Documentary master Jon Bowermaster brings new ‘Hope on the Hudson’

OLIVEBRIDGE — Award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and environmental advocate Jon Bowermaster will bring his “Hope on the Hudson” series of short films to the Ashokan Center, located at 477 Beaverkill Road in Olivebridge, on November 17 at 4 p.m. The series documents the cast of characters—ranging from sailors to farmers to citizen-scientists—dedicated to tirelessly defending “America’s first river” against near-constant threats. The Ashokan screening will include two brand-new shorts focusing on Hudson Valley wildlife and sequestering carbon in the soil. Each film will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.

Jon Bowermaster is a six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. He has written 11 books and produced/directed more than 30 documentary films, including 4 feature documentaries. Bowermaster’s National Geographic-sponsored “Oceans 8” project took him and his teams around the world by sea kayak over the course of ten years (1999-2008) to report on how the ocean and its various coastlines are faring in today’s busy world. A Hudson Valley local, he is the President of the One Ocean Media Foundation and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

Advance tickets ($15 for adults, $10 for youth, and free for kids under 12) are available online at ashokancenter.org. The Ashokan Center is a not-for-profit arts and environmental education center located on 385 acres of bucolic woods, fields, and streams in the beautiful Catskill Mountains. Ashokan is home to the oldest outdoor education program in the country, along with the Ashokan Music & Dance Camps, the first music and dance camps of their kind in the United States. For more information, visit ashokancenter.org.