The SOSF-sponsored Riddle in a Bottle film won the award for Best Children’s Film at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, California, at a ceremony on January 10, 2008 in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is the largest environmental film festival in the United States, screening over 130 films at this year’s festival.
The Riddle in a Bottle, filmed and directed by SOSF supported wildlife filmmakers Laura and Robert Sams of Sisbro Studios, tells the story of two siblings who must solve a mysterious riddle from the ocean. It took two years to film the wildlife footage, featuring loggerhead sea turtles, dolphins, tide pool fish, frogs and a singing pirate. The movie helps children learn how life on earth is connected through moving water.
“I had one teacher tell me it was the best children’s film she has ever seen at this festival,” said co-founder Janet Cohen. “The children’s jury voted for the winner, and they unanimously voted for The Riddle in a Bottle.”
“The film absolutely brought the house down,” said Festival Director Kathy Dotson.
Laura Sams and Robert Sams attended the film festival and were able to interact with the audiences after their screenings. “We had packed audiences at all four screenings. It was such a welcoming community, who really appreciated films, as well as ways to help the environment. And it was so fun to listen to adults and children laughing and learning together while they watched the film.”
The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival sits apart from the hundreds of festivals around the world by focusing on activism and ways to make a difference in communities and the world. It is sponsored by the South Yuba River Citizen’s League, a group of citizens dedicated to protecting the Yuba River in California.
“We are committed to making programs that help children love the natural world, before they must shoulder the burden of saving it,” said Robert.
The movie has also inspired a children’s book called A Pirate’s Quest, which follows a one-legged pirate on his watery quest to find a lost family heirloom peg leg from the lakes to the rivers to the sea.
To learn more about The Riddle in a Bottle from Sisbro Studios, visit www.sisbro.com.