Wild & Scenic: Family Friendly Film Festival

All Ages

Saturday, March 15, 2025 | 10:00-11:30 AM

Cost: $15 per person

Purchase tickets to the film festival Here

Get ready for a morning matinee of incredible short films about our natural world to help connect and inspire young learners! Featuring titles such as Brave Girl, Kind of Fishy, You Are Not Small, Jojo- A Toad Musical, and The Tundra.

This program is best intended for families with young children. Includes 45 minutes of short films as well as 45 minutes of activities that relate to the films. Light refreshments are provided with the price of admission.

About the Films

Brave Girl 8 min.

Brave Girl is a strong young adventurer, who with the help of her grandpa is beginning her journey of finding out what it takes to climb mountains. Even though she’s only 6, she has an unwavering ambition to climb the biggest mountains in the world, starting with the ones in her backyard in Wyoming. Student activity included to accompany this film

Kind of Fishy 5 min.

A unique fishtale – made with driftwood. Dive in with the fun, fast – and furious – fish!

There’s life in everything – if you just imagine. Just like Danny Driftwood does, as he creates his own underwater world in a bucket; with rocks, sand, leaves – and driftwood. And down here, magic dwells! New friendships, exploration – and, well, also an angry halibut. Can Danny and his two friends trick it and escape?

You Are Not Small 3 min.

Lucy Hawking, award-winning children’s book author, and daughter of scientist Stephen Hawking, makes science accessible and engaging through her numerous books. Her latest book series, Princess Olivia Investigates, is about a young girl who would rather be a scientist than a princess.

Our film, “You Are Not Small”, is inspired by Olivia.

Student activity included to accompany this film

JoJo – A Toad Musical 9 min.

“JOJO” celebrates a creative and musical portrait of JoJo Nyaribo, a young nature lover and wildlife advocate as he explores the meaning of biodiversity and stewardship in his own backyard.

Student activity included to accompany this film

Biopixels 4 min.

Biopixels explores the world of evolutionary biology on the microscopic scale. Using the latest light microscope technology, butterfly wings become micro-mosaics. Butterflies and moths comprise 12% of all species known to man (180,000 species!), and their seemingly endless biodiversity is visually translated on their wings through color and pattern variation. The images in this film have not been altered but were animated to demonstrate both subtle and dramatic evolutionary development and variation.

The Tundra 3 min.

Canada has the second-most wilderness on the planet. We grew up in between the city and backcountry influenced by what we love – downtowns, outdoor hockey, polar bears, the cabin, hip hop, skate culture, and outside misadventures. But, our creative inspiration always connects back to a simple source: the wild. Antoni Gaudi, architect of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona said: “Nothing is art if it does not come from nature.” Desert. Forest. Ocean. Mountain. Each offers a different opportunity for inspiration. But, our first love is The Tundra. This is our ode to it.

Mel Fell 7 min.

One day, when Mama bird is away, Mel decides it is time to learn to fly. She has been in the nest long enough. Despite the fears of her cautious siblings, Mel takes to the sky…and plummets. But while a host of tree-dwelling animals tries to intervene, can Mel master the art of flight?

1. Fees cannot be refunded for participant cancellation or any other reason. In the event of extreme weather, class location may be moved indoors or a weather-related make-up date will be scheduled for no additional cost to the registrant.
2. Transactions will be processed through the Natural Heritage Trust as a donation on behalf of Bayard Cutting Arboretum.
3. For any additional questions, contact our Education Coordinator K.T. Williamson via Email: kevin.williamson@parks.ny.gov