A beautiful if controversial film exploring the dead zone problem in the Gulf of Mexico and how innovative farmers from southeast Minnesota and elsewhere are helping fix it will be aired Sunday, Jan. 30, as part of the Frozen River Film Festival at Winona State University. Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story, will be hosted by the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), beginning at 1 p.m. in Somsen Auditorium. Tickets ($7) can be bought at the box office, 79 E. Third St. in Winona, through Friday, or in the Science Lab Center Atrium on campus both weekend days. Children age 14 and under are free. For more information, contact LSP's Caroline van Schaik at 507-523-3366 or caroline@landstewardshipproject.org, or visit either web site.

River artist Gaylord Schanilec (www.midnightpapersales.com) will follow the screening with a program on, "Drawn to the River: Books and Wood Block Prints," his new exhibit at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. The Stockholm, Wis.-based wood engraver, fine printer and natural philosopher is also working on a project entitled, "The River - Voyages of the Hungry Mind," and will spend a few minutes describing this combination engravings/essays endeavor. Schanilec is the recipient of many awards and prizes, including the Gregynog Prize for an original work printed in traditional letterpress.

Troubled Waters, commissioned by the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum with public funding, was arbitrarily canceled a few weeks before its October premiere by the U of M's vice- president of University Relations, Karen Himle. Public pressure led to the reinstatement of the film's screening as well as to Himle's resignation after extensive documentation unearthed by LSP and others showed the vice-president had a serious conflict of interest due to her connections to corporate agriculture.

The Frozen River Film Festival offers programs that provide unique perspectives on environmental issues, sustainable communities, extreme sports, adventure travel and diverse cultures through film, discussion and community-centered events. LSP is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering an ethic of stewardship for farmland and to seeing more successful farmers on the land raising crops and livestock.