University of Idaho to screen short wildlife films

MOSCOW — Films about wildlife and conservation return to the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre in Moscow tonight.

The University of Idaho will show its annual Fish and Wildlife Film Festival at 6 p.m. The 15 short films, curated from more than 100 submissions sent in by filmmakers from around the globe, feature stories about the conservation and management of a wide range of wildlife.

They include species like caribou, beavers, bees, wildcats, grizzlies, songbirds, bighorn sheep, as well as the people who share their habitats.

Lisette Waits, a UI professor of wildlife resources, said one of her favorite films explains the recovery of Channel Island foxes off the coast of California.

“It’s a great conservation story and a spectacular film that tells the story from the perspective of the biologists involved but also from the perspective of indigenous people,” she said.

Some of the films feature critters inhabiting remote places but there are also films about animals who live among the footprint of human development. Waits points to another of her favorites, about beavers in Austria.

“It’s a great film about how wildlife can be found in our everyday lives,” she said. “You don’t have to go to Yellowstone National Park to see amazing wildlife. It’s in our backyards and out our front doors and in our cities.”

The festival is free to students and people younger than 18. Waits said that is by design.

“We make it free to all K through 12 students and all university students as a way to inspire people to watch wildlife, inspire them to get involved in wildlife conservation and to think about a career in fish and wildlife conservation.”

The cost for nonstudents is $10. The doors open at 5:30 p.m.and the films start at 6. Waits said the festival sometimes sells out. Tickets can be purchased at bit.ly/3UQvbPs.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.