Just in time for this weekend's 44th annual Waterfowl Festival, Natalie Costanzo, Director of Outreach and Development for the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, writes about her organization's upcoming Wild and Scenic Film Festival, coming to the Avalon Theatre the weekend after Waterfowl.  Natalie discusses in detail 2 of the 10 short films to be screened inside the Avalon Theatre.  For tickets and other information please click HERE.

Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy (MRC) is proud to host, for the fifth year, our Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival at the Avalon Theatre in Easton, on Friday, November 21st at 6:00pm.  Our rivers on the midshore are indeed beautiful and full of magic. However, this belies the underlying truth. All of our rivers remain impaired, and all are vulnerable to becoming worse. We as a community simply cannot let this happen.  At MRC, we constantly ask how can we make a major impact on improving our rivers. To achieve truly healthy rivers we need a community that is educated, aware, and motivated to demand clean water as their right. That is what the Wild and Scenic Film Festival is about.

In particular I would like to talk about two of the films. The New Environmentalists: Marshland Dreams, takes you to the Mesopotamia Marshes in Iraq. Under Saddam Hussein’s rule these marshes were destroyed as a devastating military maneuver. This is a remarkable story of a man who restores the marshes. If one man can restore the marshes in Iraq, with all of the challenges that he faced in a country at war, certainly we can be inspired to restore our rivers.

A screenshot from The New Environmentalists: Masrhland Dreams

To be motivated to protect the environment, we need to feel connected. I was lucky enough to work at an Orangutan Center in Malaysia as a 21 year old. If you have ever looked a wild animal in the eye, you will know what I am talking about when I say you feel an instant connection and a desire to protect this animal and its habitat. One of the films by National Geographic Photographer, Joel Satore, Rare,  aims to do just that. This short film shows his life’s work in trying to document endangered species and landscapes to show a world worth saving.

Screen Shot from Joel Satore's Rare

 As well as 10 short films the Festival will an open bar, local food and awesome silent auction items.  We welcome you to come and share an evening of fellowship, conservation awareness and special films with us at the Avalon Theatre.