originally published: 03/16/2022

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- American River, the award-winning new documentary by Scott Morris, will be screened at the Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) in Morristown, NJ on Thursday, March 31st at 7:30pm. The film will be presented in-person followed by Q&A with the filmmaker, author Mary Bruno and restoration ecologist Carl Alderson. Suggested Ticket price is $10, but patrons may pay whatever they wish.

American River is an 86-mnute cinematic adventure about an ambitious 4-day kayak journey down New Jersey’s Passaic River. The main character is Mary Bruno, an aquatic ecologist and writer who spent her childhood afraid of the polluted stretch of the Passaic near her home. Decades later, she returns to explore the river of her youth and tell its story. The film follows Ms. Bruno and river guide Carl Alderson as they travel from the Passaic’s pristine headwaters to its toxic mouth in Newark Bay. Along the way, candid conversations with residents, experts and advocates reveal the Passaic's extraordinary history, geology and ecology – and the industrial disaster that poisoned the river for the past 60 years.

The MPAC presentation of American River is the first in 2022, following five sold-out screenings last fall, including the film’s premiere at the Montclair Film Festival and the Teaneck International Film Festival, where it was honored with the Audience Awards for Best of Festival and Best Documentary. The film is an official selection of the Environmental Film Festival at Yale, the Princeton Environmental Film Festival and additional festivals soon to be announced.

Three years in the making, American River was directed by seasoned filmmaker Scott Morris and based on Ms. Bruno’s 2012 book, An American River: From Paradise to Superfund. S. Dillard Kirby is the Executive Producer. Many filmmakers from the New Jersey/New York area worked on the project including Producer Kelly Sheehan, Director of Photography Roger Grange and Consulting Editor Keith Reamer ACE. Scott’s previous film is Saving The Great Swamp: Battle to Defeat the Jetport, narrated by Blyth Danner and currently distributed by American Public Television.

Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) is located at 100 South Street in Morristown, New Jersey. MPAC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2021-2022 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. Mayo Performing Arts Center was named 2016 Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres, and is ranked in the top 50 mid-sized performing arts centers by Pollstar Magazine.