Local Filmmaker to Premiere Documentary Highlighting Sierra Buttes Stories

NEVADA CITY — For more than two decades, Nevada City filmmaker Patty Eacobacci returned again and again to the Sierra Buttes with a camera, collecting stories about a mountain that had captivated her since childhood.

What began as a film about her father’s role in designing and overseeing the construction of the iconic steel ladder to the Sierra Buttes fire lookout tower became something much larger: a reflection on belonging, legacy, and the enduring relationship between people and the wild places that shape them.

On July 12, Eacobacci will celebrate a local premiere of her 40-minute documentary, When the Wild Mountain Calls—Stories From the Sierra Buttes, in Sierra City.

The film traces a 25-year journey that began with a family story. In 1964, Eacobacci’s father, Richard Eacobacci, was a young Forest Service engineer on the Tahoe National Forest who oversaw the design and construction of the steel ladder that still carries visitors to the Sierra Buttes fire lookout tower today. As she explored that legacy, Eacobacci uncovered a deeper narrative woven through natural history, ancient landscapes, local history, stewardship, and personal story.

Through intimate interviews and stunning aerial cinematography captured across all four seasons, the film reveals the Sierra Buttes not simply as a destination, but as a place of connection, reflection, and meaning. “Over the course of making this film, I realized it wasn’t really about the ladder or even my father,” said Eacobacci. “It was about understanding why certain places become main characters in our story, transforming us in quiet and profound ways. The Sierra Buttes has been one of those places in my life.”

Born and raised in Nevada City, Eacobacci first encountered the story of the Sierra Buttes through a 1971 National Geographic article featuring the lookout tower and the ladder her father helped create. That connection sparked a lifelong fascination with the mountains and ultimately inspired a project that would take twenty-five years to complete.

The documentary creates a portrait of one of Northern California’s most recognizable landscapes, transforming a family story into a universal investigation of how wild places may repair our sense of belonging.

The premiere is sponsored by the Sierra County Land Trust, whose work helps protect the landscapes featured in the film.

Follow and subscribe: Instagram: @sierrabutteslove for updates. YouTube: @pattyeacobacci for trailers.

When the Wild Mountain Calls debuts in an event sponsored by the Sierra County Land Trust, Sunday, July 12, 2026, at the Sierra City Community Hall, 8 AM - 8 PM, film screens at 6:30 PM. Trailer: tmmlink.com/84OAZq8.