THE COLORADO PROBLEM: THE RIVER IN THE RED
About the Film
Documentary | 1 HR 32 MIN
ASPEN FILM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WENDOVER PRODUCTIONS & THE ROARING FOR CONSERVANCY PRESENT:
DOCUMENTARY | 1 HR 32 MIN
Wednesday, March 16 at 7 PM
Isis Theatre | 406 E Hopkins Ave, Aspen
$15 for the general public and $12 for Aspen Film and Roaring Fork Conservancy members
All proceeds will benefit Aspen Film and Roaring Fork Conservancy
The Colorado River is the foundation of the American Southwest. But the confluence of a once-in-a-millennium drought, a hundred-year-old mistake, and a generations-old conflict have put the river-–and the civilization built atop it––in crisis, and at a crossroads. As the southwest continues to grow, and the river continues to shrink, time is running out to solve the problem of the Colorado.
Traveling from the Colorado high-mountain headwaters to the California Imperial Valley farmland, “The Colorado Problem” examines how we got here and what options there are—if any—to figure out where we’re going. The documentary includes more than a dozen interviews featuring water experts, farmers, historians, and stakeholders. Locally, it features former Aspen Public Radio reporter Luke Runyon, now Colorado River Basin reporter; Hannah Holm, director of the Hutchins Water Center at Colorado Mesa University; and Steve Acquafresca, a Grand Junction-based farmer.
This is the first production filmed in the Mountain West for Wendover Productions, an Aspen-based content-creation production company that distributes on YouTube, CuriosityStream, and Nebula. Though director Sam Denby has previously traveled to far-away locales such as Majuro and St. Helena for documentaries, this time his team dug deep into a more personal, and close-to-home, issue.
The film will be followed by a conversation between Sam Denby, the film’s director, and Heather Sackett, water reporter for Aspen Journalism. Proceeds will benefit Aspen Film and Roaring Fork Conservancy.
Trailer
Related Films
Toronto International Film Festival
104 MIN
US
Q+A with Director Taimi Arvidson A century ago, women were among rodeo’s most daring bucking bronco riders—until they were pushed out of the sport. Now, a fearless new generation of cowgirls is taking back the arena. Cheyenne follows women competing on the grueling rodeo circuit, risking serious injury atop half-ton horses determined to throw them […]
Camden International Film Festival
Filmfest: CARL SAGAN: WE ARE MADE OF STAR STUFF
98 MIN
US
From renowned documentarian Nanette Burstein comes an illuminating portrait of Carl Sagan, the astronomer, visionary, and extraordinary communicator who transformed humanity’s understanding of its place in the cosmos. Through fascinating archival footage and intimate interviews with family, friends, and contemporaries, the film explores both Sagan’s public triumphs and complicated private life. A prescient voice on […]
COLORADO PREMIERE | Sidewalk Film Festival
83 MIN
US
Q+A with Elaine Pagels and Jenny Mackenzie COLORADO PREMIERE In 1979, Elaine Pagels, the esteemed professor of Religion at Princeton University, wrote The Gnostic Gospels, and its publication sparked a firestorm of controversy in popular and spiritual culture. Presenting an alternative view of Christianity through previously hidden texts in the Nag Hammadi library, it was […]
Venice International Film Festival
90 MIN
France
In French with English subtitles From the team that brought you the multi-award-winning documentary films THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS (2020) and GAUCHO GAUCHO (2024) comes BURGUNDY, an incisive and yet often dream-like exploration into one of the world’s most famous wine regions. The film’s playful, often dream-like blend of documentary and fiction explores the region’s exclusive […]