They offered their wild, wild West, and the Clyde jumped on the bandwagon.
The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival of Jackson Hole, Wyo. has given the Clyde Theatre in Langley permission to show 11 of the festival’s best.
“We are thrilled that the Clyde has gone WILD with Jackson Hole as we launch our travelling ‘Best of Festival’ screenings featuring the world’s finest and most evocative nature films,” said Lisa Samford, executive director of the festival in Wyoming.
“The Clyde Goes WILD!” will open the four-day event with a bang on Friday, April 16 with a pre-festival showing of three short films made expressly for school children at 5 p.m. (admission for this is by donation) followed by the festival opener “Pale Male” at 7:30 p.m. “Pale Male” is the story of a red-tailed hawk that settled on the ledge of a luxury condo near Central Park and was embraced by the people of New York City.
Before and after the film, local falconer and hawk expert Steve Layman will talk briefly about the role of red-tails here on South Whidbey, and will bring the “Pale Male” story up to date.
Additional films to be shown during “The Clyde Goes WILD!” reveal the secret lives of humpback whales, iguanas, frogs, wolves, and monkeys, as well as the Olympic-level feats of dung beetles. These innovative films explore the shenanigans males will get up to in courting a female, and the connection between the health of an animal community and human health.
Some of the films were made for theaters and others for television, but all display expert photography made even more spectacular by a larger movie-house screen.
The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, held every two years, is known for the high quality of its international entries.
Feature films shown at the Clyde such as “March of the Penguins” and “Earth” were once winners at the film festival. After 15 years, the celluloid showcase has a rich archive of festival entrants to offer to schools, museums and other educational venues.
However, this may be the first time a for-profit business has been allowed to host a mini-festival of their films.
“We may have Russell Sparkman to thank for that,” said the Clyde’s Lynn Willeford.
“I mentioned to him that I was going to talk to the people at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival about the possibility of renting films from them, not having the faintest idea that he was actually on their board.
“He introduced us to the executive director of the festival, and she was quite open to this pilot program. Maybe he told her we didn’t make enough profit to count,” Willeford added.
Festival films will be passed on to the South Whidbey schools for classroom use during the following week at no charge to the school district.
The Clyde is unable to sell single tickets to any show, but will sell multi-use festival passes as stipulated by the terms of the contract with the film festival. These reasonably priced passes are like ferry passes, and can be used by an individual, a couple or a whole family.
A 10-admission transferable pass costs $30; a four-admission transferable pass, $15. Passes can be purchased by cash or check in advance at the Clyde during regular showtime hours. There are a limited number of passes available and having a pass will not necessarily guarantee a seat to any one particular show.
For more information on “The Clyde Goes WILD!” click on “Special Events” here or call (360) 221-5525.
For information on the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, click here.
Wild film schedule
Friday, April 16:
5 p.m. — “Shorts for Families” (no passes needed).
7:30 p.m. — “Pale Male,” plus “Hawk Talk” by Steve Layman.
Saturday, April 17:
12:30 p.m. — “Clever Monkeys,” 2 p.m. — “What Males Will Do,” 3:30 p.m. — “Pale Male,” 5 p.m. — “Galapagos: Born of Fire,” and “The Coral Gardener,” 7:30 p.m. — “In the Valley of the Wolves,” and “Extreme Animal Sports.”
Sunday, April 18:
12:30 p.m. — “Galapagos: Born of Fire,” 2 p.m. — “In the Valley of the Wolves,” 3:30 p.m. — “Clever Monkeys” and “Safari,”
5 p.m. — “Frogs: The Thin Green Line,” 7:30 p.m. — “What Males Will Do.”
Monday, April 19:
5 p.m. — “Ocean Voyagers,” 7:30 p.m. — “Frogs: The Thin Green Line” and “The Coral Gardener.”
