2026 Boulder Environmental Nature Outdoors Film Festival Opening Night

Festival's Opening Night Reception & Film Start at the Hilton Garden Inn and End at the Dairy Arts Center *5:30 to 7:00 PM -- Reception at Hilton Garden Inn Boulder on Canyon. Outdoor Courtyard* Buffet, Passed Appetizers, & Libations (cocktails, wine, beer, or soft drink). Live Music by The Atom Collective, a jazz band making people happy on Colorado’s front range since 2019. *Film at 7:30 PM at Dairy Arts Center — THE KEEPER* Cantankerous, charismatic and passionately committed, this river keeper — John Lipscomb — reflects on his 25 years patrolling the Hudson River, traveling more than 80,000 miles, by wooden boat. Like rivers around the world, the Hudson — America’s First River and the Birthplace of the American Environmental Movement — boomed as a growing human population used it for transportation, sustenance and for many years a dumping ground. The river paid a price for all this use and abuse, struggling against its share of contamination. For the past nearly three decades the river’s poet laureate and literal “eyes on the river,” Captain John, has been at the forefront of each of those fights, taking on industrial and human pollution, suffering the losses and celebrating victories. While he has had successes on the Hudson, committing a life to protecting a river is a never- ending fight. Today he is one of more than 300 “keepers” around the globe, looking out for their respective rivers. Directed by Jon Bowermaster Runtime: 80 minutes We suggest you park free at the DAC and walk 2 blocks to the Garden Inn