MIDDLETOWN — EcoArts of Lake County is pleased to present Chris Metzler and his extraordinary film “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea” for two shows at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Calpine Geothermal Visitors Center. Metzler will be on hand to provide some behind the scenes information and take questions from the audience.
Fabulously offbeat and refreshingly upbeat, this lovable film gets friendly with the natives of the Salton Sea, an inland ocean of massive fish kills, rotting resorts, and 120-degree nights located just minutes from urban Southern California. This award-winning film from directors Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer details the rise and fall of the Salton Sea, from its heyday as the “California Riviera” where boaters and Beach Boys mingled in paradise to its present state as a decaying, forgotten ecological disaster. From wonderland to wasteland, “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea” captures a place far more interesting than the shopping malls and parking lots of suburban America, a wacky world where a beer-swilling Hungarian Revolutionary, a geriatric nudist and a religious zealot building a monument to God all find solace and community.
Crisply and hilariously narrated by oddball auteur John Waters and featuring music by desert lounge rockers Friends of Dean Martinez, “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea” melds high camp with stark realism, offering both a sobering message about the consequences of tampering with nature and a heart-warming tale of individualism.
Coyote will also feature animation. The program runs approximately 90 minutes.
Parental discretion is advised (nudity, language). Cost at door is $10 for adults and $5 for 16 and younger. Doors open one half hour before screening. Coyote Popcorn and refreshments will be for sale.
There is time for lunch or dinner at any of the restaurants in and around Middletown as well as picnicking at the benches and tables on the Calpine grounds.
In September Coyote Film Festival is screening “Sherman”s Way,” a romantic comedy partly shot in Lake County and winning independent festival awards. Director Craig Saavedra will be on hand and we working out all the details.
Further information is available at www.CoyoteFilmFestival.org or www.EcoArtsofLakeCounty.org
