The Best of the 1998 Outdoor Films are Screened at Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum of Natural History is hosting the first public festival of outstanding nature documentaries and outdoor films. A two-day festival will feature over 30 award-winning films and other notable entries from the 1998 North American Outdoor Film/Video Awards held in Orlando, Florida in March, 1998.
Despite global sensitivity to environmental issues, the general public sees only occasionally the best non-commercial films and videos about the natural world. And yet there are dozens of fascinating films created by independent producers each year.
The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Safari Club International is sponsoring the Pittsburgh festival at the museum. Both Peter Theron and Barbara McClure, the Safari co-chairs of the museum festival, note that this event allows the general public a chance to see group screenings that were available in the past only to members of the Outdoor Writers Association.
Outdoor documentaries are produced and distributed differently than large-budget commercial films and network television series—which must attract large audiences and appeal to advertisers. But creative and high-quality outdoor documentaries can be produced more economically, and often have specific target audiences. The users and distributors are often educators or advocates of outdoor activities and recreation.
The outdoor films can be found on local educational television, or seen as videos in classrooms, or made available at the library. They are important to members of conservation and nature organizations, and are used by government agencies to present important environmental issues. Some belong to the how-to genre, and demonstrate the best practices in the field, whether for deer-hunting, fly-tying, or catch-and-release fishing of trout.
The films screened at the festival cover a great range, but have been chosen for their appeal to a general audience. In The Living Edens—Denali: Alaska's Great Wilderness the harsh realities of the predator and prey relationship is depicted, as well as the beauty of the environment. The Monarch: A Butterfly beyond Borders documents the migration of millions of butterflies from Canada to Central America, where they blanket the landscape. Jungle Hiking in Belize combines environmental concerns, birding, and anthropology—including the discovery of a 1,000- year-old burial. Elephants under Siege reveals the status of efforts to control poaching, on a continent where killing elephants is illegal. In Alien Invaders, designed to rivet the attention of a high-school audience, a female time traveler comes back from the year 2518 to see today's environmental problems.
The international contest by which the best films are chosen is open to any individual, private industry, public agency or organization that has produced a video or film about outdoor recreation, wildlife, ecology, soil and water conservation, forestry or other similar topics with a strong emphasis on understanding and conserving natural resources.
The films were selected by the Outdoor Writers Association and the Wildlife Management Institute, a tradition that goes back many years, and that may have a continuing presence in Pittsburgh if this film festival is successful.
—R. J. Gangewere
What
Carnegie Wild Life Film Festival
Award winning films and dozens of outstanding films in two popular areas: conservation/natural history, and recreation/promotion. Films vary in length from an hour to 10 minutes.
Where
Museum of Art Theater, and Lecture Hall, Oakland facility. Films will be shown in two theaters simultaneously, and
will be screened more than once.
When
On Friday, October 2, afternoon—1:00–4:00 p.m.; evening—6:00–9:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 3 afternoon—2:00–5:00 p.m.; evening 6:00 to 9:30 p.m.
Preview Gala
Thursday evening, October 1
Enjoy cocktails hors d'oeuvres, dinner, desert, and a chance to meet some of the filmmakers. See the first-place films in each category. Screenings will include two beautiful films: The Living Edens—Denali: Alaska's Great Wilderness, and Wild Africa; Okavanjo. Tickets cost $100 each, and can be ordered by calling (412) 622-3280.
Admission
Afternoons (Fri. 1:00–4:00; Sat, 2:00–5:00): free with museum admission
Evenings (Fri. & Sat., 6:00–9:00): Members and students: $3.00;
Non-members: $5.00
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