Boulder Environmental Nature Outdoors Film Festival 2025: The American Southwest

Producer Dr. Len Necefer will join us afterwards for a discussion

The American Southwest is a thrilling wildlife movie that chronicles life and death along the Colorado River…and advocates for its return.

The feature-length film follows the Colorado River from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, through lush forests and iconic canyons, and down diversion tunnels and irrigation canals on its 1,400-mile journey to sustain both the natural world and humanity. Along the way, the river nourishes diverse ecosystems that are bursting with life, and provides water to more than 40 million people. From the recovery of elk and beavers to the endangerment of cutthroat trout and jaguars, the movie showcases wildlife stories that speak to our society’s ability to both destroy and recover the natural world.

Narrated by Quannah ChasingHorse, The American Southwest is set to be the first-ever blue chip natural history film narrated by an Indigenous voice. Through collaboration with Natives Outdoors, the film also features incredible artwork, architecture, and culture of Indigenous peoples who have lived in relative harmony with the region for over one thousand generations.

With a changing climate, rapidly growing population, and continuous over-allocation of the world’s most litigated river, there has never been a more important time to inspire conservation efforts that ensure wildlife, rivers, and humans thrive. The American Southwest aims to foster a love for the region, ignite hope for conservation success, encourage action to return healthy river flows, and raise awareness before the Colorado River Compact is renegotiated in 2026.

Directed by Ben Masters

Runtime: 102 mins