The Film
Mary Bruno spent her childhood fearing the polluted stretch of the Passaic River near her home. Decades later, she returns to rediscover the river of her youth. AMERICAN RIVER is a cinematic adventure that follows Ms. Bruno and river guide Carl Alderson on a 4 ‐day, 80‐mile kayak journey from the Passaic’s pristine headwaters to its toxic mouth in Newark Bay. Along the way, candid conversations with residents, experts and advocates reveal the Passaic's extraordinary history, geology and ecology: How did this powerful and once‐celebrated river become one of the most contaminated in America? Can it be saved?
Three years in the making, AMERICAN RIVER was directed by seasoned filmmaker Scott Morris and based on Ms. Bruno’s 2012 book, An American River: From Paradise to Superfund. Like the book, the film is a unique blend of personal memoir, adventure, history and science. Mary and Carl explore the Passaic’s beauty, navigate its many twists and turns, pass through Paterson and Mary's hometown as they head towards the industrial disaster that poisoned the Passaic for the past 60 years. The entire journey was captured in both grand and intimate scale from the water, land and air by an experienced crew with ten 4K cameras. Mary and Carl’s dynamic personalities bring insight, urgency and humor to every scene. An original score, graphic animation and rare archival images enrich the story. For more information, click here to visit the film's website.
Your Host
The NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program brings the benefits of the Clean Water Act to the people who live, work, and recreate on our shared waterways. Created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the request of the governors of New York and New Jersey, HEP is an ongoing effort to develop and implement a consensus driven plan to protect, conserve and restore the estuary. HEP is pleased to host this special preview of AMERICAN RIVER as part of their 2022 HEP Annual Conference: Our Urban Shores prior to the film's release to the general public next year.
