Coming soon to a performing arts venue near you: the RioFest Environmental Film Festival.

After a year's hiatus, RioFest is back this year and will show more than 20 films over two days, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30, at Macey Center.

Frances Deters helped to resurrect the festival and stepped in to fill the lead role after the previous executive director moved out of state.

Deters said the festival serves several purposes, including stimulating the local economy by attracting people from out of town. She adds that it also improves the quality of life by giving residents something fun and thought-provoking to do on a winter weekend.

Most important, the festival serves to educate people about environmental issues that affect everyone.

"We're trying to raise awareness for issues that we face not only in Socorro, but other places in the United States and other nations around the world," she said, and added that the theme of the 2010 RioFest is "Solutions."

Deters said the festival will feature a wide variety of cinematic productions, ranging from shorts to feature-length films, that address environmental topics.

"We're going to be showing films about food production, the high social and environmental costs of materialism and over consumption and how we can reduce it," she said. "There are films about how communities and individuals solve everyday problems, such as housing and degradation of local environments."

RioFest opens Friday, at 10 a.m., with a series of short films, including "The Meatrix," a flash animation movie about the meat we eat.

Many of the films at the 2010 RioFest cover issues dealing with the food industry, including two critically acclaimed productions that have come out in recent years — "King Corn," Saturday's matinee feature at 1 p.m., and "Food Inc.," which closes the event with an 8 p.m. showing.

"Some of the films are targeting specific local problems, such as the importance of water — both for consumption and food production," Deters said.

These include "Mixing: A Dialogue on Wastewater," "Reviving a Watershed" and "Rio Grande: River of Connection."

Some of the other titles showing at this year's RioFest are "Affluenza," "Addicted to Plastic," "Grandma Builds an Earthship," "Green Warriors" and "The Story of Stuff."

"The Music Tree," an opus about the plight of the pernambuco tree, which produces the finest wood used in the manufacture of violin, viola and cello bows, is Friday night's feature.

RioFest isn't just two full days of films. Deters said about a dozen vendors will be on hand to exhibit and educate festival attendees. Among them are Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, the fiscal agent for RioFest; American Clay; Delta Third Designs; Everguard Solar, specializing in photovoltaic systems; Goose Eat Fox, rescued and recycled clothing; Morning Woodcutters, a local recycling service; Socorro Electric Cooperative; and Zenn Electric Cars.

"There's something for everyone," Deters said. "If you have any interest in the environment at all, there's something in the film festival that will appeal to you."

Local sponsors of the film festival include the City of Socorro, El Defensor Chieftain, First State Bank, Friends of the Bosque del Apache NWR and New Mexico Tech.

RioFest's tickets are priced at $25 for a two-day pass and $15 for a single day pass. Admission for the Saturday night showing of "Food Inc." is $5.

Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at Macey Center, the New Mexico Tech Bookstore, Brownbilt Shoes & Western Wear and El Defensor Chieftain.

For more information on RioFest Environmental Film Festival, visit the Web site at: www.riofilmfest.com.

Contact El Defensor Chieftain Reports