3rd Annual Julian Film Festival, May 16th-17th, 2014
The 2014 3rd Annual Julian Wild & Scenic Film Festival is this weekend, Friday, May 16th and Saturday, May 17th, with hikes offered on Sunday, May 18th. Sponsored by and benefitting the Volcan Mountain Foundation, the two-day festival will offer environmentally-focused films, opportunities to meet with and learn from filmmakers, local food, music and art, discovery hikes on Volcan Mountain, and a beautiful weekend in Julian, California. Please visit www.JulianFilmFestival.com for information on event pricing, tickets, scheduling, locations and visiting Julian.
The festival will kick-off on Friday evening in Wynola at Jeremy's On The Hill with a special "farm-to-table" event featuring food from local organic farms. Hors d'oeuvres by celebrity Chef Jeremy Manley (who also started Julian's farm-to-school lunch program), plus a no host bar will be available throughout the evening. The event will feature a short film on the farm-to-table movement, and a talk by Tricia Elisara, who started Julian Elementary School's garden, on the positive effects of kids eating food they have grown and harvested. Some of the filmmakers will also be on hand during the soirée.
Saturday's 24 films will begin at 10 a.m. and continue throughout the day in four 90-minute sessions with a 90 minute break for lunch. The festival will also include Q&A sessions with some of the filmmakers, as well as a roundtable discussion with filmmakers and environmental leaders, and a talk by Mimi Hughes, author of the book, "Wider Than a Mile," which chronicles her historic 1,770-mile swim down the Danube River as a quest to invoke change around the globe.
The film festival will wrap up on Saturday night at Julian's historic Town Hall with an awards ceremony and party. For the first time, the festival will be giving awards, designed by the renowned local Julian artist James Hubbell, for Best of the Fest, People's Choice and others. Beer and wine from local boutique breweries and wineries, as well as sandwiches and desserts, will be available for sale while dancing or just enjoying the excellent music of Grand Canyon Sundown.