Wildlife Crossings As Empathy in Concrete Form
Meet filmmaker Veronica Wood at the debut of her new film “The Crossing” during the 2026 Livable Future Forum
Central Oregon LandWatch’s Livable Future Forum is an immersive event series which hosts visionaries who dare to craft an alternative future. A future where balance with nature, and community collaboration is the norm, not the exception.
Veronica Wood realizes this perspective through her documentary filmmaking and journalism, intrepid in her pursuit of nuance and tension. Her award-winning films have been featured on PBS, the Cannes Film Festival, SXSW, and prestigious film festivals around the world.
Her creative portfolio spans from intimate family portraits, to broader global stories, to the spaces of human-earth relationships in between.
Veronica’s Zapotec roots are a part of her unique perspective, bringing her audience closer to the land, and to each other.
When describing the vision for her newest film “The Crossing” to us, Veronica shared, “People want to be part of something. They don’t just want to watch, they want to recognize where they fit. So the work is about creating that opening, showing people coming together across differences, and letting the audience step into that space.”
“People want to be part of something. They don’t just want to watch, they want to recognize where they fit.”
Catch the debut of “The Crossing” at the Livable Future Forum, on October 24, on the OSU-Cascades campus. Get tickets.
Starring Wildlife Biologists … as Wildlife Biologists
“The Crossing” takes an intrepid and cinematic look at the impact of roads in our communities and nature. Veronica unpacks what roads in Central Oregon connect, and what they sever.
The film also spotlights the strong collaboration between scientists, land managers, conservationists, and many others who are working to make the Bend to Suttle Lake migration corridor safer for people and wildlife alike.
Elk migrating near Black Butte, as seen through wildlife cameras places by OSU-Cascades biologists.
This corridor is one of the most important migration corridors in the state for deer and elk. It also sees 12,000 vehicles every day, bisecting migratory routes that have existed for millennia. This volume of traffic transforms a road with no borders into a wall.
Be a part of this special film project
LandWatch looking for a few more community backers to help us complete this film. As a special thank you for any donation of $250 or more made by October 15, we'll add your name in the credits!
We are incredibly excited to produce this piece of independent film and we hope you’ll join us in supporting the final stages of production.
All film backers will also recieve two tickets to the October 24 premiere.
