Wildscreen kicks off 2023 with an evening of screenings celebrating award-winning global filmmakers

Bristol-based charity Wildscreen follows its hugely successful 2022 Wildscreen Festival with an evening of four films – two shorts and two features – drawn from its winning programme. There will also be exclusive Q&As with the filmmakers.

“We are excited to hit the ground running this year, with an evening of inspiring film screenings from our 2022 Festival Official Selection,” says Wildscreen CEO Lucie Muir. “We are looking forward to sharing stories told by underrepresented voices in the wildlife storytelling documentary genre.”

The screening takes place on Bristol’s biggest cinema screen in the former IMAX at Bristol Aquarium on February 9. The line-up and official synopses are as follows:

Mother of the Sea

(Dir. Nicolas Brown) This short film tells the legend of The Mother of the Sea – a tale that virtually every Inuit from Greenland to the Canadian Arctic knows in some form or another. This is a “living story”, it’s not about the past; this story is taking place right now. Updated with plastic trash and climate change, telling this tale does more than scare children away from the dangerous ice – it warns us all about the perils of disrespecting Mother Nature.

I Am Capable

(Dir. Roxy Furman) After experiencing injustice when hiking in the English countryside, Amira Patel decided she wanted to help create a safe space for Muslim women outdoors. She founded her own group, the Wanderlust Women. They form a powerful sisterhood, finding strength in one another’s bravery in helping to breakdown the stereotypes and boundaries that exist.

Exposure

(Dir. Holly Morris) As the polar ice cap melts, reaching the North Pole has become increasingly dangerous. Yet an unlikely expedition of women – including a mirthful Muslim chaplain, a shy French scientist, a defiant Qatari princess, and eight others – have set an audacious goal of skiing to the pole. Exposure follows the team as they train over two years, and finally reach the high Arctic, where they navigate open leads of water, polar bear threats, and -40 degree temperatures in an extraordinary story of resilience and global citizenry.

Miwene

(Dir. Keith Heyward, Jennifer Berglund, Gange Anita Yeti Enomenga, Obe Beatriz Nenquimo Nihua) Steeped in the long oral tradition of Waorani storytelling, Anita Yeti shares her own coming-of-age story as a young Waorani woman living deep within the Amazon rainforest. Following Anita and her community for over ten years, the film captures her transition from a quiet teenager into a confident young mother at a critical turning point for her culture and rainforest. As the granddaughter of one of the last Waorani elders that lived in complete isolation before outside contact, Anita is determined to capture her grandmother’s unique experience while she still can. Each year that passes brings with it new challenges, but with the help of family and friends, Anita balances school, motherhood, and tradition.

Tickets, priced from £8, are available here.

All images: Wildscreen