Documentaries on fly fishing, Fox Theater, to debut next week

Metro Wire Staff

Two documentaries based on local history will be screened at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point next week.

Student short films, “The Fate of The Fox” and “One Last Cast: Keeping Fly Fishing Alive in Stevens Point,” will be shown beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, in the Dreyfus University Center Theatre. A reception will be held in the Museum of Natural History in Albertson Hall following the screenings.

The event is open to the public and admission is free.

Created as part of the Historical Documentaries course, the films feature interviews with local community members. During the fall semester, students learned through hands-on research, storyboard creation, production, filming, and editing of the documentaries under the supervision of Sarah Scripps, director of the Museum of Natural History and museum studies program.

“It makes history come alive,” said Scripps, who has taught the course since 2015. “Students learn how to present history in a compelling manner.”

“The Fate of The Fox” documents community efforts to try to save the historic Fox Theater in downtown Stevens Point. “One Last Cast” corresponds with an exhibit in the Museum of Natural History, “Casting a Legacy: Fly Fishing in Central Wisconsin” and documents how Stevens Point was once the home to three major fly manufacturing companies, Frost, Weber, and Worth.

“The sport of fly fishing and a historic theater don’t sound like they have much in common, but both are important to the history of Stevens Point,” said Nicole Riggs, a member of the class and an arts management major from Wausau.

For more information and behind the scenes photos, go to www.facebook.com/UWSPHistdocs/.