MVFF47 - RSVP Guide

With newly recovered 16mm footage of the 1995 reintroduction of gray wolves to the American West and stories told by those who made it happen, this thrilling documentary offers an insider’s view of the animals’ return to their rightful rangelands.

Once on the brink of extinction in the American West, the gray wolf’s comeback is astonishing, an incredible true story with many heroes, and one crucial heroine. Emmy-winning director Tom Winston’s (Epic Yellowstone) enthralling IMAX documentary incorporates recently recovered 16mm footage, shot in 1995 and long thought lost, to draw attention to the legacy of the late Mollie Beattie. The first woman, and first forest ranger, to head the US Fish and Wildlife Service, during her short tenure she shepherded the wolf reintroduction project through tricky political terrain with such tenacity and finesse that one of the wolfpacks was named in her honor. A colorful and articulate band of personalities who served under Beattie’s leadership share the often nail-biting process of returning these unfairly maligned predators to their natural habitat, along the way demonstrating how essential the animals are to the ecosystem and how essential the Endangered Species Act is to reversing centuries of ecological damage.