Riverfront Greenspace, overlooking the Skowhegan River Park

Date: Thursday, August 3, 2023
Time: Doors: 7:00PM,
Films: 8:00PM
Admission: This is a free community event.
Location: Riverfront Greenspace, overlooking the Skowhegan River Park, Skowhegan, ME
Presented by: Skowhegan Outdoors
Program Notes: Skowhegan River Fest is August 1 to 6. The film program is part of River Fest and will last about two hours, including a 10-minute intermission.
Please bring your own camp chair and/or blanket.

Scheduled Program:

DRIVING SWEEP – 9.42 minutes – by Greg Cairns – from MT – Short synopsis: Few river guides ever get the chance to drive Idaho’s Iconic sweep boat. Driving Sweep follows Katie Veteto as she learns how to “drive sweep” down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. She’s learned the rapids and the river, but can she stand on a 4,000lbs raft and drive it safely down steep rocky rapids?
THE STORM CHASER – 7 minutes – by Jack Pirie – from United Kingdom – Short synopsis: The Storm Chaser is a labor-of-love short film project from writer/director Jack Pirie. The film follows storm-chasing legend Thomas Traversa as he embarks on a perilous journey in search of a mythical storm, the likes of which the world has never witnessed. A genre-blurring documentary about the profound encounters between humans and nature at its extremes, and the harmony that can be found within.
REPURPOSED – 6.98 minutes – by Pierre-Luc Arseneau – from New Brunswick – Short synopsis: Once used for commercial logging, British Columbia’s vast network of forest service roads are being repurposed for gravel riding. In the face of climate change, however, the need to make tourism and recreation more sustainable has never been more pressing to the local community. ‘Repurposed’ is a short film that takes a closer look at the discipline of gravel riding, what it means to the community, and how it is transforming the way these logging roads are used to interact with the land.
WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR GOAT – 5.66 minutes – by Jack Lewis Elder – from Colorado – Short synopsis: Nico is a woman in her late 20s who lives in her sprinter van with 2 goats, 3 chickens and a dog. In this quirky 6 minute film you’ll spend a day with Nico goat-packing a raft up to a high mountain lake. We take a dive into her lifestyle, the goats’ personalities, and Nico’s deeper mission to use her unique lifestyle for sustainability education.
STORIES FROM THE WOOD – 3.83 minutes – by Kevin Moehlenkamp – from Maine – Short synopsis: Stories From The Wood profiles Chainsaw Artist, Josh Landry. Like a lot of folk art, chainsaw sculpting has been passed over, marginalized, and relegated to county fairs. Josh’s talent elevates the art form and makes you look again with deserving reverence and wonder.
BOTTOMTURN – 8 minutes – by Luis Bauer – from Germany – Short synopsis: Bottom Turn is a short surf film shot on location in Bali and Lombok, Indonesia between August and September 2022. Jake illiterates how his life has looked with, and without, a strong relationship with his passion.
MAINE MAPLE – 3.83 minutes – by Jeshua Soucy – from ME – Short synopsis: The story of Maine maple syrup from sap out of a tree to pouring it over your pancakes.
MITATA | GRANDFATHER – 5.96 minutes – by Desmond Simon – from Canada – Short synopsis: The story of one family, their connection to their land, and discovering their resilience. Mitata (pronounced “mee-da-da”) is Mi’kmaq word translating to “grandfather”. Created by Elsipogtog First Nation filmmaker Desmond Simon, Mitata is a celebration of a grandfather through the voice of his son and the eyes of his grandson.
THE TRAPLINE – 11.4 minutes – by Andrea Wing – from British Columbia – Short synopsis: Syd has carved out a rich life in the Yukon and she’s done it on her own terms. An avid outdoors person, she is recognized as one of the most successful hunters in the Yukon, gender be damned. Then she met Jurgen, an old trapper who would change the course of her life. This is the story of an unusual apprenticeship between an old timer and a young woman, and a disappearing way of life, changing hands.
THE RED CREEK SESSIONS – 30.34 minutes – by Justin Phillip Harris – from West Virginia – Short synopsis: Red Creek is the elusive Class V+ whitewater gem flowing from the Dolly Sods Wilderness in the West Virginia highlands. Join Dr. Philip Prince Ph.D. as he takes an in depth look at the geology of this region through the descent of Red Creek by a group of local whitewater kayakers on Cheatfest Weekend 2022.