UW Haub School Wild and Working Lands Film Festival Premieres Thursday

The fifth annual Wild and Working Lands Film Festival will premiere Thursday, March 26, at the Gryphon Theatre, located at 710 E. Garfield St. in Laramie. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and films begin at 7 p.m.

The festival, which is free and open to the public, features a program of eight short films exploring relationships between people and the landscapes where they live, work and play. The festival is presented by the University of Wyoming Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.

With an emphasis on stories set in the wild and rural areas of the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and high-desert sagebrush steppe, the festival inspires audiences to better understand the current world and work toward a future where people and natural environments prosper together.

Festival Director Anastasia Brady hopes the event will bring audiences closer to the stories unfolding across the West, where landscapes, livelihoods and traditions remain deeply intertwined. According to Brady, the films showcase the deep and enduring connection between people and the land.

"The Wild and Working Lands Film Festival aims to foster a shared understanding of today's environmental challenges while inspiring a future in which both human and natural communities can thrive -- told through the powerful medium of film," Brady says.

This year's films explore topics including wetland restoration in Montana; innovative agricultural practices; the long-standing traditions of nomadic sheepherders in Nevada; Indigenous generational knowledge; sustainable hunting practices in Wyoming; the human connection to Yellowstone National Park; and the fragile ecosystems of saline lakes, among others.

Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase through the Gryphon Theatre.

For more information, to become a festival sponsor or to host a screening of the festival in your community on tour this year, visit the festival's website at www.uwyo.edu/haub/events/film-festival/ or email Brady at [email protected].

The Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources advances the understanding and resolution of complex environment and natural resource issues. The school supports students as well as citizens, stakeholders and decision-makers by providing the skills and tools needed to build durable, inclusive solutions to the most pressing environment and natural resource challenges.