Coming to theaters September 5th!
THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST is a thrilling wildlife movie that journeys down the mighty Colorado River from source to sea. Produced by @finandfurfilms in association with @nativesoutdoors and @americanrivers . Narrated by @quannah.rose . Trailer and theater list coming soon!
We're thrilled to announce our newest feature film is premiering at Telluride @mountainfilm on May 23rd!
THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST is a wild and unforgettable journey down the mighty Colorado River. Narrated by Quannah Chasinghorse, the film beautifully showcases the region’s abundant wildlife, confronts the growing water crisis in the southwest, and advocates for increased river and wildlife conservation. The @finandfurfilms production travels through legendary landscapes from the viewpoint of some of the Southwest’s most charming characters - such as wetland building beavers, bugling bull elk, and desert-adapted Mojave rattlesnakes! Presented by @americanrivers and made in association with @nativesoutdoors THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST highlights the region’s deep cultural history and the crucial need to better manage the Colorado river for both wildlife and society to thrive.
In Theaters across the Southwest September 2025.
Visit theamericansouthwest.film to be notified of a screening near you!
Narrated by @quannah.rose
Produced by @ryan.forktailed@lennecefer and @katybaldock7
Music by @noahsorota
Edited by @samklatt with AE @chetstefan
Director of Photography @ryan.forktailed
Principal Cinematography @austintorios@patrickhthrash@isaiahjboyle@lennecefer Skip Hobbie & Alan Clampitt
Written and directed by @bencmasters
Thank you to all the hardworking individuals who poured their hearts, passion, and love into this movie! We can't wait for you to see it! Poster by @pentagramdesign
theamericansouthwest.film
#theamericansouthwest #coloradoriver
theamericansouthwest.film
First day floating the Guadalupe since the flood! It felt really good making new memories in a vibrant, green, flowing, and gorgeous river after spending so much time filming and editing the devastation. It seemed about 1/2 of the trees in the floodplain were swept away by the flood and there was stumps everywhere. But it filled my heart to see the Guadalupe of my youth still flowing through cypress cathedrals in a handful of stretches. It was the perfect way to get in the right mindset to help raise funds for river restoration projects through our “Hope for the Guadalupe” film screenings. We’re showing in Kerrville tonight, San Antonio tomorrow, Dallas Tuesday, Houston Thursday, and statewide in @drafthouse theaters May 31. Pls come! Proceeds benefit river restoration efforts like tree plantings, trash removal, and native seed dispersal through the good folks at @cftexashillcountry@hillcountryalliance@kerrcountyriverfoundation@hunt_preservation_society and @sabgtx
“Hope for the Guadalupe” showcases some of the inspiring recovery efforts following the 4th of July floods. Neighbors showing up for neighbors, scientists and landowners working side by side, and the slow, patient work of restoring our beloved river.
Please join us for benefit screenings with Q&As in Austin (5/12), Kerrville (5/14), San Antonio (5/15), Dallas (5/19), and Houston (5/21). Proceeds support river restoration efforts. The film will later be shown statewide in @drafthouse theaters May 31-June 2nd followed by a digital release and PBS broadcast.
Link in bio for info, tickets, and details.
In partnership with @cftexashillcountry@hillcountryalliance@sabgtx@kerrcountyriverfoundation@texaswaterfoundation@americanrivers@hunt_preservation_society@texasparksandwildlifefoundation@ugratx
Following the tragic Guadalupe flood, a coalition of landowners, volunteers, and organizations launched a bold effort to restore their cherished river. “Hope for the Guadalupe” bears witness to the heartbreaking disaster and showcases the conservationists working to replant native trees, spread grasses and forbs, and bring peace and beauty to a beleaguered river.
We will be hosting benefit screenings with Q&As in Austin (5/12), Kerrville (5/14), San Antonio 5/15), Dallas (5/19), and Houston (5/21), with a live performance from @briscoetheband at our Kerrville screening. Proceeds from the screening will benefit river restoration efforts. Additional community screenings will be announced soon, followed by a digital and broadcast release in June. Tickets are available through the link in our bio 🎟️
This inspiring film was made in partnership with @cftexashillcountry@hillcountryalliance@sabgtx@kerrcountyriverfoundation@texaswaterfoundation@americanrivers@hunt_preservation_society@texasparksandwildlifefoundation@finandfurfilms@ugratx
Please join us for these special nights of remembrance and hope. If you’re unable to attend, please consider making a donation to river recovery efforts through the “Hope for the Guadalupe” fund that will support the Hill Country Alliance, San Antonio Botanical Gardens, the Kerr County River Foundation, and the Hunt Preservation Society. Link in bio to donate 🎁
On behalf of the film team and partnering organizations, we’d like to extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones.
In 2018, we traveled 1200 miles along the Texas-Mexico Border to document the Rio Grande before the construction of a wall and to show the potential impacts on wildlife, communities, and landowners. We produced a film called “The River and The Wall,” which premiered at SXSW. The journey took several months, traveling by mountain bikes, horses, and canoes.
Since that journey, a wall has been constructed through much of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, most of the stretch between Del Rio and Laredo, and is now being planned for portions of Big Bend. As lovers of wildlife, rivers, and the border, it’s been unbelievably disheartening to see the wall constructed through landscapes we hold dear, especially at a time when immigration numbers are at a fifty year low and technology exists that doesn’t require demolishing the landscape. Although there have been indications that a physical wall won’t be constructed through the State Park and National Park, there’s a lot of uncertainty and contracts have already been awarded to begin construction in some regions.
The Rio Grande is a vibrant wonderful river that unites two countries. It flows through the our largest public lands, and it’s landscapes are quite simply irreplaceable. We did our best to showcase the Rio in the film, but it doesn’t compare to being there in person. If you’ve never been, go! Have lunch in Mexico, paddle the river, stare at the stars, laugh with your friends, and camp in the canyons.
The swift and unified condemnation of building a wall through the Big Bend appears to have had an effect. DHS has quietly changed their online map to show “Detection Technology” in the National Park, Black Gap, and the Lower Canyons. That is great, because a physical wall through that area would be the pinnacle of government waste, overreach, and insanity. But there’s a lot of unknowns, DHS isn’t being transparent with their plans, and a wall is still planned for our largest state park and the remote stretch between Presidio and Fort Quitman. Let’s keep defending our public lands! Follow @nobigbendwall for updates and to see how you can sign their petition, call your reps, and keep the wall out of the Big Bend.
If you haven’t been to that part of the border and want to see what it looks like, I rode horses, bikes, and paddled every mile in 2018 for a film called “The River and The Wall” that documents the landscape and how a wall would impact river access, landowners, and wildlife. It’s a deep dive into the topic, but it doesn’t compare to seeing it in person. The Big Bend is one of the most magical places on earth, and you should definitely go float the Rio.
Official Border Wall plans have been released for the Big Bend. If fulfilled, It will devastate our wildlife and Texas public lands.
People called us alarmists when we released this video nearly ten years ago. Surely a wall would never be built through Big Bend. Right? It didn’t make sense then, and doesn’t make sense now. But here we are, with immigration at a 50 year low and DHS planning to build a steel wall through Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Black Gap, and along our only Wild & Scenic River. It will block access to the Rio Grande, prohibit wildlife movement, destroy our precious public lands, and essentially give the river to Mexico. Of all the ways the federal government can waste money, destroy our landscapes, and infuriate Texas public land lovers and the radical political middle, this really takes the cake.
@governorabbot , @sentedcruz , @johncornyn we’re calling on you to stand up for Texans and our beloved Big Bend! Don’t let the feds steal our Texas land, block us from our river, and destroy our state’s greatest hope for landscape scale conservation.
Follow @nobigbendwall , sign the petition on their link, and call your reps.
For the sake of all who love Texas’ wild spaces, dark skies, and the Big Bend, we need to take action.
If you’re interested in a more thorough look at how the wall will impact wildlife, public lands, landowner rights, and river access, watch “The River and The Wall”, a feature-length documentary we released in 2019. Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. Please take action.
There’s a lot happening quickly around the Big Bend border wall, and it’s important to separate fact from speculation. It has taken a lot to make sense of what is going so I wanted to make Sure we are all on the same page to be able to help create a coherent conversation over what is seemingly happening in lightening speed. DHS is actively using Section 102(c) to build barriers in some of the most sensitive lands along the U.S.–Mexico border, including national parks and private ranches. This authority lets the agency waive dozens of federal environmental, historic, and cultural laws, which is why construction is moving fast and with limited oversight.
While this is happening in Big Bend, it’s not just a regional issue — it’s a national problem:
* Legal precedent: Using Section 102(c) in sensitive public lands could make it easier for future administrations to override protections across the country.
* Impacts on all public lands: If unchecked, this sets a precedent where federal agencies could bypass environmental and cultural laws on millions of acres nationwide, not just along the border.
* Why it’s happening now: Leadership has chosen to exercise this power in Big Bend, a region previous administrations avoided due to cost, remoteness, and environmental sensitivity.
* Why it wasn’t done before: Big Bend’s rugged terrain, low crossing numbers, and ecological and cultural value made earlier administrations cautious.
* Other examples nationally: Disputes over public land in Utah, Alaska, and Minnesota show this tension between federal authority and environmental protection is ongoing across the U.S.
* Paths forward: Courts, mitigation efforts, state and landowner involvement, public advocacy, and Congressional action remain the practical ways to slow, limit, or shape the project.
This isn’t just about one wall — it’s about how the federal government can use its authority over public land nationwide, and why Americans need to understand and engage with these decisions.
We hope these images inspire you to see the borderlands as a wild and wonderful landscape that is teeming with binational opportunities for conservation.
You can help Borderlands Jaguars by supporting the @northernjaguarproject and other borderlands conservation organizations.
To learn more about the history of jaguars in the United States and their potential to return, watch Borderlands Jaguar on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
Remember when a mountain lion was blamed for killing Christopher Whiteley near Dallas in 2020? Except it wasn’t a mountain lion?
A crime podcast called “The Unforgotten” dove into the mysterious killing. Lead investigator, Wes Fergus, asked me to join on two episodes to talk about mountain lion behavior, mountain lion status in Texas, and how mountain lions are a convenient scapegoat for a variety of ailments. He caught me in a rare mood. Sorry about the four letter words, Mom! I’m on episode 7 and 8 of “Kill Site.”
