Stay up to date on upcoming GCI and festival screenings of What the River Knows.
Upcoming Screenings
- Headwaters Center: 2026 Earth Day Celebration
- 2026 Zion Earth & Chalk Fest: WSFF Wild Empowerment Program
Previous Screenings
- Mountainfilm
- 2025 Conference on the Colorado River co-convened by the Getches-Wilkinson Center and Water & Tribes Initiative
- Greenpoint Film Festival
- HollyShorts Film Festival
- Richmond International Film Festival
- Red Rock Film Festival
- Jackson Wild
- Bushwick Film Festival
- Raleigh Film and Arts Festival
- Chagrin Documentary Film Festival
- Sante Fe International Film Festival
- Bluff Arts Festival
- GCI’s Salt Lake City Premiere
- Green Film Festival of San Francisco
- Park City Film
- REEL East Texas Film Festival
- Mountainfilm On Tour in Watercolor, Florida
- Rivers of Change: Reckoning with the Impacts of Glen Canyon Dam through Science, Art, and Advocacy
- November 13, 2025 – SOLD OUT
- Co-hosted by GCI, Returning Rapids Project, and the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah
- Big Syn International Film Festival
- November 14, 2025
- International Short Documentary Winner
- Borrego Springs Film Festival
- Lookout Wild Film Festival
- Frozen River Film Festival
- GCI’s Arizona Film Tour – Tucson
- February 17, 2026 – SOLD OUT
- In partnership with Watershed Management Group
- GCI’s Arizona Film Tour – Phoenix
- GCI’s Arizona Film Tour – Prescott
- Wild and Scenic Film Festival
- GCI’s Arizona Film Tour – Flagstaff
- February 21, 2026 – SOLD OUT
- In partnership with Grand Canyon Trust and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- Colorado Environmental Film Festival
- February 21, 2026
- Best Short Film Award
- Sedona International Film Festival
- MTN BIO’S Water in the West Film Night
- DOCUTAH – International Documentary Film Festival
- Durango Independent Film Festival
- GCI’s Colorado Film Tour – Durango
- March 14, 2026 – SOLD OUT
- In partnership with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- GCI’s New Mexico Film Tour – Santa Fe
- March 15, 2026 – SOLD OUT
- In partnership with New Mexico Wild, Caldera Action, and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- GCI’s New Mexico Film Tour – Albuquerque
- March 18, 2026
- In partnership with New Mexico Wild and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- GCI’s New Mexico Film Tour – Taos
- March 19, 2026
- In partnership with Amigos Bravos and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- GCI’s Colorado Film Tour – Cortez
- March 20, 2026 – SOLD OUT
- In partnership with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- DC Environmental Film Festival
- GCI’s Colorado Film Tour – Salida
- March 21, 2026
- In partnership with the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- Bowline Film Festival at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum
- GCI’s Colorado Film Tour – Boulder
- March 23, 2026 – SOLD OUT
- In partnership with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- GCI’s Colorado Film Tour – Fort Collins
- March 24, 2026 – SOLD OUT
- In partnership with Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- GCI’s Colorado Film Tour – Denver
- March 25, 2026
- In partnership with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
- GCI’s Colorado Film Tour – Grand Junction
- March 26, 2026
- In partnership with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
About the film
From 2023-2025, Glen Canyon Institute worked closely with Good Intentions Paving Co. directors Will Buckley and Diego Riley to create What the River Knows, a new documentary film exploring the reemergence of Glen Canyon from the receding waters of Lake Powell reservoir.
As over-consumption and climate change force a reckoning of Colorado River policy, we are presented with the opportunity to restore one of the most stunning landscapes on the planet. What the River Knows is an advocacy short-doc that examines this unique inflection point in a centuries-long history, weaving together past and present to reveal a new way forward for the Colorado River.
Behind the Scenes
Stills from the film
