The acclaimed national Wild & Scenic Film Festival returns to Cincinnati on June 13 at Memorial Hall. Presented by Ohio River Foundation, this is a specially curated selection of films created just for the Cincinnati audience!

2026 Trailer Coming Soon!

SYRCL (South Yuba River Citizens League) is the organizing non-profit for the national Wild & Scenic Film Festival and provides more than 100 films for non-profit organizations like Ohio River Foundation across the country to select from to produce their own film festivals. The films chosen by WSFF 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.

2026 Featured Films

Unseen Peaks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

2026 Sponsor List Coming Soon!

Thank you to our 2025 sponsors!

Dan & Jill Freshley

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.