TICKETS $15

Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.
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THE EXPERIENCE

Celebrating the wonders of nature this April, we are pleased to present a documentary by Portland-based filmmaker Barbara Bernstein about the story of the great Willamette River, which flows through our city. Following the film there will be a short panel discussion with Barbara and subjects from the film. 

ON SCREEN: Once a Braided River

2023. Directed by Barbara Bernstein. Runtime: 54 minutes. 

Once a Braided River, a new documentary by Barbara Bernstein, tells the story of how the North Reach of the Willamette River was transformed from a braided river, rich in biodiversity and home to many bands of Indigenous people, into an industrial sacrifice zone with a ten-mile-long superfund site running from downtown Portland to the river’s confluence with the Columbia River.

ON STAGE:

Barbara Bernstein (Director/Producer)  Producer Barbara Bernstein is a musician, composer, performance artist, radio producer, and filmmaker. Besides her recent documentaries Chasing Chimeras and Once a Braided River, her award-winning radio documentaries, internationally broadcast on public radio stations, include two pieces about the struggle to stop the Pacific Northwest from becoming a fossil fuel export hub: Holding the Thin Green Line and Sacrifice Zones; Sculpted By Fire (the role of fire in shaping western forests and sustaining healthy forest ecosystems); Salmonlands (the cultural significance of diminishing salmon runs in the Northwest), and Rivers That Were (the industrialization of the Colorado and Columbia Rivers). She is currently working on a new documentary about liberating the culverted creeks that flow under Portland’s Industrial sacrifice zone along the Willamette River.

Jay Wilson (Panelist) – Jay Wilson is the Clackamas County Resilience Coordinator with the Department of Disaster Management and spearheads the County’s efforts to reduce risks and assess hazards including flood, earthquake, wildfire, volcano, and climate change impacts. Mr. Wilson is the past-Chair (2014-17) of the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission (OSSPAC) and previously worked for Oregon Emergency Management as the Earthquake, Tsunami, and Volcano Programs Coordinator and for five years as a Mitigation Reservist with FEMA Regions IX and X. Jay is a former Resilience Fellow with the National Institute of Standards and Technology during the development of the 2015 Community Resilience Planning Guide. He is a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and has completed post-earthquake reconnaissance trips to Japan (2011) and Central-Italy (2017). Jay holds an M.A. in geography and a B.A. in film and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Jan Zuckerman (Panelist) – Jan Zuckerman is a long time educator who co-founded the Sunnyside Environmental School. Since retiring she has continued to work with youth and agitate for climate justice. She works with the Braided River Campaign, Rumble on the River and the Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group.

Micah Mescal (Panelist) – Micah Mescal is Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Urban Conservation Director. He leads the organization’s efforts to integrate nature into the urban landscape and protect wildlife across the Portland metro area. He oversees key programs like the Backyard Habitat Certification, Advocacy, and BirdSafe Programs, and collaborates with a wide range of partners to shape urban conservation policy. Micah is also co-leading the relocation of the Wildlife Care Center to a new site on NE 82nd.

Sarah Taylor (Panelist) — Sarah Taylor is a freelance wanderer, botanist and story preservationist,  with a focus on the Willamette River Watershed.