Riverkeeper Film Festival in Raleigh This Saturday

If you enjoy film or puppetry and care about the environment, the Neuse River Foundation has just the ticket for you this Saturday, Nov. 11. That evening the group offers the second annual Neuse Riverkeeper Film Festival, featuring an environmentally conscious puppet show followed by screenings of more than a dozen documentary and independent films exploring the profound but sometimes troubled relationship between man and water.

The festivities get underway at 5 p.m. on the plaza between North Carolina's Museum of Natural Sciences and Museum of History with a live performance called "Crawdad's Conundrum" by Paperhand Puppet Intervention. The troupe uses giant figures crafted from scraps to create shows dedicated to "undermining, and eventually, eradicating the institutions of greed, hate, and fear that plague the world in myriad forms." Last year the Independent Weekly honored the group with an Indies Arts Award, writing:

From demonstrations at George W. Bush's inauguration to World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, Paperhand Puppet Intervention has helped raise awareness, instill a sense of wonder and defuse potentially disastrous situations--often all at the same time. The most frequent cast of characters brought to demonstrations are the Caribou, who educate onlookers about environmental issues. As with all interventions, the theme and combination of puppets is flexible, and no performance is exactly the same.

After the puppet show and parade, the films roll at 6:30 inside both museums. (Click here for a schedule.) Two of the showings will be followed by discussions with the filmmakers: N.C. State students Laurie Barnes, Jenny James and Roselyn Whitney will be on hand to talk about "Too Big for Our Ditches," a video they made for professor Dr. JoAnn Burkholder's Environmental Issues in Aquatic Ecology course on the river's pollution problems and efforts to protect the waterway, and Charles Clemmons will answer questions about "River Lab," his film about a Connecticut program that educates schoolchildren about river ecology.

There will be a special program starting at 8:10 p.m. inside the Museum of History, with the Neuse Riverkeepers talking about their work. They will also share images from their recent journey down the river, which starts northwest of Durham and drains land in 19 North Carolina counties before emptying into Pamlico Sound.

You can purchase festival passes online in advance or at the door, which opens Saturday at 4 p.m. Passes for the entire festival cost $10, while tickets for the puppet show alone are $5. There will be snacks available -- hot dogs outside on the plaza, and coffee and pastry in the Museum of History. For more information, contact NRF's Jacqueline Murphy Miller at jackie.nrf@att.net or 919-856-1180.