Set largely in and around Hancock, NY and the Upper Delaware River Corridor, “The River” is a documentary that tells a deeply personal story about conservation, community, friendship, and the complicated realities of protecting a river that means something different to everyone who calls the watershed its home.

Rather than presenting the Upper Delaware solely as a scenic natural resource, the team that put together the film places people who fight for it at the center of the story. Director Andrew Ackerman and Producer Dan Plummer’s work allows viewers to see conservation not as a distant abstract concept, but as something that happens every day and around all of us, through relationships, disagreements, persistence, frustration, and sometimes heartbreak.

Appearing in “The River” is a group of residents who have devoted years of their lives to protecting the Delaware River and the communities surrounding it. These aren’t outsiders arriving in a community to tell local residents what they should care about. They are people whose lives are intertwined with the Upper Delaware. They are staff and board members of Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR), a conservation organization located in Hancock, whose work spans the entire watershed. They are their colleagues in other closely woven organizations that affect the work here. They are river guides whose livelihoods depend on the health and beauty of the river.

The film goes beyond allowing viewers to see the private struggles and personal wounds carried by some of its characters. It provides insight on thermal bank regulations of the connected reservoirs and the time and energy spent in public meetings and political conferences to manage and mitigate practices that affect the river.

In the film, their dedication isn’t diminished to environmental activism alone. It is connected to their identities, their friendships, their histories, and their sense of responsibility to the place they call home. They continue showing up, year after year, even when progress is slow and the challenges seem overwhelming.

If there is one message to pull from “The River”, it is the importance of continuing to show up and advocate for something that you love. For people who know the Upper Delaware, the documentary offers something especially meaningful: a chance to see their home reflected on screen through the experiences of people who have devoted themselves to protecting it.

While there are no more screenings currently scheduled, the crew expressed that they are eager to continue showing the film and anticipate a release to streaming services later in the year.