The South Yuba River Citizens League’s 24th annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival wrapped up on Monday, February 23rd. The festival, SYRCL’s largest annual event, featured five days of film sessions, workshops, panels, art exhibitions, a virtual reality experience, a media lounge, an EnviroFair, and a wrap party with live music. Thousands of attendees, hundreds of volunteers, and nearly one hundred filmmakers and subjects from across the globe gathered in Nevada City and Grass Valley to experience one of the premiere environmental film festivals in the country.
Throughout its run, the festival showcased over 110 environmental and adventure films including:
10 world premieres, 3 U.S. premieres, 2 North American premieres, 9 West Coast premieres, and 5 California premieres. During the festival, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival Film Jury came together to deliberate and then announce the winners of several awards. The 2026 Film Jury brings a rich and varied experience in film, environmental conservation, and activism.
The Jury watches a shortlist of films selected by the Festival’s Lead Programmer, Lívia Campos de Menezes, and the Festival Director, Eric Dunn, to decide upon the following awards: Best of Festival, Best in Theme, Spirit of Activism, Most Inspiring Adventure Film, Best Short, Jury Awards, and Honorable Mentions.
The Festival Director decides on two special awards: the Student Filmmaker Award and the John de Graaf Award for Environmental Filmmaking. The festival also hosts a Kid’s Jury, facilitated by Wild & Scenic co-founder Janet Cohen, which selects the Best Children’s Film.
In addition to the judges’ choices, festival attendees get to vote on their favorite film. Those votes are tabulated, and the winner is given The People’s Choice Award.
SYRCL’s 2026 Wild & Scenic Film Festival has announced its award winners. They are:
- John de Graaf Environmental Filmmaking Award – Maggie Stogner – Upstream, Downriver: Uniting for Water Justice
- Student Filmmaker Award – The Bees and The Birds
- Best of Festival Award – Yanuni
- Best in Theme Award – “Mobilize” – Best Day Ever
- Best Short Film Award – Red Wolf in Time Out
- Best Children’s Film Award — Mountain Roots
- Spirit of Activism Award – This is Not a Drill
- Most Inspiring Adventure Film Award – Arctic Alchemy
- Jury Award – The Birds
- Jury Award – Forgotten Flavors
- Honorable Mention – Catching Pinecones
- Honorable Mention –The Book of George
- Honorable Mention – Mama’s Sundry
- People’s Choice Award – Snow Leopard Sisters
Many of these films are available for streaming until Monday, March 9, 2026 on the Wild & Scenic Film Festival website: https://watch.eventive.org/wsff.
SYRCL would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to all the attendees and volunteers whose support made this year’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival a tremendous success. They also wish to express their gratitude to the filmmakers for their inspiring and beautiful contributions. SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic looks forward to doing it again in 2027 for the 25th annual event.
ABOUT THE 2026 WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL
One of the nation’s largest environmental and adventure film festivals, SYRCL’s 24th annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival combines stellar filmmaking, cinematography, and first-rate storytelling to inform, inspire, and ignite solutions to restore the earth and human communities while creating a positive future for generations to come. Festivalgoers are treated to a wide variety of award-winning films, including those about nature, community activism, adventure, conservation, water, energy, wildlife, and environmental justice. The 2026 Wild & Scenic Film Festival is hosted and produced by South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) and takes place Feb. 19-23 in Nevada City and Grass Valley, CA and online virtually Feb. 19 – Mar. 9. This flagship festival kicks off a nationwide tour bringing Wild & Scenic films to more than 40,000 people annually.