The ACFF selection committees are watching, rating, and selecting the very best of our film submissions and solicitations to bring you an exciting, educational, and compelling film festival this fall.  We are also eagerly planning our supplemental programming – guest speakers, filmmaker discussions, family programs, and film workshops – to give our audience an exceptional and one-of-a-kind festival experience. We’re so excited and think you will be, too!

As summer heats up, so does our planning and organizing.  Stay in touch for special announcements and events and the unveiling of our festival programming in August. To subscribe to our monthly e-letter, please click here.  And follow us on Facebook and Twitter for regular fun announcements and info. Thanks for supporting ACFF!

Download press release here.

The American Conservation Film Festival (ACFF) will celebrate spring with a movie and dinner party on April 11 featuring the film Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields, its filmmaker, and special guests involved with farming and veterans’ issues.

  Dulanie Ellis, the filmmaker of Ground Operations,   and Edgar Hercila, a farmer-veteran, will be coming from Los Angeles to join the party and participate in a discussion following the movie and before dinner.

   The veterans I’ve met have as a result of producing and  distributing Ground Operations give me hope in these very troubled times. I am thrilled to share this story about solutions with the American Conservation Film Festival as we all strive for positive responses to our environmental challenges,” says Ellis.

 Festivities begin at 4:30pm at the Opera House with the screening of this award-winning 40-minute documentary that champions combat vets who are rebuilding their lives as organic farmers and ranchers and revitalizing their communities with access to local, affordable, fresh, healthy food. The film was screened at ACFF’s 2014 Festival and has been a valuable tool in making people aware of this effort and providing resources to veterans looking for meaningful employment.

“For me, the movement and this film are about continuing my service and about veterans growing food… the way that we consume food in this country must change, and I think that veterans possess a unique set of skills that are perfect to meet this challenge,” says Hercila.


Following the movie, the party will move to the Shepherdstown Community Club for a cocktail hour, discussion with the special guests including local farmer-author Forrest Pritchard and Barbie Hartman, Chief of Nutrition and Food Service at the VA Medical Center in Martinsburg, and a locally-sourced buffet dinner. The party will serve as a fundraiser for ACFF, who is going into its 13^th year of bringing outstanding conservation films, filmmakers, and educational programs to Shepherdstown and beyond. A few very special items will be live auctioned to add to the fun and coffers.

Space is limited and tickets are $50 per person, $200 for two at the Sponsor level, and $600 for a reserved table of 8. To purchase tickets, visit http://conservationfilm.org/special-events/spring-2015-fundraiser-ground-operations/. Follow Ground Operations Movie & Dinner Party on Facebook for frequent updates on the festivities!

Questions? Want to become a sponsor or contribute in some way? E-mail Jennifer Lee at or call 540-539-6150.

Download PDF of  press release with photos.

The American Conservation Film Festival presents its first Best of Fest of 2015!   Best of Fest returns to the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, MD, after very well-attended screenings there in 2013 and 2014. This year’s event will feature live music, three films, and two topic experts on river ecology and habitat.

 Line-up for February 28 at The Weinberg:
6pm – Reception with music from Randy “Windtalker” Motz, a multimedia show set to the haunting sounds of Native American Flute.
7pm – ACFF 2014 Audience Choice Award Winner “DamNation,” chronicling America’s history of dam construction and efforts to remove obsolete dams to allow rivers to come back to life. 94 minutes. This compelling, informative, and entertaining film has received wide acclaim and multiple awards for excellence in documentary filmmaking. More info at http://damnationfilm.com.
Discussion to follow with Jim Thompson, Fish Passage Coordinator for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service and Serena McClain, Director of River Restoration at American Rivers.
Brief Intermission & Drawing of Gift Certificates
9pm – ACFF 2014 Student Award Winner “We Are The Land.” Amidst national controversy surrounding the potential dangers of ‘fracking,” environmental activist Pauline Matt stand alone to protect her native homeland, the Blackfeet Reservation of northern Montana.  14 minutes
9:15pm – “Sticky” is a delightful animated short film that tells a positive Australian conservation success story, celebrating the persistence of life, the adventure and passion embedded in science, and the little creatures underfoot.  20 minutes.

Tickets are just $7 for adults; $5 for seniors/students/military members and are available on the Weinberg’s website at http://www.weinbergcenter.org/8046/american-conservation-film-festival-best-of-fest-2/ or at the door.

Best of Fest gives the American Conservation Film Festival the opportunity to take a sampling of what the annual film festival offers in Shepherdstown to other communities in the region. Best of Fests have been held in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia over the past several years.

This Best of Fest is sponsored by Flying Dog Brewery.

AND we’ll have drawings for gift certificates from these fine Frederick businesses: The Trail House, The Orchard restaurant, and MOM’s Organic market.
Musical performance donated by Randy “Windtalker” Motz and photography services donated by Ivan Petrov Creative Photography.

ACFF is grateful to these businesses and the Weinberg Center for the Arts for their support!

       

 

 

Info on Best of Fest Special Guests
Acclaimed recording artist, Randy “Windtalker” Motz presents “The Windtalker Experience,” a multimedia show set to the breathtaking and haunting sounds of Native American flute. “Windtalker’s” distinctive style blends flute with lush orchestration and Native percussion, set against a backdrop of dramatic photos from the Southwest, taken by his wife Georgia Harris.

Serena McClain is a Director of River Restoration at American Rivers and has worked in the river restoration field for more than thirteen years, focusing largely on dam removal planning. McClain works with regional and national stakeholders to demonstrate how to enhance safety, quality of life and economic development by restoring the natural function of rivers and utilizes her communications expertise to ensure that local communities and key decision-makers are aware of the opportunities available to them and are equipped with the tools necessary to aid them in those decisions.

Jim Thompson is the Fish Passage Coordinator for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service.  Since 2004, Jim has been coordinating with Federal, State, and local governments, as well as NGO’s and private landowners to identify and prioritize dams and other stream blockages that inhibit the up and downstream migration of fish.  Once priority projects have been identified, Jim helps secure grant funding and assists in the construction of fish passages or removals to ensure adequate passage for migratory and resident fish species.

About the Weinberg Center for the Arts
The Weinberg Center for the Arts is one of the region’s premier performing arts presenters offering film, dance, music, theatre and family-focused programming. Located in the historic Tivoli movie theater building in downtown Frederick, Md., events are made possible with major support from the City of Frederick, Maryland State Arts Council, Ausherman Family Foundation, and other corporate and individual donors.

Press Contact:
Jennifer Lee, ACFF Development & Communications Director
     Phone: 540.539.6150

Download 2014 Year in Review

The 2014 festival season and year has wrapped with a successful, well-attended, and interactive four-day film festival on October 30 through November 2, with a special encore screening of the Audience Choice Award-winning film on November 9.

Thanks so much to our supporters, volunteers, filmmakers, and audience members for making 2014 a great one for ACFF!

Some festival highlights:

• Selected from over 150 film submissions to present 46 outstanding conservation-themed films from around the country and the world, including films from Norway, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

• Hosted 14 visiting filmmakers and subject matter experts to discuss their films, participate in filmmaking workshops, and attend social events. Species extinction and endangerment, climate change, habitat preservation, and the Wilderness Act were among the featured topics.

• Engaged an audience of over 3,000 in films, discussions, and social events.

• Continued our tradition of offering films free of charge at the National Conservation Training Center, including the increasingly popular Family Programming block.

• Collaborated with ACFF filmmaker and Shepherd University Alum Joey Diaz to create a new Promotional Trailer for the Festival.

• Presented the Green Fire Award, ACFF’s recognition of filmmaking excellence, to Andrew Garrison of Austin, Texas for Trash Dance.

• Presented the Broadcast Award, given to a film that has aired on a national television network, to David Mrazek and Joel Greenberg for From Billions to None.

• Awarded the Student Filmmaker Award to We Are the Land, produced by students from Chapman University in California.

• Hosted an Audience Choice Event on November 9 at the Opera House, with storyteller Adam Booth, a screening of The Meaning of Wild and discussion with Ed Zahniser, and encore presentation of the Audience Choice Award winning film,

• Offered the 3^rd annual Producer’s Campus Workshop, a two-day documentary filmmaking workshop, to over 20 seasoned and aspiring filmmakers featuring sessions on conservation storytelling, filmmaking gear, and industry networking and partnerships.

• Welcomed six new festival sponsors and over 20 returning sponsors.

• Offered filmgoers the opportunity to follow up on issues and take action with film topic-related resources posted on the “Action Opps” page of our website.

ACFF was active throughout the year as well, presenting two “Best of Fest” events, screening partnerships with other groups, and special events and projects.

• Created our very own Roku Channel, ACFF OnDemand, providing the opportunity to view select festival films on your television all year long for the low subscription price of $2.99/month. Eleven films are presently available with more coming soon.

• Hosted “Best of Fest” special movie screenings at the Weinberg Center in Frederick, Maryland, and the Alamo Cinema Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia.

• Partnered with three area organizations – Sky Truth, the Sierra Club of West Virginia, and the Shepherdstown Film Society – for special film screening events in Shepherdstown.

• Three ACFF board members and subject matter experts led four film-based, environmentally-themed sessions of the Lifelong Learning Program at Shepherd University.

• Co-hosted two private film preview parties in Shepherdstown, WV, and Clarke County, VA to increase outreach and exposure.

• Held a Donor & Sponsor Appreciation Reception in Charles Town, WV, with cocktails provided by Bloomery Sweetshine.

• Developed promotional partnerships with the Winchester Film Club, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, the Skyline Indie Film Fest, Freedom’s Run, and the Inn at Moler’s Crossroads.

• Appeared or was heard on over 20 media outlets, including print newspapers, website posts and listings, WSHC &WAMU public radio, and on-line articles.

Stay tuned for upcoming events, news, and plans for 2015!