Vote!

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During the festival, we encourage ticket holders to visit this page to vote for their favorite film.  At midnight on Sunday, October 23rd, all the votes will be tallied and we will bestow upon the film with the highest vote count, the 2016 ACFF Audience Choice Award!  Results will be announced the following day on our website and on social media.  The Audience Choice winning film will be shown, along with another award winner, during Block 13 on Saturday, October 29th at the Frank Center, which begins at 7:30 pm.  Be sure to cast your vote and grab your ticket!

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An Acquired Taste
Babushkas of Chernobyl
Beneath Paradise
Bluebird Man
Canyon Song
Catching the Sun
Defined by the Line
EO Wilson: Of Ants and Men
Forget Shorter Showers
Harbinger
How to Change the World
Life Story – First Steps
Marijuana Grows and Restoration
Medieval Monsters
Monarchs: The Milkweed Mission
Moving the Giants
Muir
Pale Blue Dot
Pangolin
Pronghorn Revival
Racing Extinction
Return of the Cicadas
Saving Mes Aynak
Seed: The Untold Story
Sharing the Secrets
Sonic Sea
Testimony: Remembering Glen Canyon
The Burden: Fossil Fuel, The Military and National Security
The Messenger
The True Cost
Think Like a Scientist: Boundaries
Think Like a Scientist: Gorongosa
Thirty Million
Unacceptable Risk: Firefighters on the Front Lines of Climate Change
Where Ice & Ocean Meet: Kenai Fjords National Park

 

 

Things to Know

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Joining us for the Festival? Here’s what you need to know!

This year marks our 14th Season!  From Friday, October 21st to Sunday, October 23rd and an encore weekend October 28th to 30th, we’ll be bringing you 35 of the best conservation films in the world. We are welcoming many filmmakers and conservation experts to town for post screening discussions.  Be sure to check out our FULL SCHEDULE as you make your plans.

NEW THIS YEAR: Festival Headquarters at the Entler Hotel, 129 E. German Street, Shepherdstown (next to Shepherdstown Visitors Center). Purchase tickets, pick up a program, grab a free snack, meet other festival goers! Come see us!

 

TICKETS

We strongly encourage you to purchase festival tickets online HERE to guarantee your seat.

Tickets are available for purchase NOW at The Local Source:  133 W. German Street.

You may also purchase tickets during the Festival at our Festival Headquarters at the Entler Hotel, 129 E. German Street in Shepherdstown or at each festival venue.

Check or cash transactions are preferred though credit cards will also be accepted.

 

We have 5 types of tickets:

Full Festival Pass – $55 – entrance into all films at all venues both weekends

1st Weekend Pass – $40 – entrance into all films from Friday, October 21-Sunday, October 23

2nd Weekend Pass – $25 – entrance into all films from Friday, October 28 – Sunday, October 30.

Block Ticket (multiple films) – $10 – entrance into all films during a specific time block at a specific venue

Block Ticket (single film) – $7 – entrance into blocks 12, 14, and 15

 

Students 18 & younger are admitted free of charge to all films as space allows.

All films on Shepherd Campus are FREE to SU students with Rambler ID

Details regarding tickets and film venues can be found here.

 

Doors open at each venue a half hour before each film block.

We strongly encourage you to arrive 20-30 minutes before start time to be sure you have a seat.

 

SPECIAL EVENTS

We’re inviting audience members and filmmakers to join us at the following gatherings:

Friday, October 21st – Opening Night Reception at Festival Headquarters, the Entler Hotel, 129 E. German Street, Shepherdstown. Enjoy refreshments and meeting filmmakers and other festival goers to kick off the festival weekend! Sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Saturday, October 22nd – WRAP PARTY at the Blue Moon from 9:30pm to 11pm with free hors d’oeuvres and cash bar.

PARKING

Please give yourself plenty of time to find parking and get to your venue(s). Free street parking is available Fridays after 6pm and Saturdays and Sundays, but do not park in residential parking zones! Parking is also available in lots A and B on Shepherd University.

Be aware that King Street (in front of Reynolds Hall), between German Street and High Street, will be closed on Saturday, October 29th from 8am to 8pm for BooFest events, so plan accordingly.

You can check out a Shepherdstown map here and a

Shepherd University Parking Map here.

 

We look forward to seeing you!

 

ACFF Presents 14th Season!

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The 14th annual American Conservation Film Festival opens Friday, October 21st with a festive reception and two blocks of three films each and culminates with its Encore Award Winners weekend October 28-30. The Festival brings together the finest conservation films and filmmakers from around the world and features discussions with scientists and educators, professional workshops, family programming, and social events — all with the mission of engaging, informing, and inspiring its audience through the power of film.

This year’s Festival will present films with a wide range of environmental and conservation themes. The Green Fire Award winning film, E.O. Wilson: Of Ants and Men, tells the story of this remarkable thinker and biologist, called “a Darwin for the modern day.” Filmmaker Graham Townsley will be in attendance to accept his award and speak about the film.

Catching the Sun (Green Spark Award winner for Sustainability) follows the global race between the U.S. and China to lead the world to a cleaner energy future.

The Foreign Film Award goes to Thirty Million, a film about the impending displacement of tens of millions of people in Bangladesh as they face rising sea levels due to climate change.

For the younger set, ACFF presents an exciting and delightful film called Life Story – First Steps about the challenges baby animals face in the first few days of life. This feature length film will be followed by an educational program from the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center featuring live wildlife animal ambassadors.

At four venues in and around Shepherdstown, ACFF invites its audience to explore the world through the stories, images, and people that create this offering of compelling films. Several filmmakers and subject matter experts will be present during the festival and participating in discussions following the screening of their films. Films are arranged in thoughtfully considered “blocks” to allow for maximum screening options and a diverse array of topics and film lengths.

An Acquired Taste

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70 Minutes
Filmmaker: Vanessa Lemaire
TRAILER

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Why kill your own food? A new, mindful generation of teens defy factory farming and turn to hunting as a way of connecting with the source of their sustenance. Nick, Alex and Ashlie leave behind their modern lives and embark on a journey that is foreign to their parents. To make a humane kill, these animal lovers confront tormenting ethics and their worst nightmares, partly to eat dinner and partly to carve out their own identities.

Screens on Sunday, October 30 during BLOCK 14, which begins at  1:30 pm – The Frank Center on the Shepherd University Campus.

Babushkas of Chernobyl

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72 Minutes
Filmmaker:  Holly Morris
TRAILER

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In the radioactive Dead Zone surrounding Chernobyl’s Reactor No. 4, a defiant community of women scratch out an existence on some of the most toxic land on Earth. They share this hauntingly beautiful but lethal landscape with an assortment of visitors – scientists, soldiers, and even ‘stalkers’ – young thrill-seekers who sneak in to pursue post-apocalyptic video game-inspired fantasies. Why the film’s characters, Hanna, Maria and Valentyna, chose to return after the disaster, defying the authorities and endangering their health, is a remarkable tale about the pull of home, the healing power of shaping one’s destiny, and the subjective nature of risk.

Screens on Saturday, October 22 during BLOCK 6, which begins at 6:30 pm at the Frank Center on the Shepherd University Campus.

Beneath Paradise

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12 Minutes
Filmmaker: Darlien Morales
TRAILER

Beneath Paradise Poster

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The island of Culebra, located off the coast of Puerto Rico, is one of the richest ecosystems in the Caribbean. Abundant mangroves, coral reefs and world-renowned beaches, like Flamenco Beach, attract tourists from all over. Today, active munitions from WW2 pose a threat to people, wildlife, and the environment. Activists, fishermen, professors, and military personnel aim to prevent further irreparable damage to Culebra’s coral reefs.

Screens on Sunday, October 23 during Block 8, which begins at 3:30 pm at Reynolds Hall on the Shepherd University Campus.

Bluebird Man

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12 Minutes
Filmmakers: Matthew Podolsky and Neil Paprocki
TRAILER

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Bluebird Man is the story of 91-year-old Al Larson, a self-taught conservation hero who has committed the last 35 years of his life to saving North America’s bluebirds. Breathtaking scenery, intimate conversations, and stunning footage of all three species of bluebird create a powerful film with the goal of inspiring our next generation of citizen scientists.

Screens on Sunday, October 23 during Block 9, which begins at 6:00 pm at the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies the Shepherd University Campus.

Canyon Song

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14 Minutes
Filmmakers: Amy Marquis and Dana Romanoff
TRAILER

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A Navajo family balances modern life with the traditional “Navajo Way,” teaching their children their language, culture, and ceremony within the sacred walls of Canyon de Chelly National Monument. This is the second film in the NPX | Stories For a New Century film series.

Screens on Friday, October 21 during BLOCK 2, which begins at 6:30 pm at Reynolds Hall on the Shepherd University Campus.

Catching the Sun

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2016 ACFF GREEN SPARK AWARD– HIGHLIGHTING PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABILITY
ACFF 2016 Green Spark Laurels large74 Minutes
Filmmaker: Shalini Kantayya
TRAILER

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Click Image For Trailer!

Through the stories of workers and entrepreneurs in the U.S. and China, Catching the Sun captures the global race to lead the clean energy future. With countries like China investing in innovative technologies and capitalizing on this trillion-dollar opportunity, the film tells the story of the global energy transition from the perspective of workers and entrepreneurs building solutions to income inequality and climate change with their own hands. Their successes and failures speak to one of the biggest questions of our time: will the U.S. actually be able to build a clean energy economy?

Two screenings!  Screens on Sunday, October 23 during Block 7, which begins at 1:00 pm at Reynolds Hall on the Shepherd University Campus. Encore screening on Friday, Oct 28th during Block 11, which begins at 6:30 pm at Reynolds Hall.