PRESENTED BY OHIO RIVER FOUNDATION

Ohio River Foundation is excited to once again bring to Cincinnati one of the largest environmental film festivals in North America!

Our 9th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival inspires environmental activism and a love for nature through film. The festival will feature a series of short films from talented environmental filmmakers from all over the world. Tickets include dinner-by-the-bite, a cash bar, a raffle, updates about ORF’s programs including the 1,000 Acres Pollinator Habitat Project, and groundbreaking Mussels in the Classroom.

2026 Featured Films

Unseen Peaks (7 minutes)

Unseen Peaks follows Addie, a blind athlete who seeks freedom and belonging in the outdoor community through skiing, ice climbing, and rock climbing. Amidst breathtaking landscapes and personal challenges, Addie redefines perceptions of disability and resilience. Directed, produced, filmed, and edited by filmmaker Roo Smith, the film highlights the transformative power of adventure and advocates for inclusivity in the outdoors.

The Captain & the Super Clams (16 minutes)

Along the Indian River Lagoon of Central Florida, a tale of destruction and redemption unfolds. Dr. Todd Osborne and fishing legend Captain Blair Wiggins pull together a passionate group of local “clam gardeners” and embarked on a mission to revive the lagoon’s vitality by restoring its clam population, one shell at a time.

Portrait of a Ranger: Connie (4 minutes)

Constance Mwandaa, the first female ranger at Kenya’s Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, has inspired a growing team of women rangers. Her groundbreaking role highlights the transformative power of women in conservation, protecting biodiversity, combating poaching, and reshaping gender perceptions while empowering communities as educators and role models.

Nature for all (10 minutes)

An extraordinary forest in New Jersey offers sanctuary to a historically hidden community and a secretive endangered plant – but only through the combined work of indigenous leaders and land preservationists.

Forgotten Flavors (13 minutes)

Forager Pascal Baudar moves through Southern California’s woodlands and desert with ancestral eyes, gathering what most would overlook. He teaches others to awaken senses dulled by modern life—to taste, smell, and touch their way back to an ancient knowing. He forages wild plants for food and fermentation, hand-harvests clay to craft vessels, creating an extraordinary feast that exists nowhere else. This intimate portrait reveals what we gain when we slow down enough to remember who we once were.

The Bees & the Birds (12 minutes)

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.

HYPERSCALED (19 minutes)

Increased energy and water demands from the seemingly overnight rapid development of large data centers, and driven by technological advancements like “AI”, are increasing threats to communities across the Southeast, including Alabama. HYPERSCALED unearths the real world cost of AI as residents fight to get answers about the environmental, community, and other costly impacts of this water and energy sucking industry. Much like a vampire, the proposed “Project Marvel” is projected to consume unprecedented amounts of water and energy – right in their backyards.

A Home in the Grass (6 minutes)

Since 1970, North America has lost 3 billion birds. As grassland bird populations continue to decline, one conservationist’s act of devotion represents hope in a world where natural habitats are disappearing every day.

A Little Story About Forever (10 minutes)

This short film about forever unfolds from the POVs of father (max) and son (kip) as they attempt to write a book about what forever means. The father feels overwhelmed by all of the threats to forever, like forever chemicals, and calls an unlikely hero – Mark Ruffalo – to ask for help seeing the big picture.

The films chosen from a selection of 100 films provided by SYRCL (South Yuba River Citizens League), the organizing non profit for the national Wild & Scenic Film Festival. The films illustrate not only the challenges facing our planet but the work communities are doing to protect the environment and the places we love. The stories give us a sense of place and what it means to be responsible stewards of the earth.

Thank you to our 2026 sponsors!

Thank you to our 2025 sponsors!

Dan & Jill Freshley

National Sponsors

SPONSORSHIP

To learn more about sponsoring the 2026 Wild & Scenic Film Festival, contact Rich Cogen at rcogen@ohioriverfdn.org for more information and payment options. If you’d like to submit sponsorship payment online, click here.