Artist Enid Baxter Ryce created an experimental documentary with a musical score by Philip Glass to portray, in moving images, the history of “atmospheric rivers,” or streams of water vapor in the sky. Just like rivers that move water around on the land, atmospheric rivers—never visible to the naked eye—were a vital force in shaping the colonization of the American West. Today, the evolving scientific and cultural understandings of atmospheric rivers exemplify the complexity and importance of the stories we tell ourselves about science, climate, and the natural world. This film was created at the Days and Nights Festival held at the Philip Glass Center for the Arts, Science, and the Environment. No trailer exists for this film.

In Cooperstown? See the Film Days companion exhibiton of Ryce's watercolor paintings featured in the film. Rising Water(colors) will be open to the public at The Smithy Gallery from Thursday, November 4–Thursday, November 11, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with a special early opening on Saturday, November 6 at 10:00 AM. In the gallery, Green Toad Bookstore will host a pop-up sale of books curated to complement War and the Weather and the other films in the Glimmerglass Film Days program throughout the duration of the exhibition. The Smithy is located at 55 Pioneer St. Cooperstown, NY.