After a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Skeena Wild Film and Photo Festival is back in person this year.

Joelle St-Gelais, festival coordinator for Skeena Wild Conservation Trust, told CICK News they "learned some lessons during the pandemic on how to reach a global audience with a hyper-local subject matter," which they will incorporate in the festival from now on. Because the films and photos had to be judged and viewed online in 2020 and 2021, the films were receiving hundreds and thousands of views, way above the audience numbers they could reach locally in Terrace, BC.

The film and photo competition and festival is judged first by a panel of three judges and open to the public to vote for crowd favourites.

One such past favourite is a short documentary film called Midsummer Adventure, a dawn-to-dusk movie depicting all of the activities that filmmaker Julian Krick (along with a rotating crew of friends) can fit into the longest day of the year: the summer solstice. They begin at 3 a.m. and fill the day with hikes, skiing, kayaking, skinny-dipping, bike riding, rock climbing and more fun activities to indulge your outdoorsy whims.

Since Julian moved to Terrace in 2018, he has submitted a Midsummer Adventure film every year.

There is a photo competition, as well as youth and adult categories for best films. This year, there was only one person under 14 who submitted a film: Corwin Northcott, a 12-year-old budding filmmaker from Smithers.

His film is an edited-down account of a day in the life of an adventuresome kid.

St.Gelais said that the festival is due to travel to communities surrounding Terrace, including Hazelton, Smithers, and Kitimat, and to stay tuned to https://www.skeenawildfilmfestival.com/ to find out when you can see the films in your town.

Listen to Pamela Haasen's interview with Joelle St-Gelais, Julian Krick and Corwin Northcott (via his father Jason) in the audio clip below: