DAY ONE – THURSDAY, MARCH 6
Before SHORT FILM BLOCK 1
Welcome by
Geoff Luck
Executive Producer & Director of Impact for the Wild Hope Initiative at HHMI Tangled Bank Studios
Geoff Luck is an Emmy award-nominated producer and director who’s been the showrunner for eleven television series and executive producer of over a hundred programs in science and conservation, many produced during a fifteen-year career at National Geographic. His work as a director has been featured on Netflix, Disney+, PBS and many other outlets, and honored at the United Nations and the Museum of Modern Art.
SCREENING STARTS AT 4pm
ABOUT THE FILM
After SHORT FILM BLOCK 1
An Introduction to the ATC
Katie Allen
Director of Landscape Conservation
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Katie Allen is the Director of Landscape Conservation at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, working to protect the Appalachian Trail and its surrounding landscape. She coordinates the Appalachian Trail Landscape Partnership, a network of over 100 partners, and oversees the Wild East Action Fund, which supports land protection and capacity building. She also leads the Appalachian Trail Community Program™, which recognizes communities committed to trail stewardship, outdoor recreation, and conservation.
SCREENING STARTS AT 4pm
ABOUT THE FILM
After SHORT FILM BLOCK 1
A Panel Discussion with
Kylé Pienaar
Filmmaker, Wild Hope: Unleaded
Kylé Pienaar is a South African documentary worker who has helped tell stories from around the world. Currently, she is producing short films for a global ocean conservation campaign. Her past work includes Expedition Amazon, March on Washington: Keepers of the Dream and Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron for National Geographic. Her personal favorite project is the New York Emmy-winning short, The Andantes: Motown’s Secret Blend for AARP and WNET.
SCREENING STARTS AT 4pm
ABOUT THE FILM
After SHORT FILM BLOCK 1
A Panel Discussion with
Grace Eggleston, Nick Tucker, and Marissa Woods
Filmmakers, Timber Rattlesnakes of Catoctin Mountain Park
Grace Eggleston is a wildlife cinematographer and documentary filmmaker based in Michigan. She’s passionate about stories that explore the ties between people and their environment. Eggleston has extensive experience filming the diverse forests, rivers, and islands of North America and has worked on many stories about water quality and species diversity across the US.
Nick Tucker is a freelance filmmaker with Waterfowl Creative in Washington DC. Nick got his MFA in cinematography and film production concentrating on environmental filmmaking from American University.
Marissa Woods is completing a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Media Arts in American University’s School of Communication where she also teaches as an adjunct instructor. Marissa was awarded an environmental filmmaking fellowship with the National Park Service and is a recipient of the Mavis and Sydney Palmer scholarship.
SCREENING STARTS AT 4pm
ABOUT THE FILM
After SHORT FILM BLOCK 1
A Panel Discussion with
Lindsey Aranson, Charles Connell, Torie Glenn, Elizabeth (Lee) Green, Lily Huffman, and Sarah King
Filmmakers, Reviving the Forgotten River (Student Film Award)
Lindsey Aranson is a documentary filmmaker specializing in post-production and social impact storytelling. Currently pursuing an MFA at American University, she sees documentary film as activism, creating works on gun violence prevention, mental health, queer pride, and environmental justice.
Charles Connell is an MFA candidate in Environmental and Wildlife Filmmaking at American University. With a passion for nature, storytelling, and filmmaking, he aims to create engaging documentaries that educate, entertain, and inspire change.
Torie Glenn is a filmmaker and communications specialist with a background in public policy. Based in Seattle, she recently worked on the HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery and seeks to create films that educate and foster social tolerance.
Elizabeth Green is a documentary producer focused on environmental justice and sustainable agriculture. A Hampshire College graduate and current MFA candidate at American University, she uses film to spark meaningful conversations and drive social impact.
Lily Huffman is a science communicator and visual storyteller dedicated to conservation. With a background in Coastal Environmental Management, she is pursuing an MA in Film and Media Production at American University to merge science and storytelling for environmental action.
Sarah King is a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker specializing in environmental storytelling. With a BFA in Cinematography and an MFA in progress at American University, she uses striking imagery to inspire respect for nature and wildlife.
SCREENING STARTS AT 4pm
ABOUT THE FILM
DAY TWO – FRIDAY, MARCH 7
FRIDAY SPECIAL GUESTS
To Be Announced
DAY THREE – SATURDAY, MARCH 8
After Bury Me at Taylor Hollow
A Community Discussion About Green Burials with
John Christian Phifer
Film Subject and Conservation Expert
John Christian Phifer is a licensed funeral director, embalmer, and certified end-of-life doula dedicated to sustainable and compassionate end-of-life care. As Executive Director of Larkspur Conservation, he helped establish Tennessee’s first conservation burial ground.
With formal training in mortuary science and funeral arts, John Christian is a leader in natural burial practices. He is actively involved with the Tennessee Funeral Directors Association, the National Home Funeral Alliance, and the Conservation Burial Alliance, advancing meaningful, environmentally conscious end-of-life options.
SCREENING STARTS AT 11AM
ABOUT THE FILM
After An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet
A Q&A with
John Ealer
Filmmaker, An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet
John Ealer is Senior Production Executive at Cream Productions, Toronto-based producers of An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet. John is an Emmy-nominated producer, director and cinematographer with over two decades experience crafting nonfiction films for premium outlets such as Netflix (Roman Empire), CNN (The History of the Sitcom), Hulu (The Game Show Show), HBO (Seen and Heard), History (The World Wars), Discovery (Gold Rush) and many more. Offscreen, John leads his town’s Conservation Advisory Council and CLEAN initiative. John holds an MFA in Cinema Production from USC and a BA from the University of Iowa.
SCREENING STARTS AT 1:30PM
ABOUT THE FILM
After Short Film Block 3
A Q&A with
Aaron Lemle
Filmmaker, Bat Boy
Aaron Lemle recently received his MFA in Producing and Directing from UCLA’s school of Theater, Film and Television; he wrote, produced, and directed Bat Boy as a student production. Before enrolling at UCLA, he was the lead producer on the Emmy-award winning PBS series Articulate with Jim Cotter. He has also worked at the National Science Foundation and the Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience lab at Stanford University. He hopes to use film to inspire audiences to care about science and the environment.
SCREENING STARTS AT 4PM
ABOUT THE FILM
After Short Film Block 3
A Q&A with
Ashwika Kapur
Filmmaker, Catapults to Cameras
Calcutta-born wildlife filmmaker Ashwika Kapur is an internationally acclaimed nature and conservation filmmaker and presenter. She is a director at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol. Though Kapur also works in mainstream television, she remains deeply committed to telling important grassroot conservation stories, especially in collaboration with Roundglass Sustain, India’s leading conservation film platform.
SCREENING STARTS AT 4PM
ABOUT THE FILM
DAY FOUR – SUNDAY, MARCH 9
After Short Film Block 5
A Q&A WITH
Sam Sheline
Filmmaker, Flora, Fauna, Funga
Sam Sheline is an award-winning environmental filmmaker based in Richmond, VA. As a producer for National Geographic Society’s Impact Story Lab, Sheline loves telling untold stories with passionate people and working to understand how to make real-world impact through storytelling.
SCREENING STARTS AT 1PM
ABOUT THE FILM
After Short Film Block 6
A Q&A with
Dr. John Francis
Film Subject, Planetwalker
John Francis, author, traveler, student, and teacher, has traveled from coast to coast across the United States, visited Antarctica, and sailed through the Caribbean. He has done this all without the use of motorized travel. John became the National Geographic Society’s first Education Fellow in 2010. He is also the program director for Planetwalk, a nonprofit environmental awareness organization. He aims to educate people not only about the physical environment, but the human environment as well. Planetwalk believes our behavior toward one another can be a mechanism for how we treat the Earth.
SCREENING STARTS AT 3:30PM
ABOUT THE FILM
After Queer Planet
A Q&A WITH
Dr. Christine Wilkinson
Film Subject and Conservation Expert
Dr. Christine Wilkinson is a conservation scientist, carnivore ecologist, musician, and science communicator based at the California Academy of Sciences and University of California, Santa Cruz. As a science communicator, she has worked with National Geographic Society, National Geographic Partners/Disney, Plimsoll Productions, PBS, and others for TV, radio, and podcast productions with roles spanning on-screen appearances, hosting, and content development. For her research, Dr. Wilkinson integrates participatory community engagement, wildlife ecology, and an environmental justice lens to better understand what may constitute equitable, just, and lasting human-nature relationships globally.
SCREENING STARTS AT 6:30PM
ABOUT THE FILM
