Coming up tonight in Nome: the Wild & Scenic Film Festival will be in town, hosted by the Center for Water Advocacy. They’ll be showing 10 short films at the Mini Convention Center focused on a variety of environmental issues.
“They’re all basically environmental films that talk about water—that’s sort of the central theme—climate change, mining, oil and gas development, all kinds of environmental topics,” said Hal Shepherd, director of the Center for Water Advocacy. “And there are also a lot of Native issues that are covered in our film festival. It’s sort of a human rights theme—human rights and water.”
Shepherd said the Wild & Scenic festival travels around the northwest United States, and though the films’ topics are pertinent to rural Alaska, this is their first time on the Seward Peninsula.
“This may be the furthest film festival ever north,” said Shepherd. “This is the thirteenth year, so we’re kind of breaking new ground here.”
The goal of the festival is to inspire people while showcasing how communities are responding to environmental changes. Shepherd admits that for western Alaskans, these concerns are already close at hand.
“In a way we’re sort of preaching to the choir out here. Alaska has the highest rate of temperature increase out of any state in the country. Native communities have been dealing with this sort of stuff for hundreds of years and they’re still here and they’re still very strong,” he said.
During the festival, the Center for Water Advocacy will also be presenting their new Climate Adaptation and Action Plan for the Norton Bay Watershed. It’s a 100-page document that explains how communities can mitigate the impacts of climate change.
“It may be one of the only comprehensive climate change adaption plans that exist in the state of Alaska right now,” said Shepherd. “So it has implications throughout the state, and hopefully other communities and governmental entities can take that and start developing their own plans.”
Goals of the plan include helping villages acquire funding for emergency preparedness, increasing safe access to subsistence resources and protecting subsistence resources in 100% of the watershed. More information about the plan will be available at the film festival.
Advance tickets are being sold for $10 at Kawerak, and tickets can be purchased at the door for $12. There will be canteens and t-shirts up for raffle, and light food and beverages will be available for purchase at the Mini Convention Center from 6-10 p.m.
