Environmental film festival is bringing its message of hope to Costa Mesa

By Ben BrazilStaff Writer

May 24, 2018 3:30 PM PT

One of the largest environmental film festivals in the country, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, will head to Costa Mesa on June 2.

Karen Kennedy, organizer of the local event, said this is the first time the festival will come to the county.

Ten short films — each revolving around nature and environmental activism — will be shown at the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church.

Kennedy said the festival differs from others in that the films focus on the positives of the environmental movement.

“These are all stories of hope and change,” Kennedy said.

“Dragging 235 Pounds Uphill” is about a mother of four who tries to engender a love for nature in her children, who cower from nature as adherents of the electronic age.

“Plastico” documents a small community as its members try to combat compiling plastic refuse.

“There’s so much to be depressed about, but these films show where there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Margaret Priver, a Huntington Beach resident and director of the festival film “Crystal Cove.”

Priver filmed during the lunar eclipse earlier this year, documenting the various sea creatures that dwell in the tide pools of Crystal Cove State Park. Priver is a film hobbyist and this is her first festival.

“My message is to get out there and see what you can see — the joy of discovering the beauty of what’s out there,” Priver said. “There’s other things than city life.”

Kennedy worked with Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church’s Rev. Sian Wiltshire to bring the festival to the church. Kennedy serves on the board of the church and Priver is a congregant.

Wiltshire said the festival aligns with the church’s goals.

“Unitarian Universalists tend to be passionate about enviromentalism,” Wiltshire said. “Our denomination has seven principles — the seventh is to affirm and promote the interdependent web of existence. What that means is that we understand we are a part of nature. “

Kennedy said they’re hoping for 145 attendees — about the maximum capacity of the church.

Three of the filmmakers — Eric Heimbold, Brian Olliver and Priver — will be in attendance and will be available for discussion during an intermission.

Heimbold’s film, “Blind Sushi,” tells of a blind travel writer who decides to go diving with a sushi chef who only uses invasive species in his recipes. In Olliver’s film, “Love of Place,” a park ranger tries to save a desert river from the spread of an invasive plant.