Runoff Lemonade, Poop in the Watershed

It’s not an image you see on the big screen every day: Close-up shots of dogs pooping, and then of their turds being plopped into an otherwise clear glass of water.

Funny, memorable and making a point – this is what happens (albeit less graphically) when you don’t pick up your dog’s excrement and it finds its way into the Huron River watershed. And by making the point this way, Nani Wolf, a fifth grader at Emerson School, won an award at the 2009 Millers Creek Film Festival.

About 350 people gathered on Friday afternoon, March 13, to see the festival entries at the Michigan Theater. (If you missed it, the winners will eventually be posted on YouTube. Here’s a link to last year’s winners.)

The event, now in its fourth year, is a way for the nonprofit Huron River Watershed Council to promote the importance of stewardship to the river and its tributaries, including Millers Creek. The festival’s three categories are short films (less than five minutes) from adult filmmakers, short films from school-age filmmakers, and 30-second public service announcements.

During introductory remarks, HRWC board member Paul Cousins noted that Hollywood had recently been to his town of Dexter to shoot scenes for a movie (the Hilary Swank film “Betty Anne Waters” filmed at several locations in this area). More movies are being shot in the state because of tax credits that took effect last year, he told the audience, but “we’re way ahead of Michigan in films.”

In addition to Wolf, whose film was titled “You Love Your Dog,” two others were awarded “Millies” – in the form of a glass trophy – and a $500 cash prize. Winners included:

• “Runoff Lemonade,” by independent filmmaker Marty Stano, which won in the category of 30-second public service announcement.
• “60 Second PSA” by John Inwood, a film student at Washtenaw Community College. His short film, which won in the adult category, was about the importance of not dumping oil into the storm drain.

An honorable mention in the student category was awarded to “Mystery of the Dirty Storm Drain,” a claymation film about sewer drains made by fifth graders in Ralph Carnegie’s class at Northside Elementary. They received ice cream coupons from Washtenaw Dairy. Also awarded an honorable mention was Blair Neighbors for “Life is Hectic” in the 30-second PSA category. He received a gift donated by Grizzly Peak.

Judges for the awards were state Sen. Liz Brater of Ann Arbor; Chris Cook, a film writer and producer with Metrocom International; and Steve Francoeur of Eastern Michigan University’s Center for Aquatic Microbial Ecology.

A reception after the film viewing and awards included a table full of plates of homemade cookies baked by HRWC volunteers, which proved especially popular with those in the student-entry category.