International Environmental Film Festival

Special Events Along with the Films:

An expert panel will discuss Rio Grande water flows following the first evening’s films on Friday, Jan. 25.  Kicking off the two-day festival are “Gimme Green” about American’s obsession with lawns and “French Fries to Go,” about alternative bio-fuels.  Sponsored by Save our Bosque Task Force and the New Mexico Bureau of Geology, the screenings begin at 7:45, following a festival reception at 7p.m. 

            The panelists all serve on the Save Our Bosque Task Force, an organization devoted to preserving the unique ecosystem along the middle Rio Grande.  Panelists include: Senior Geologist Paul Bauer of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology, State District Forester Doug Boykin of the NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department,  Ecologist Gina Dello Russo with  Bosque del  Apache Wildlife Refuge, and  Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust board member Matt Mitchell.

Award-winning filmmakers Peter and Melanie Rhalter of Random Walk Productions will attend screenings of their two acclaimed RioFest films on Saturday, January 26.  Desert Gold is a Platinum-garnering documentary in which scientists and Native American tradition-keepers relate how the desert blooms.  Season of Sand Blossoms, a Gold Medal-winning short set to music, also explores the marvels of botany.

            The Rhalters and Basia Irland, creator of A Gathering of Waters, will be honored at RioFest’s opening reception in Macey Center, Friday Jan. 25 at 7pm.  They all will participate in a discussion with festival-goers concerning their filmmaking on Saturday morning at 11:35.  Together, their films present dynamic insights into desert life.      

Green Benefit Luncheon

RioFest festival-goers are invited to enjoy a "low-carbon" luncheon near the theater on Saturday, January 26, from noon to 1:15. Prepared by Cottonwood Valley Charter School parents and students, the sumptuous meal features organic chicken enchiladas, winter squash and sweet potato dishes - all prepared from locally-grown produce.

The $16 cost of a meal will help build an ecologically-friendly bus shelter for the children at Socorro's K-8 public charter school. Cottonwood Valley is in the process of re-creating an environmentally-conscious campus on the site of an old hospital.

Lunch will be served at the Masonic Lodge, on the corner of Leroy Place and Bullock Blvd, across from the northeast corner of New Mexico Tech's campus, just two blocks from Macey Center. For information or advance tickets, contact Francie Deters at (575) 835-4018 or fdeters@gmail.com.

Legendary Katie Lee Featured at RioFest!

Octogenarian river rafter, explorer and activist Katie Lee is the featured guest at this year’s RioFest Film Festival!  The actress, author and musician will be honored Saturday, Jan. 26, at 7:15 at a dessert reception at the theater. Her film, “Love Song to Glen Canyon,” will conclude this year’s festival.

              Before the 1964 Glen Canyon Dam flooded hundreds of miles of red rock canyons along the Colorado, Lee spent a decade exploring and guiding along the River. She was only the third woman to run all the Grand Canyon rapids.  Last summer, she rafted the Grand Canyon at age 88.            Lee is "a woman so far ahead of her time, we are still catching up. She writes with fists and flesh to the wall," Ellen Meloy writes in her foreword to Lee's third book, “Sandstone Seduction.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Lee_%28singer%29

http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=k_lee

http://www.spaceagepop.com/leekatie.htm

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