Free Wild & Scenic Film Festival at The Emerson (Free Beer)

You're invited to The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, at the Emerson on Jan. 20. The festival will showcase a collection of environmental and adventure films that explore the earth’s natural wonders, the pioneering conservation work of global communities and the environmental challenges facing our planet.

The best part? All screenings, beer, and snacks are free.

Films & Film Synopses: All available here

Earthbook: What would Planet Earth post about humans on its profile? The Earth fast forwards through a virtual relationship with humans -- but soon starts to ask itself whether it wants to be friends with a species that exploits its national resources and threatens animals and plants. (2014, 2 min)

Spine of the Continent: The paradigm of conservation biology is about to change. Climate change, the decline of carnivores on the landscape, and increasing habitat fragmentation all threaten the places that we cherish most: our national parks. Five students set out on a journey to discover what it will take to protect these places into the future. (2014, 17 min)

The Ridge: Danny Macaskill is a very good bike rider. A very, very good bike rider. So he climbed a mountain near his home on the Isle of Skye and did something that will make you scream with joy and horror. (2014, 8 min)

Our Power- Black Mesa: The Navajo people in Black Mesa, Arizona are trying to protect their aquifer from a nearby coal mining plant’s pollution. The cities of Phoenix and Flagstaff get their water at the expense of the Navajo Nation. As part of the Climate Justice Alliance, they strive to generate “energy without injustice, power without pollution” by using solar power instead of fossil fuels. (2013, 8 min)

Mixing Oil and Water: Shale oil and gas development and fresh water use are tightly intertwined. “Mixing Oil and Water” illustrates that water quality, scarcity, and uncertainty are becoming more relevant in Montana where oil and gas development occurs. Are we willing to sacrifice clean water in order to carry out extreme fossil fuel development? (2014, 10 min)

I Heard: A Seuss-esque journey into some of the 110+ million acres of designated American wilderness that we have to enjoy. Award-winning filmmaker Michael Ramsey's short film celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act which ensures that we will have places "...where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." (2014, 3 min)

Pride: Explores the cultural relationship between residents of Gujarat, India and the last remaining population of Asiatic Lions in the world. With fewer than 50 lions in the wild at the turn of the 20th century, rural communities started working with the government to create a haven for this top predator and are successfully securing its place in the ecosystem. (2014, 15 min)

Sufferfest 2: The original Sufferfest, in which Professional Climbers Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright enchained all of the 14k peaks in California by bike, they swore they'd never do something like that again. But... with selective memory being one of this quirky duo's strengths, less than a year later, they were planning Sufferfest 2, and ambitious bike powered journey to climb 45 of the most iconic Desert Towers in the American Southwest, by bike. This time Alex and Cedar are also finishing the trip with a Solar Project on the Navajo land where they are finishing their trip... but will they finish? The wind, sand, and horrendous rocks soon makes these goofballs wonder what the hell they were thinking. (2014, 26 min)

Spaceship Earth: What if every passenger on our planet, Spaceship Earth, had to watch a quick safety video before takeoff? What advice would we get to avoid a crash or other disaster? Fasten your seatbelt and watch! (2014, 2 min)