Twenty-three short films about conservation, wildlife, people and nature are being screened at the second annual Wild Coast Film Festival this weekend.

Between March 14 and March 16, showings at the Columbian Theater will be complemented by guided nature walks, tide pool tours and opportunities to hear from filmmakers.

Festival organizers hope people will walk away having learned something more about conservation efforts happening around the world, but also about what’s being done right here in the lower Columbia region.

“We really wanted to highlight that there’s so much boots-on-the-ground conservation work happening here on the Oregon Coast,” said Annie Cahill, who co-founded the event with Morgan Heim, a National Geographic Explorer who lives in Astoria.

Two-hour film blocks will start at 6 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday at the Columbian.

“Guardians of the Waters,” by Amiran White, is one of this year’s selected short documentaries.

White, who has been photographing the Chinook Indian Nation for nearly a decade, explores work being done between the tribe and the Necanicum Watershed Council.

To round out the screening, she and Chinook representatives will host a panel discussion March 16 at Sleeper Coffee in Astoria, where they’ll talk about the watershed partnership and how they share Native conservation stories on film.

Other Native-centered titles include “hitoláayca (Going Upriver),” which tells the story of a Nez Perce whitewater guide, and “Fire Tender,” which is about a Yurok grandmother and knowledge keeper who hopes to return fire practices to her ancestral territory.

Birds are another focus of many of the films.

Hardly a surprise, since the festival is a benefit for the Astoria-based Wildlife Center for the North Coast, which, among other things, specializes in seabird rehabilitation.

“We’re big bird enthusiasts,” Cahill said.

Examples include “The Little Brown Bird,” about the endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow, and “The Bird in My Backyard,” which follows an enthusiast to the more common sight of two Anna’s hummingbirds, raising their young in his urban garden.

Several titles explore wild lands and conservation in the Pacific Northwest. “The Grand Salmon” follows three women on a 78-day, 1,000-mile paddling journey to four dams on the Lower Snake River. “Living Legacies” explores Washington state’s legacy forests and the movement to protect them.

Other films take viewers further afield, to Bermuda, Chile, Zambia, or the Siberian Arctic.

“Conservation looks different for different people all over the world, whether you’re in Flordia or Idaho, and we wanted to show stories that give some recognition to that,” Cahill said.

The festival’s mission is two-fold, Cahill said. It looks to inform people about the natural world, but also underscore that there are plenty of ways to take action in local communities to help preserve natural habitats.

Guided nature walks and pop-up events are also part of the weekend’s planned activities. On Friday, the North Coast Land Conservancy staff will host an ecological tour on the Circle Creek Habitat Reserve in Seaside.

On Saturday, the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce leads a walk at the Colewort Creek Restoration Site. On Sunday, the Wildlife Center of the North Coast and Haystack Rock Awareness Program are teaming up for a tidepool tour at Haystack Rock.

Pop-up events and panel discussions are also scheduled to complement the film screenings. At Sleeper Coffee in Astoria, marine biologist Alanna Kieffer will lead a foraging workshop at 11:30 a.m. March 15. A filmmaker panel will also be hosted by the shop at 4:30 p.m. March 16.

At Fort George Brewery, the Columbia Regional Esturary Study Taskforce will celebrate 50 years and talk about their conservation work at 3:30 p.m. March 15.

The first Wild Coast Film Festival was held in November 2023. Cahill and Heim came up with the idea to get the word out about the Wildlife Center, and to educate people on environmental concerns and how to make a local impact.

Weekend passes and tickets for specific film blocks are available for purchase. Virtual passes are also for sale for online streaming.

Wild Coast Film Festival

Film showings in two-hour blocks at the Columbian Theater, 1102 Marine Drive, Astoria.

6 p.m. March 14

• “The Bird in My Backyard”

• “Grizzly Country”

• “With the Tide”

• “Harvesting Hope: The Hatcher Family”

• “Driving Reactions”

• “To See the Sky”

11:30 a.m. March 15

• “Beyond Normal”

• “Living Legacies”

• “hitoláayca (Going Upriver)”

• “Under the Wire”

6 p.m. March 15

• “The Little Brown Bird”

• “Fire Tender”

• “A Matter of Scale”

• “In the Footsteps of Giants”

11:30 a.m. March 16

• “Mirasol”

• “On the Up”

• “Guardians of the Waters”

• “Haulout”

4 p.m. March 16

• “Harvesting Hope: The Saloom Family”

• “Aldo’s Bug Extravaganza”

• “Tailless”

• “Heart of the Sea”

• “The Grand Salmon”