging from research in state and federal agencies to advocacy work in the nonprofit sector. Future scientists and conservation practitioners must be able to communicate research and its purpose effectively. We hope courses such as this will equip our students with the skills needed to be effective science communicators in an ever changing world.”

The class is currently creating short films about climbing and rock outcrop conservation, conservation and agricultural lands, the use of draft horses in sustainable agriculture, and waterfowl conservation.

The Conservation Filmmaking course is part of the growing Conservation Biology program in Environmental Studies at Biology at Warren Wilson College.  The college’s educational focus on applied learning teaches students to have an impact on their communities in a meaningful way through partnerships with local nonprofits.  Students have previously partnered with the Wild & Scenic Film Festival presenter MountainTrue and they along with WNCW recognized the benefit these students will receive by attending the festival.  It is through this partnership that the students will be able to attend the festival.

The 2017 Wild & Scenic Film Festival returns to Sierra Nevada’s Mills River Brewery in their outdoor amphitheater on the banks of the French Broad River.  The film festival is presented by MountainTrue and Sierra Nevada and sponsored by WNCW 88.7, AE Global Media, Holly Spring Farm, and Mountain Xpress.