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Second Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival brings Social Consciousness to Pristine Setting

Weaving socially responsible content into pure entertainment at one of the most pristine locations on the West Coast is the driving force behind the country’s fastest growing, emerging film festival.

In just its second year out, The Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival (T-RIFF) offers a unique film festival experience that educates, touches hearts, inspires ideas, and connects audiences to the joy deep within their souls for film lovers from around the world. This year’s theme, “Celebrating the Human Spirit,” will bring many intriguing and provocative topics to light while also drawing attention to such critical subjects as global warming, the truth about the oil crisis and other profound social and human rights issues that touch every nation.

“Our experience is that watching films can change your consciousness. Independent films often showcase a slice-of-life in the form of real human stories far beyond our own daily realities,” says Katrina Wilson, Executive Director and founder of T-RIFF. “Great films have the ability to connect us to our compassion and dissolve our fears and judgments. Many Indies carry contagious messages of hope and potentiality as seen in the inspiring documentary, Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock, which will be screened this year.”

According to Wilson, the avid movie buff can also slip into an indie narrative feature, a modernist animated film, or check out a series of exceptional shorts that are already creating an Oscar buzz. T-RIFF will host world-renowned speakers in conjunction with many of the films. The Resort at Squaw Creek, T-RIFF’s presenting sponsor and main venue, will be transformed into a buzzing film community and multiplex cinema center for the festival, which runs from Wednesday August 23rd through Sunday August 27th.

While screening a rare and diverse spectrum of films, T-RIFF will host workshops, celebrity tributes, parties, and expert panels. One of the highlights of the festival is a short script competition, PAGES TO PICTURES: the winning short screenplay will be produced into a film during the intensive digital film production workshop, with the writer in the director’s chair alongside a Hollywood crew. The short will be shot and edited in just five days and shown at the closing awards ceremony of the festival.

“It’s our mantra to attract quality films that work as an art form and as catalyst for positive social change,” adds Wilson. “If we can influence an audience to have dialogue about a real subject – whether it’s about alternative energy, organic farming, the importance of religious diversity, anything – our festival has succeeded.”


Coinciding with the widely-publicized documentaries, An Inconvenient Truth (a brutally honest examination of global warming by Al Gore) and Who Killed the Electric Car (questioning the discontinuation of electric cars in the late 1990s, despite consumers’ demand) environmental documentaries to be shown at this year’s festival include:

A Crude Awakening – The Oil Crash. Directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack.. As the world’s dependence upon oil and oil-based products grows incrementally, the world’s oil diminishes every year. Crude Awakening reviews the apex of oil, various day to day living standards that are only viable with oil, and the demise of cities and nations whose main export product was oil – that have run dry.

Nobelity. Directed by Turk Pipkin. All of us are searching for solutions and ways to take personal actions to affect change, especially for our children’s future. An Inconvenient Truth raises compelling questions, Nobelity offers compelling answers. Featuring interviews with 9 distinguished Nobel Laureates, Nobelity is a stunning journey to find enlightening answers to the world's most pressing problems.

Secret Mysteries of America's Beginnings. Directed by Christian J. Pinto. In the 16th century, Sir Francis Bacon, as the chief of the Rosicrucians and first Grand Master of modern Freemasonry, helmed secret societies in England. Bacon sent these societies into the new world to launch a philosophic empire he called 'The New Atlantis.' This fascinating documentary will be attended by panelists to bring to life the secret mysteries behind the founding of America, revealing the esoteric underbelly of its design.

A picturesque backdrop for a film festival, Lake Tahoe is an international treasure, surrounded by a national forest. T-RIFF is headquartered in Incline Village, Nevada, a beautiful evergreen-filled community located on the panoramic North Shore of Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America. The region is a mecca for sailing, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, golf, winter sports and an ample nightlife including casino gaming.

For the official T-RIFF event schedules, film times, and pass or ticket purchases, visit www.t-riff.org or call the Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival at 775.298.0018.