"Human beings are nurtured by all kinds of things produced and grown on the Earth, so we must care for our natural resources with gratitude and allow the Earth to maintain its beauty"
In “Keep it Grand” Ferrara uncovers how an untouched area in the Grand Canyon – America’s majestic treasure and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World – has caught the eye of a developer who sees it as an ideal spot for a massive tourist resort. However, conservationists, activists, and Navajo elders disagree, and they put up a fight.
In fact, the area targeted for development is located above the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers, a site considered sacred by more than 18 Native American tribes. At the moment, it will take you hours to drive there, but developers want to build highways and a tramway leading down to where the rivers meet.
Renae Yellowhorse, a Navajo matriarch who shares Master Cheng Yen’s deep love and respect for the Earth, won’t hear of it and started Save the Confluence, a Navajo activist group. But she has to contend with opposition from some of her own people, as the perks of development are not lost on a Native community struggling with chronic unemployment. Will the lure of jobs entice them to cast aside an ancestral duty to protect sacred land?
But what’s at stake is even greater as Roger Clark and Tony Skrelunas from the conservation group Grand Canyon Trust, and Sinjin Eberle from the advocacy group American Rivers explain: The proposed tourism development would further endanger a region that’s parched and running out of water.
With the longest lasting drought in 1,000 years; rising temperatures associated with climate change; and overgrazing due to imposed land use permits; fertile ground in the Grand Canyon is rapidly turning to desert. And in some communities like Williams, Arizona – a picturesque town along historic Route 66 – hauling water and tracking reserves by the gallon is already part of life, making theirs a cautionary tale of what could lie ahead for much of the American Southwest.
This complex story about the convergence of culture, climate, economics, and ecology is garnering a lot of attention. “Keep it Grand” premiered at Climate Week NYC 2015, at a Tzu Chi USA screening event: FACES: 3 Short Films About the People Impacted by Climate Change. And now in 2016, the documentary is about to appear in four film festivals.
At the same time, “Keep it Grand” will screen at the 10th Annual Colorado Environmental Film Festival on February 20th at 1:30 pm, in the Foss Auditorium of the American Mountaineering Center, 710 10th Street in Golden, Colorado. And to round off it’s spring tour of the U.S., “Keep it Grand” is in Official Selection at the Phoenix Film Festival which takes place April 7-14, but screening times have not been released yet.
We invite you, our friends and supporters to attend these festivals if you’re in the area. Filmmaker Daniel Ferrara looks forward to meeting you!
