Wild & Scenic:The Next Generation

There’s something about Patrick Stewart.

As part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation era, as a young ’un I fawned over Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker), crushed on Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) and was just mesmerized by Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard. He has a certain presence: distinguished and intelligent. Hmm, maybe it’s because he’s English.

Anyway, when I discovered Stewart was making a guest appearance at the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival this year, I immediately checked out the festival Web site for the details. But a funny thing happened when I started surfing. It turns out Stewart will not be the most mesmerizing thing at the festival.

The eighth annual festival is the largest environmental film festival in the country, featuring more than 135 films and 85 speakers. It’s like a Mary Poppins bag of environmental films—it contains a bit of everything: long films, shorts, international exposés, local features, documentaries and stop animation. More familiar films include Food, Inc.; Crazy Sexy Cancer; and No Impact Man. Other films include Bag It, about one man’s journey to give up using plastic bags; The Perfect Cappuccino, an exposé on America as a corporation; and What Would Darwin Think? Man vs. Nature in the Galapagos, detailing the devastating environmental effects of tourism in the Galapagos Islands.

Then, of course, there is Mr. Stewart. Sigh. He is the narrator for the film Nature Propelled and will speak during the film’s screening on Saturday. Boldly go where only environmentalists have gone before.