The U of I Fish & Wildlife Film Festival connects people with nature through film.
Fish and Wildlife Film Festival
2024 Fish and Wildlife Film Festival
Unfortunately, our 2024 Fish and Wildlife Film Festival has been cancelled. Please be sure to check back in Summer 2024 for more information about our 2025 FilmFestival!
We hope to see you next year!
The Fish & Wildlife Film Festival at the University of Idaho is dedicated to enhancing knowledge and stewardship of wild nature, including fish and wildlife, the wild landscapes they depend on, and the communities that they sustain.
Through our film festival, we challenge filmmakers at all levels, from K-12 students to university students and professionals, to develop and share dynamic films that excite and engage for the benefit of nature and natural resources.
- All submissions should be 1-10 minutes long, unless submitting as a "feature film", and should be primarily original footage taken by the submitter or their team members (i.e., little or no stock footage). The submitter must have received permission to use any non-original audio (i.e., music) or video content. Video quality should be HD to facilitate in-theatre screening.
- All submissions should be based on scientifically-accurate information, and with the exception of "wild side" submissions, must include at least some verbal communication, which should be in English (or subtitled).
- Film makers should indicate which category they think their submission should fall under (although we reserve the right to change submission categories as needed).
- All submissions may be used in our film festival outreach activities during subsequent years.
- Each film maker may only submit 2 films total, and each film must be in a separate category.
- Top entries will be determined by a panel of judges from the wildlife and creative professions.
- The top 2 entries and the best student film from each of the 4 categories will be screened at our festival along with other official selections as screen time allows, plus one longer (10-15 minutes) feature film.
Co-Directors:
Lisette Waits
Planning Committee:
Faculty – David Ausband, Jocelyn Aycrigg, Russell Meeuf, Chris Caudill, David Roon, Kerri Vierling
Graduate Students:
Rachel Stein, Anne Yen
Contact us
Fish & Wildlife Film Festival
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 1136
Moscow, ID, 83844
208.885.8605
2022 U of I Fish & Wildlife Film Festival Preview
| Decision | Category | Filmmaker | Project Title |
| Winner | Ecology & Behavior | Louisa Gilbert | It's Time to Listen |
|
Winner |
Feature Film | Day's Edge Productions | The Fish & The Flame |
| Winner | Habitat & Ecosystems | Joe Davies | The Rivers and I |
| Winner | Science & Research | Jarlath Mulvaney | Feathered Apes |
| Winner | Wildlife & Human Connections | Riccardo Soriano | The Land of Griffins |
| Winner | Wild Side | Teton Conservation District | Winter Tracking |
| Student Winner | Ecology & Behavior | Jehan Jeffrie | Wisdom 11 - Sheriff of the Rutt |
| Student Winner | Feature Film | Lauren Schaer | Rhapsody for a Rock Wren |
| Student Winner | Science & Research | Kerala Fisher Hart | Light and Life |
| Student Winner | Wild Side | Nakoda AV Club | Helping Animal Friends Across Roads |
| K-12 Student Winner | Wildlife & Human Connections | Mason Mirabile | Stop Pebble Mine |
| Official Selection | Feature Film | Amanda Sosnowski | Ghost Ponds |
| Official Selection | Feature Film | Ted Grudowski | This Land is Part of Us |
| Official Selection | Habitat & Ecosystems | Sonny DePasquale | Protecting the Monarch Butterfly |
| Official Selection | Habitat & Ecology | Jeremy Roberts | Saving the Sagebrush Sea |
| Official Selection | Wildlife & Human Connection | Jorge Ramos Luna | Tsurumpipit |
| Official Selection | Habitat & Ecosystems | Dustin Masin | Trestle Creek Habitat Enhancement |
| Official Selection | Ecology & Behavior | Amar Koushik | An Empty Nest |
| Official Selection | Science & Research | Scott Putnam | Hells Canyon Chinook Salmon & Steelhead Trout Snorkel Surveys |
|
Decision |
Category |
Filmmaker |
Project Title |
|
1st |
Feature Film |
Brandon Thompson |
Unbroken: Belize's Jaguar Corridor |
|
1st |
Animal Behavior and Ecology |
Christian Lawes |
Those in Grass Houses |
|
1st |
Science and Research |
Mason Lee |
University of Wyoming Toad Research |
|
1st |
Habitat and Ecosystems |
Alejandra Medellín |
Now I am an Axolotl |
|
1st |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
John Davies |
The Flying Gold of Arabuko |
|
1st |
Wild Side |
Dustin Masin |
The Running of the Bulls |
|
2nd |
Feature Film |
David McGowan and Ravenswood Media, Inc. |
|
|
2nd |
Animal Behavior and Ecology |
Catrin Pichler |
Blue-Ringed Octopus |
|
2nd |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Conor Ferris |
The Common Ground |
|
2nd |
Wild Side |
Robert Schröder and Lennart Rossenfeld |
|
|
Student Winner |
Feature Film |
Sacha Wells |
Sagebrush Steppe: A Beautiful Secret |
|
Student Winner |
Animal Behavior and Ecology |
Megan Brown |
Painted Ladies |
|
Student Winner |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Jake Davison |
Flying Barn Doors |
|
Student Winner |
Wild Side |
Alexa Velez |
Of Water |
|
Official Selection |
Habitat and Ecosystems |
Yaz Ellis |
|
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Constantinos Christou |
|
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Jessica Mills |
Los Monos |
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Fiona Tande |
Red Maasai Heritage |
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Paula Webster |
|
Decision |
Category |
Filmmaker |
Project Title |
|
1st |
Animal Behavior and Ecology |
Grant Callegari |
|
|
1st |
Feature Film |
Ben Masters and Charles Post |
Horse Rich and Dirt Poor |
|
1st |
Habitat and Ecosystems |
Jessica Plumb |
Renewal: Think like a Scientist |
|
1st |
Science and Research |
Luis Palomino and Molly Ferrill |
Flying with Spider Monkeys |
|
1st |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Madelaine Westwood |
Anegada - Land of the Iguanas |
|
1st |
Wild Side |
Harko Wubs |
|
|
2nd |
Animal Behavior and Ecology |
Porus Khareghat |
Noor - Queen of Ranthambore |
|
2nd |
Feature Film |
Thomas Winston |
|
|
2nd |
Science and Research |
Katrina Pyne and Josh Silberg |
|
|
2nd |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Virginia Moore |
Ferret Town |
|
2nd |
Wild Side |
Cella Wright |
|
|
Student Winner |
Animal Behavior and Ecology |
Juliette Martineau |
Smart Slime? |
|
Student Winner |
Habitat and Ecosystems |
Henry Lin |
The Hart |
|
Student Winner |
Science and Research |
Cash Daniels |
The Conservation Kid |
|
Student Winner |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Rebecca Pratt |
Reef Revolution |
|
Student Winner |
Wild Side |
Klopas Oey, Yu Kwok Oey |
The Sixth Extinction |
|
Official Selection |
Feature Film |
Eliza Goode |
When Goats Fly: Festival Cut |
|
Official Selection |
Feature Film |
Danny Schmidt and Eric Bendick |
The Last Green Thread |
|
Official Selection |
Feature Film |
Jake Willers |
(Re)connecting Wild |
|
Official Selection |
Habitat and Ecosystems |
Lacy Robinson |
|
|
Official Selection |
Habitat and Ecosystems |
Holly Fretwell |
|
|
Official Selection |
Habitat and Ecosystems |
Daniel Glick/Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative |
|
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Olivia Belluck, Olivia Coleman, and Noah Kane |
|
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Katie Schuler |
Pangolin |
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Christi Lowe |
Poachers and Protectors: The Story of Scarlet Macaws in Honduras |
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
James Bateman |
Beauty and the Bees |
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Charles Post |
Golden |
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Bidit Roy |
|
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Rob Tiffin |
|
|
Official Selection |
Wildlife-Human Connections |
Katie Schuler |
Where Life Begins |
|
Official Selection |
Wild Side |
Sam Avery |
|
|
Official Selection |
Wild Side |
Sam Avery |
The Catch |
Below are our winners in each category, as well as official selections.
| Decision | Category | Filmmaker | Project Title |
| 1st | Animal Behavior and Ecology | Kori Price | The Anomalies: Venom Race |
| 1st | Feature Length (10-16min) | Scott Dobson | Fix And Release |
| 1st | Science and Research | Ben Masters & Charles Post | Return of the Texas Bighorn |
| 1st | Wild Side | Carol Chambers | Six Mile Stretch |
| 1st | Wildlife-Human Connections | Adam Cole | The Hopeful Tale Of A Doomed Fox |
| 2nd | Animal Behavior and Ecology | Chris Orr | The Flow of Life |
| 2nd | Feature Length (10-16min) | Jane Fugate | Messengers: The Owls of Mescalero |
| 2nd |
Science and Research | David Garrison | 1000s of Bugs, 100 Islands, 1 Happy Entomologist |
| 2nd | Wild Side | Erin Anfinson | In the Tallgrass |
| 2nd | Wildlife-Human Connections | Kori Price | Forgotten But Not Gone: The Pacific Fisher |
| Grad Student Winner | Animal Behavior and Ecology | Tiffany Deater | Life of the Sengi |
| Grad Student Winner | Feature Length (10-16min) | Brian Gersten | Caviar Dreams |
| Grad Student Winner | Science and Research | Ashley Siana | Yellowstone Invader |
| Grad Student Winner | Wild Side | Nicolas De oliveira |
Offhand |
| Grad Student Winner | Wildlife-Human Connections | Yegane Moghaddam |
On the Cover |
| Official Selection | Wildlife-Human Connections | Brita Olson | Roots: Bringing back the Bull River |
| Official Selection | Feature Length (10-16min) | Emily Bergstrom | Time for the Grizzly? |
| Official Selection | Feature Length (10-16min) | Dimitri Martin Genaudeau |
The Bark Beetle of Šumava |
| Official Selection | Feature Length (10-16min) | Gunjan Menon |
The Firefox Guardian |
| Official Selection | Feature Length (10-16min) | Nardine Groch |
The Great Pretender |
| Official Selection | Science and research | Michael Lucid |
Multi-species Baseline Initiative: Winter Bait Stations |
| Official Selection | Science and research | Danny Copeland |
Tracking Snow |
| Official Selection | Wild Side | Alexis Morisson |
Hypoxia |
| Official Selection | Wildlife-Human Connections | Kori Price | The Path Back |
We received over 120 submissions from more than 30 countries around the world. Below are our winners in each category, as well as official selections.
| Decision | Category | Filmmaker | Project Title |
| 1st | Science and research | Meigan Henry | Mexican Fishing Bats |
| 1st | Ecology and behavior | Mike Johnson | Oceanic Aliens |
| 1st | Science and research | Tracy Graziano | Ruffed Grouse |
| 1st | Wildlife-human connections | Daniel Schmidt | Running Wild |
| 1st | Wild side | Mark Burchick | The Local Oyster Stout |
| 1st | Feature-length film | George Olah | The Macaw Project - Biologists, Ecotourists and Local Communities for the Amazonian Rainforest |
| K12 1st | K-12 Student | Tia Vierling | The Fin of the Shark: A Cautionary Tale |
| K12 2nd |
K-12 Student | Avery Caudill | Return to the River |
| K12 3rd | K-12 Student | David Benjamin | The Bird Painter |
| Runner up | Ecology and behavior | David Garrison | Beauty and the Feast: When Herring Come to Spawn |
| Runner up | Wildlife-human connections | Shaktiraj Jadeja | HOME |
| Runner up | Wild side | Victoria Osborn | Stream That I Call Home |
| University student 1st | University Student | Robert Glowacky | Bringing Back Bodrik |
| University student 2nd | University Student | Itai Hagage | Below 0¡ |
| University student 3rd | University Student | Cody Dey | The Birds and the Bears |
| Official Selection | Science and research | Meigan Henry | Auditing the Blue Blood Bank |
| Official Selection | Wildlife-human connections | Scott Rulander | Clark Fork River Delta "Restoring Wildlife Habitat for Future Generations" |
| Official Selection | Wildlife-human connections | James Gregg | Climate Change PSA |
| Official Selection | Wildlife-human connections | Jeremy Roberts | Cold Waters (short) |
| Official Selection | Wild Side | James Gregg | Fun Facts About Goats |
| Official Selection | Wild Side | Nadasdy Film | Habitat |
| Official Selection | Science and research | Meigan Henry | Here Be Tiny Dragons (and Other Micro Beasts) |
| Official Selection | Science and research | Jeremy Roberts | Saving Ferrets with Peanut Butter and Drones |
| Official Selection | Science and research | Nick Brown | The Kodiak Brown Bear Project |