The American Southwest
2025 | Coast Film & Music Festival
Duration: 113 min
Synopisis
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 ecological impacts of dams and river depletion, and boldly advocates for increased water and wildlife conservation. The Fin and Fur Films 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 rattlesnakes. Made in association with Natives Outdoors, THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST highlights the region’s deep cultural history and the crucial need to better manage the river for both wildlife and society to thrive.
Featured at Coast Film & Music Festival 2025
Production Team
Ben Masters is a filmmaker and writer specializing in wildlife and adventure stories. He is most known for directing Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story, The River and The Wall (SXSW 2019 Award Winner) and for producing Unbranded. Masters studied wildlife biology at Texas A&M University and founded Fin and Fur Films in 2012. He is the author of two books published by Texas A&M University Press and has written for National Geographic and Western Horseman. A proud Texan, Masters loves riding a good horse through new country, filming wildlife stories that haven’t been documented before, and using movies to help conserve wildlife and wild places.