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Starting today, film-makers and film lovers descend on Durham, North Carolina for the annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Participants can feast their eyes on over 100 films, listen to panel discussions and partake of Durham’s abundant Southern hospitality. Full Frame is one of the only festivals in the world dedicated to nonfiction films. It started in Durham 14 years ago and has grown to international prominence. Deirdre Haj, the festival’s executive director, and Sadie Tillery, director of Full Frame’s programming, join host Frank Stasio in the studio.

Republican and Democratic leaders are playing hard-ball with the state budget.  And extended unemployment benefits seem to be the latest pawn.

Republicans are tying additional unemployment benefits for 37-thousand people to a provision that would have state government operate at lower funding levels if a budget is not approved by June 30th.  Governor Bev Perdue calls the legislation “extortion.”  House Speaker Thom Tillis.

Thom Tillis:  "Ideally what she’ll do is take seriously our budget proposal which will come to her the first week of June and sign it."

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival kicks off today in downtown Durham.  There are more than 100 screenings for enthusiasts to see.

Two Sundance Film Festival winners will be shown – How to Die in Oregon and Hell and Back Again about a soldier’s return home from Afghanistan. Sadie Tillery is director of programming at Full Frame. She says all levels of talent and experience make the festival.

Raleigh has been named the winner in a national sustainability contest. The city took the top prize in the Siemens Sustainable Community Awards in the mid-size community category.

Lawmakers at the General Assembly have begun rolling out suggested budget cuts. It's part of the process of putting together the state's spending plan for the next two years. But with an estimated shortfall of about two billion dollars, cobbling together a budget this year is more painful than usual. That's especially true in the area of education, which takes up 60 percent of the state's budget.

This morning Democratic Representative Marian McLawhorn of Grifton was sitting in her office, reading through two official-looking packets that are already a little dog eared.

A state trust fund that provides money for water pollution cleanup could shrink significantly under the budget proposed by the state House. That's according to Richard Rogers, the Chief Executive of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. He says the House budget appropriates 10 million dollars to the trust fund, 80 percent less than the 50 million proposed by Governor Bev Perdue in her budget.

The North Carolina House has proposed budget cuts that include more than $170 million from public safety agencies. Part of that spending plan would eliminate nearly 400 jobs from the court system. Officials say services like drug courts and family courts would have to make significant cutbacks. John Smith is the director of the state Administrative Office of the Courts.

John Smith: "We were prepared to reduce our positions by as many as 200 positions and felt that we could continue to provide the services. This will be double that."

Viridiana Martinez of the N.C. Dream Team recently traveled to Georgia to protest efforts there to block undocumented immigrants from receiving higher education. Martinez was arrested for her efforts and faced deportation, though she ultimately was released and returned to North Carolina. Here, she faces similar efforts to stop undocumented immigrants from attending public colleges and universities. Two bills in the North Carolina House tackle the subject, and one of them also strengthens state enforcement of  federal immigration laws. Host Frank Stasio will talk about efforts in North Carolina to crackdown on undocumented immigrants with Viridiana Martinez, co-founder and community organizer for the N.C. Dream Team; and William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC.

German-born musician Marty Grosz first picked up the guitar over 70 years ago at the age of eight and hasn’t put it down since. Now he is one of today’s foremost jazz rhythm guitarists and chord soloists. Grosz has enjoyed a long career playing in big bands, trios and as a solo artist. He is also well-known for his comedic storytelling and engaging stage presence. Grosz joins host Frank Stasio to share some stories and songs from his impressive career.

People involved in video games are converging on Raleigh today. The East Coast Game Conference is a two day event that attracts programmers and developers from across the U.S. and Europe. Troy Knight is the operations director for the conference. He says the industry is an important and growing part of the Triangle's economy.

Troy Knight: "Within the Raleigh and just Wake County region we have about 40 plus game companies which consists of about 1,200 plus employees that work out there. The average salary is roughly around $79,000."