CHIMACUM — The award-winning documentary “Return of the River,” which documents the removal of two dams and the restoration of the Elwha River, will be screened at Chimacum High School on Earth Day at 7 p.m. Monday.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. at the high school at 91 West Valley Road.
Admission is by donation.
A question-and-answer period will follow with filmmaker Jessica Plumb, who co-directed the film with Sequim photographer John Gussman.
Plumb’s eight-minute short film “Renewal” also will be screened. It features an emerging young scientist from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and her mentor.
Both films have been screened in festivals in the U.S., but this is the first time they appear together.
Organized by a youth group in Chimacum, CHATEA, (Cowboys for Humane Animal Treatment and Environmental Awareness) and sponsored by the Port Townsend Film Festival, proceeds will benefit 350.org.
“Return of the River,” a 70-minute film, follows a group of committed tribal members and activists who attempt the impossible: to change the public opinion of a town and eventually the nation to remove two dams blocking salmon from their spawning beds.
The end result was the launch of the largest dam removal in U.S. history.
Reviewed as “hell-raising documentary filmmaking at its best,” “Return of the River” premiered in 2014 at the Port Townsend Film Festival.
This local story of restoration has screened around the world, and has been recognized with a dozen awards since its debut in Port Townsend.
For more information, see www.elwhafilm.com.
