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The Wimberley Film Festival, a new documentary and experimental film festival, will make its debut on Sunday, June 9, on the swim green at Blue Hole Park. The one-day event, sponsored by the Watershed Association, Netta Lou Creative, Rough House Brewing and Rambler, focuses on nature, art, and community.
The festival will feature a diverse selection of Texas- made short films, a live music performance by Jonny Capri and the participation of local businesses. A special highlight of the evening will be a water talk given by David Baker, founder and executive director of the Watershed Association. His insights will shed light on the importance of preserving water resources and the efforts to protect the unique ecosystems of the Texas Hill Country.
The main event of the festival will be the screening of the multiaward- winning feature film, “Yakona,” directed by Anlo Sepulveda and Paul Collins. The film, whose title means “water rising” in the language of the indigenous people of the San Marcos River, takes viewers on a mesmerizing journey through time, exploring the relationship between the natural world and humanity along the waters of the San Marcos River and its headwaters at Spring Lake. Directors Anlo Sepulveda and Paul Collins will be present to share their insights and reflections on the making of the film.
Festival director Riley Engemoen is a video and film director and cinematographer from Wimberley. He has worked on a wide range of branded and non-profit documen-tary productions for Texas Monthly, The Nature Conservancy, Texas Parks & Wildlife and collaborated with brands like Yeti, Toyota, Airbnb, Porsche, Chacos, and Shiner. His work has been screened at the American Film Institute festival, Sedona Film Festival and South By Southwest.
In 2019 Engemoen received an artist grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for “Grown Without Water” which explores how the U.S. - México border between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez marks and defines perseverance in the 21st century. In 2016 he traveled more than 18,000 miles on bicycle from Alaska to Argentina for the docu-series “Pedal South.”
“I grew up in Wimberley and have spent the last decade making documentary films,” said Engemoen in a recent conversation with the View. “My work has taken me all over the world, but there truly is nowhere as beautiful as the Texas hill country. I recently moved back home and wanted to create an event for Wimberley in celebration of nature, art, and community. We partnered with the Watershed Association and Wimberley Parks and Rec in order to shed light on protecting our precious water resources and the unique ecosystems of the Texas hill country.”
The cost to attend the event is $10 per person and tickets are available online at wimberleyparksandrec. com. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the festival will continue until 11 p.m.
Proceeds from the festival will benefit the Watershed Association, an organization dedicated to ensuring a future with clean, plentiful water and a healthy ecosystem, which are essential to the culture and economy of Central Texas and their Art-4Water program.
The Wimberley Film Festival on the swim green at Blue Hole, 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., $10 per person. The program includes music by Jonny Capri, from 6 to 8 p.m., a Water Talk with David Baker, a short film showcase of four films beginning at 8:15 p.m., and the full-length documentary, “Yakona.” Visually stunning, multi-awardwinning documentary follows the San Marcos River from its headwaters at Spring Lake to its journey to the sea, from prehistoric times through the modern era.
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