Sunday, February 1, 2026 | 6p - 8p
The ARC - 251 Main St, Winona, MN 55987
Tickets: $15
The Frozen River Film Festival, in partnership with the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, presents the Ripple Effects and Karuara, People of the River. This set presents two documentary films that examine our relationship with water. This event is part of the Frozen River Film Festival on February 1 - 8, 2026, and will take place at the ARC, the home of the historic Masonic Theatre. Tickets available from Frozen River Film Festival.
Films
Ripple Effects
Ripple Effects is a powerful short film that explores the deep and irreplaceable connection between clean water and Minnesota’s communities, culture, and future. Highlighting the sacred Ojibwe maple sugar traditions of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the film demonstrates how clean water has shaped Minnesota’s past, present, and future. The video focuses on the proposed Tamarack Mine, which threatens the state’s most valuable resource—clean water. With no history of clean nickel sulfide mining, the film warns that once water is polluted, it cannot be restored. The impact of this mining project will have lasting ripple effects across Minnesota, affecting both the environment and the people who depend on it. Presented by Water Over Nickel, a movement led by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the film calls on Minnesotans to take action now to protect the future of clean water for generations to come. Ripple Effects invites audiences to consider the stakes and choose water over nickel to safeguard the natural resources that define the state.
Karuara, People of the River
Mariluz Canaquiri says her river is a more than just a body of water, it’s a living being. The Marañón River deep in Peru’s Amazon region is home to a vast network of spirit villages ruled by the Karuara, which means people of the river in Kukama-Kukamiria, Mariluz’s indigenous language. The Karuara’s universe mirrors human society with an aquatic twist: river spirits lounge in hammocks made of boa constrictors, they smoke sardines and wear stingray hats and catfish shoes. Laughing Karuara children ride to school on giant turtles or play football with an inflated blowfish in the film’s stunning hand painted animations.
Behind their playfulness, the Karuara are powerful spirits. When a human is ill, indigenous shaman call on Karuara healers to cure their patient. Mariluz’s uncle must ask the river spirits for permission before fishing or risk going hungry. The Karuara are metaphysical ecologists; they maintain the delicate balance of life in the Amazon’s waterways. For centuries the Kukama people have depended on their rivers and spirit protectors for survival. But Mariluz says the old ways are being forgotten and her people face cultural genocide. While foreign companies earn millions from the Amazon’s resources, indigenous communities lack basic development like schools, health care and clean water. She leads a federation of Kukama women who file a ground breaking lawsuit demanding the Peruvian government recognize the Marañón River as a legal person, with rights. In a world that puts a price tag on nature, this film takes viewers inside the magic and beauty of the Amazon region and reminds us of our sacred connection to water.
