DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – Nonprofit River Action will begin hosting a series of six documentaries about the environment on Jan. 19 at 3 p.m.

After each screening, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from a speaker about the film and learn about topics such as pollution, farming, renewable energy, climate change, and activism.

The event is in its sixth version, and organizers say that these events are helping environmental activism efforts and including youth.

At last year’s event, after watching a film, two Augustana students lobbied Representative Sorensen to support a bill about protecting public land from mining and development to keep them wild.

“Two of our students lobbied Rep. Eric Sorensen to become a co-sponsor of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. They talked through Zoom to his legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., who was very impressed to hear their stories and relay that to Rep. Sorensen, who then became a co-sponsor for that bill. So, it was very empowering for them to see what their words and actions meant. It’s one of those ripple effects that we like to hear about from our film series,” said Kristen Bergren, organizer of the event.

Organizers say they had a full house last year, which shows that people’s interest in Mother Earth is increasing.

“At the screening I helped facilitate, we had a full house, which was super cool to see and something I wasn’t expecting. It was such a large audience, and most of the audience was students, which was great to see. So that was cool, and the movie enthralled most of the students I saw, so they stayed for the discussion and wanted to participate. So it was cool to see the younger generation get involved like that,” said Greta Solbrig, intern at River Action.

The event will have special guests such as generational farmers and award-winning documentary filmmaker Lisa Landers.

For information on price, schedule, and other details, go to riveraction.org/filmseries

Estefanía Pinto Ruiz is the water, ag & environment reporter for KWQC TV6 News and The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. She is also a Report for America corps member.

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