Once again the Williams Lake Film Club is finishing off the season with a big bang. On Tuesday, May 5, we will bring you the Reel Paddling Film Festival, World Tour 2015.
The films will be shown at the Gibraltar Room at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Centre at 7 p.m. Both entrances will be open. The 10th annual Reel Paddling Film Festival showcases the world’s best paddling films.
The festival inspires more people to explore rivers, lakes and oceans, push physical and emotional extremes, embrace the lifestyle and appreciate the heritage of the wild places we paddle.
We have an incredible selection of films, including nine award-winning documentaries. As a matter of fact we have so many that we will screen three shorts before 7 p.m., while you are filling the Gibraltar Room.
One of them will be Portage the Legend by Colin Labelle of Williams Lake and Wesley Gregg of Quesnel.
And we will give you a bonus after the official program for everyone who has not had enough, like us. After all, this is the only chance we get to see these films.
Here is a short overview: Andorja World Record Expedition, Delta Dawn, Facing Waves: Outriggers and SUP in Tahiti, How Not To Steal A Kayak, The Grand Canyon of the Stikine, and many others. We even have a film about SUP Yoga. Personal trainer, yoga instructor and obsessed standup paddle boarder Jodelle Fitzwater describes discovering SUP yoga from her hometown of Branson, Missouri. Great fun, and yes — different.
We will see some of the most stunning whitewater action, some wacky animated features, waterfall craziness, beautiful landscapes, waterscapes, really, the best of the best.
Do I sound excited? That is because I am. We are one of the select few showing this festival in the west and I do not want you to miss it.
All proceeds from this evening will help to support to the LDA, the local chapter of the Association for Students with Learning Disabilities. As you might know, we are now working with the Child Development Centre to advance this cause.
We will have two segments of about an hour each with a 15 minute break. We will serve yummies during the break. I will bake up a storm to make it good. Water, juice and tea will also be served. And there will be a discreet little “Money Pit” for any donation, a loonie or toonie you might want to throw in to cover the cost of refreshments. After all, this is a fundraiser.
After the official screening we will show the documentary DamNation. This powerful film odyssey across America explores the change in national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers.
I have been told that a 51-minute documentary is too long to be part of a festival, but as this is just so darn good we will show it after the official screening. Admission is $15 at the door or $12 in advance at Cariboo Memorial Complex or Red Shred’s, cash only.
