Smiles were wide and spirits were high as people gathered last Saturday night at the Bowen Island Lodge to celebrate the extraordinary nature of Bowen.
The 2018 Bowen Island Adventure Film Festival showcased 11 short films, all produced by island residents, highlighting a diverse range of activities including biking, hiking, climbing, kayaking, foraging, scuba diving, trail running, paddle boarding and more.
- Wild food harvester, Stephanie Carruthers, shared a story about her growing obsession with wild food. She encouraged us to spend more time in Bowen’s forests learning how to identify the abundance of edibles on the island.
- Scuba diver and marine conservationist, Adam Taylor, raised eyebrows with his film footage of a rare sixgill shark that lives in Howe Sound. He reassured us by saying this type of shark stays hundreds of metres beneath the surface.
- New to living on Bowen, Jason Wilde, made some eyes fill with tears with his touching narrative about his love for our small island community overlaying breathtaking imagery of Bowen landscapes as seen from a bird’s eye perspective using drone videography.
- Proud father of two young adventurers, Tom Surtees, captured the joy on the children’s faces who get to experience Bowen’s newest outdoor playground, the Bowen Island Bike Park.
- When it was announced last year that BC Timber Sales was set to log on Bowen Island, Jen Lundin Ritchie was taken aback and wanted to see firsthand what was at stake. She spent four days circumnavigating Bowen on foot, hiking the five proposed cut blocks and previewed her personal film about what she discovered.
- Former geoscientist and mayor of Bowen, Bob Turner, has embraced a new role as filmmaker with a mission to raise awareness about the preciousness of the ecosystem that exists in the coastal inlet of Howe Sound. His work is having an impact as this year his film contribution “Seasons in the Sound” was voted festival favourite by the audience.
These are only but a few of the stories that were shared at this uniquely Bowen event. Each of the original films inspired us all to want to experience more outdoor adventures, but even more so they filled our hearts with appreciation and reminded us how fortunate we are that we get to call this blessed place home.
The festival highlights are also on YouTube
