ACTION! film festival highlights environmental activism, not CG mayhem

From the folks who bring you the booming San Diego Surf Film Festival comes another three-day screening gala. The second annual, somewhat misleadingly titled ACTION! International Film Festival comes to La Jolla’s Misfit Pictures HQ October 20-22.

To most filmgoers, the word ACTION! – particularly when spelled out in uppercase and capped by an exclamation mark – implies anything from Bruce Lee and Jason Statham to Robert Aldrich and John Woo. Or are we to read ACTION! as a symbol of extreme sports? If that’s the case, bring Bam Margera to town to give a personal tour of his outrageously hilarious CKY videos.

Here is the way the press release describes Nick Waggoner’s Jumbo Wild: “A documentary telling the true story of the decades-long battle over the future of British Columbia's iconic Jumbo Valley that highlights the tension between the protection of wilderness and backcountry experience and ever-increasing development interests in wild places.” Sounds like a careening cavalcade of high-adrenaline car chases, karate kicks, and things blowing up good, real good.

Festival founder and co-owner of Misfit Pictures HQ Petra Kavanagh says, “Three days worth of films, lively music, local art and more remind us that what makes us feel most alive depends on our ability to preserve it.” Perhaps the Take Action International Film Festival would have been a better brand for this gathering of environmentally themed documentaries.

Sixteen films will screen starting with the opening night party and presentation of a trio of shorts topped by Dayla Soul’s It Ain’t Pretty. Tickets for the party are $25 and include drinks, snacks, and live music. Individual screenings run $15 for adults, $5 for kids. $80 will buy you an all-access pass. All screenings are held at Misfit Pictures HQ in La Jolla. For a list of times and titles visit the festival website.