In an effort to localize a worldwide effort to promote wildlife preservation and interest, the Winter Wildlands Alliance’s Backcountry Film Festival will return to Fresno with a lineup of inspirational videos.
Feb. 7 will mark the seventh-annual world tour of the festival and the Fresno State Recreation Association (FSRA) worked hard to bring the showcase onto campus.
“Every year it’s the greatest collection of videos,” the Recreation Association advisor Ryan Soares said. “They’ll motivate any one to get outside and see the great outdoors.”
The festival’s purpose is to display the efforts made by the Winter Wildlands Alliance (WWA) toward the preservation and conservation of winter landscapes.
Filmmakers travel the world to capture their winter backcountry experiences. These backcountry enthusiasts submit footage of their best work to the WWA in hopes of making their debut.
A multitude of films are submitted to a panel of judges, but only a few are selected to be part of the festival. This year’s program will consist of nine different films, some of which have achieved the Festival Award, Best Short Award and Best of Backcountry Award.
The Backcountry Film Festival brought its world tour to Fresno because of donations REI gave to the WWA.
REI’s partnership with the FSRA provided an opportunity to ensure the annual event made its way back to the Valley.
Lindsey Hubert, the REI outreach specialist and former Fresno State recreation major, reached out to the FSRA for support.
“As a [Fresno State] recreation major, this group is close to my heart and I’m so excited about our continued partnership,” Hubert said.
When approached about the idea to host the festival, the FSRA immediately jumped on board with REI. REI Fresno and the FSRA have put forth much effort in order to get ready for the festival on Tuesday.
Junior Jenna Smith has been very involved with the FSRA, which landed her the position as current Recreation Association president. She has been working alongside Hubert toward making the festival a success. Smith and the Recreation Association have taken on the task of advertising the festival.
The club hopes to see attendance results from the festival’s promotion after hours of effort.
“We really think that it is important to connect a lot of different groups together,” Smith said. “All majors are welcome to attend the festival and enjoy films that display the beauty and wonder of the winter backcountry experience.”
Many recreation students are looking forward to the festival because it is a way for them to combine their love of preservation and recreation of the outdoors.
Junior Lucas Lundy, a double major in recreation administration and geology, said, “With my love for the winter outdoors, and double majoring in geology and recreation administration, I’m looking forward to seeing the correlation of outdoor recreation and environmental preservation in order to showcase earth’s winter backcountry.”
The FSRA has high hopes for a good turnout on Tuesday. The festival will also benefit the Recreation Association.
The Backcountry Film Festival will take place this Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Fresno State Satellite Student Union.
