Father and son filmmaking team Sean and Gus Nightingale hope the audience is captivated by their documentary "Lizard Town" at the 7th annual Danville International Children's Film Festival starting Friday.

The film that follows Gus, 8, as he explores his passion for the natural world, recently was nominated for best documentary at the festival.

The Nightingales are Rhode Island natives and have worked on the series the film is part of, "Gus Outdoors," since Gus was four.

In "Lizard Town," the second episode in the series, then six-year-old Gus visits the Bahamas archipelago. He encounters lizards, iguanas and snakes, and dives into the brilliant, gemlike seascape to explore the "beautiful and bizarre creatures of the sea."

Sean Nightingale says the series grew out of Gus' early fascination with the natural world. "Gus is a huge Jeff Corwin fan," he says.

And, from age 3, Gus was an avid viewer of BBC outdoor documentaries featuring David Attenborough.

At the time, Sean was experimenting with amateur underwater filmmaking. The BBC pieces he saw inspired him to form a production company called Sand Pictures to make documentaries for children.

Nightingale says that their "healthy, intelligent and fun-loving " series "encourages no-fear-fun outdoors"  and targets ages 2 to 5.

He keeps the narration at a higher level so children are exposed to "big words." That, coupled with interesting topics and stunning visuals, makes the films appealing to adults, as well. He hopes families will watch the series together.

This is the Nightingales' first screening in the annual Danville festival, an event they learned about after "Lizard Town" was in the California Independent Film Festival in Orinda.

They hope the festival will increase the film's exposure outside the Northeast. 

 "Lizard Town"  runs  Oct. 16, with screening and discussion from 1 to 2:30 p.m. 

The Danville International Children's Film Festival is Oct. 15-16 at the Village Theatre, 233 Front St., Danville. Tickets are $8 for children and seniors, $10 for adults.