ONE SHOWING ONLY:
Sunday, May 20 at noon

From the LA Times review:
"Between Palm Springs and the Mexican border lies a vast area "where Utopia and the apocalypse meet to dance a dirty tango" — the Salton Sea. The result of engineering errors a century ago, the inherent contradictions of the largest saline lake in California are enthusiastically celebrated in "Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea."

Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer's documentary, narrated by John Waters, traces the evolution of the sea from its creation when Colorado River flooding overwhelmed man-made irrigation systems, through its heyday as a booming recreation spot in the '50s with imported ocean fish, to its current shambles. Natural disasters all but obliterated the dream of a vacation paradise, with major storms in the '70s signaling "the last vestige of the good times," according to one resident.

Now the area is perhaps best known for its routine fish die-offs, in which millions can perish in a day because of the high salt content; the similar fate of birds that feast on fish in which the salt and heat incubate botulism; and the stench accompanying it all."

The director will be on hand for a post film discussion.