Each year the World Tour Paddling Film Festival screens in more than 120 cities around the world, so my paddle club thought we should bring it to Wisconsin this year. Northeast Wisconsin Paddlers (NEWP) hosted the Paddling Film Festival this past Friday evening, March 22 at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. I can’t imagine how the event could have turned out any better.
Once our club signed up as an official host, Rapid Media sent me a link and password to view all 26 films offered to each hosting organization. I shared these films with the NEWP board and asked them to vote for their five favorite films. Our film festival committee (Bill Burton, Dave Horst and me) then chose eight films which we felt represented the best lineup for our potential audience based on topic diversity (sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, canoeing, environmental issues) and overall emotional impact.
For the venue, we chose Lawrence University’s Warch Campus Center, a striking, 10-year-old building set along the Fox River. Within the facility is the beautiful Cinema facility with comfortable theater seating and excellent video projection, audio and lighting systems. The Cinema seats up to 140. We sold 124 tickets in advance and 15 at the door for a total of 139 attendees. We were amazed to hit that audience number. Now that word is out about this event, we may need to look for a bigger venue for 2020.
It was fun to pre-screen all 26 films on our TV at home over several evenings. However, that kind of viewing can’t match a theater setting. There’s simply something magical about seeing these awe-inspiring films in a darkened theater on a big screen with a kick-ass sound system. With fellow paddling enthusiasts we shared “oohs” and “ahhs” when whitewater kayakers plunged over dangerous waterfalls in “We Are Send”. We laughed together when Lonnie Bedwell’s father described his son’s acute hearing ability in “Feel of Vision”. Some of us even shed a few tears over the emotional conclusion of “The Passage.”
A big thanks goes out to our donors (Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, Fox River Tours, Peninsula Kayak Company and Zeller’s Ski & Sport) to the NEWP board and other volunteers who helped make the event run so smoothly, and especially to everyone who bought a ticket for the event.
If you missed the Paddling Film Festival in Appleton, check out the tour schedule for remaining 2019 dates and locations.
