Yosemite National Park is kicking off its first-ever film festival Thursday to mark the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Yosemite Grant Act, the document that set aside Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove as protected lands.
Steven Bumgardner, director of the Range of Light Film Festival, said there are more than enough films about the park to fill the five-day marathon that runs through Sunday. He spoke with "The California Report’s" Rachael Myrow.
“We’ve got quite a long film history here in Yosemite, and this is definitely a retrospective film festival. We’re looking at the history of Yosemite through film,” Bumgardner said. “But we’re also going to be having some premieres of films making their debut right here in the valley.”
The festival will feature more than two dozen films, and more than 16 visiting filmmakers and artists will attend.
Ken Burns’ documentary, “Yosemite: A Gathering of Spirit,” is one of those documentaries. Bumgardner describes it as a repackaged version of Burns’ “America’s Best Idea” into a 25-minute definitive history of the creation of Yosemite National Park, from the 1864 grant signed by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War to the importance of people like Galen Clark and John Muir.