Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2026 (Virtual Viewing Only)

The 2026 Films

POST selected films from the vast Wild & Scenic Film Festival Library that feature stories about wildlife, science, conservation, and adventure. Read about the films selected below.

The Leap Beneath

A lighthearted and entertaining short film about the epic quest of a tiny globular springtail navigating through the soil to find food. Narrated by the one and only Coyote Peterson of Brave Wilderness. This film is a collaboration with Venus Laowa.

The Bees and the Birds

California’s native bees are facing an uncertain future. The Bees and the Birds explores this unfolding environmental crisis through the lens of a vibrant community garden that has become a safe haven for native bees, birds, and other wildlife. Through macro cinematography and stories from local gardeners and scientists, we see how small-scale efforts can have large impacts for local biodiversity.

Risky Routes

Risky Routes follows a common toad on its arduous yearly journey back to the waters of birth to reproduce. Seen from the toads’ perspective, it explores how navigating a man-made world turns ordinary features into real obstacles, revealing how biodiversity loss can occur right at our doorstep—and how simple, thoughtful actions can make a difference.

The Bird in my Backyard 

In an urban backyard on Canada’s West Coast, a window salesman has created a living laboratory for investigating hummingbird behaviour. The Bird in My Backyard follows citizen scientist, Eric Pittman, as he documents the journeys of two female Anna’s hummingbirds as they attempt to raise their young in his urban garden.

Bears in Hot Tubs

Bears in Hot Tubs is an intimate short film co-created with Maddie Bear and her kin. Set in suburban Los Angeles, it reveals black bears as sentient neighbors navigating a shared landscape. Through poetic imagery and quiet observation, the film reimagines coexistence as an invitation to co-thrive with care, empathy, and respect.

Reforesting after California Wildfire

Large, severe wildfires are reshaping California’s landscape – burning important ecosystems and threatening communities, wildlife, water and recreation. Today, millions of acres need to be reforested. This short film follows efforts underway in the Sierra Nevada, home to the world’s population of giant sequoias, as American Forests, the USDA Forest Service and others race to return healthy forests to the landscape.

Native to the Klamath

“Native to the Klamath” is a story told through the voices of the salmon people. The Klamath River is currently going through one of the largest transformations in history. Native to the Klamath intertwines environmental restoration, reconciliation ecology, social justice, and traditional ecological knowledge. Hear the story of this river renewal through the words of the Klamath River peoples who live by the sacred obligation of stewardship.

Beyond Beliefs

A young woman from Cleveland, Ohio earns a scholarship to attend a 4-day river trip through the wild Green River’s Gates of Lodore Canyon. The only catch … she doesn’t know how to swim and is terrified of water. Join Danielle and her peers on this wonderful journey, and bear witness to her inspiring first-hand account of what it took to go beyond her beliefs about water, and how that expanded the vision for her future.