PRESS RELEASE: DROWNED LAND WORLD PREMIERE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘Drowned Land’ docu world premiere at DC Environmental Film Festival
Receives simultaneous multi-city screenings to connect water issues across US
Post-screening Q&A will feature local Indigenous water protectors alongside filmmakers
Simultaneous screening effort supported by Color Congress’s ELEV8Docs initiative
Los Angeles, CA (March 11, 2025) — The world premiere of feature documentary Drowned Land on March 23, 2025 at 7pm EST at the 2025 DC Environmental Film Festival will receive same-day screenings in Los Angeles, CA and Santa Fe, NM as part of the Color Congress-led ELEV8Docs marketing initiative, was announced today. This multicity effort is one of eight experiments within the initiative, which will culminate in 2026 with comprehensive case studies offering actionable strategies for the broader documentary community.
According to recent research from Distribution Advocates, filmmakers often pursue premieres at top tier film festivals in the US where only between 2-4.2% of films are accepted and less than 20% of documentaries are sold. Of those programmed, only a fraction are helmed by new voices or diverse filmmakers.
“For Color Congress member organizations and the filmmakers they serve, not only is this traditional festival pipeline model untenable, it does very little to connect their films to the audiences of color they wish to reach. That's why we’re experimenting with new models like this multi-city premiere paired with culturally resonant marketing and publicity to create the biggest splash possible among the audiences who are hungry for these stories. With Drowned Land, audiences in Washington DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Santa Fe, NM are inextricably connected to the Kiamichi River communities in Oklahoma. This effort brings them meaningfully together in conversation,” said Color Congress co-directors Sahar Driver and Sonya Childress.
The feature directorial debut of Colleen Thurston (Choctaw), Drowned Land follows a community of people within the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and their fight to preserve water rights to the Kiamichi River through the filmmaker’s personal exploration of her tribe’s history. The film explores historical and ongoing struggles of the community as corporations and states actively pursue damming and diversion projects despite devastating consequences. Through the stories of local advocates — scientists and Choctaw culture-keepers — Drowned Land highlights a fight that is as much about protecting the river ecosystem as it is about breaking cycles of exploitation and displacement.
“The looming threat of a dammed Kiamichi is not just existential. This is a source of life-giving water and the risk that diversion and commodification bring not only threatens the river’s survival but that of its surrounding communities. My hope is that by connecting our peoples’ history of displacement due to resource extraction with the present day struggle of water protectors who are actively working to break these cycles, Drowned Land can offer a glimmer of hope that there are real solutions. Among those is a call to return to our traditional matriarchal ways of being where life-giving sources — mothers and rivers — are centered in our societies. These issues exist within the larger context of the Rights of Nature movement, which recognizes waterways as living beings with inherent rights. Acknowledging the Kiamichi in these ways can and will help protect it,” said Colleen Thurston, Drowned Land director and film participant.
The Los Angeles screening will take place at Now Instant LA at 6pm PST and is presented in partnership with Women in Film and Owens Valley Indian Water Commission (OVIWC). The post-screening conversation will be moderated by filmmaker, Nanobah Becker (Navajo) and includes OVIWC Communications Specialist Kyndall Noah (Choctaw), local filmmaker and water advocate Isaiah Mendoza (Tongva), and Drowned Land associate producer, Britni Harris.
Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter and Santa Fe Watershed Commission will partner for a post-screening conversation moderated by filmmaker, scholar, and community engagement specialist Beverly Singer (Santa Clara/Diné). These conversations are part of the film’s larger impact campaign that aims to engage audiences around the question, where does your water come from?, by connecting audiences with local water protectors while highlighting the vital role of Indigenous stewardship in addressing water crises across the U.S. The screening will be hosted at the Violet Crown Santa Fe at 6pm MDT.
For more information: drownedland.com
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ABOUT DROWNED LAND
In the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Kiamichi River is a bastion of eco-diversity. A Texas corporation seeks to dam and build a hydroelectric plant on the small river. For a group of locals, theirs is a generations-long struggle with resource extraction and displacement that began with the Trail of Tears. The story follows the river as its main character as the director also explores the effects of her Choctaw grandfather’s work for the Army Corps of Engineers - damming rivers throughout tribal land in Oklahoma. Interwoven are the stories of the river’s advocates—residents, Choctaw culture-keepers and scientists—who have come together to protect the river.
Drowned Land is a presentation of Vision Maker Media. The film was developed with the support of ITVS with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and produced with support from Ford Foundation, Firelight Media, Anonymous Was a Woman in partnership with The New York Foundation for the Arts, and a grant from the Sundance Institute Indigenous Program.
SCREENINGS
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Washington, D.C. (World Premiere)
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF)
GALA Theatre - 7:00 PM EDT
Link: https://dceff2025.eventive.org/schedule/67b9fd2343ab460311bbe510
Los Angeles, California
Now Instant LA - 6:00 PM PDT
Link: https://bit.ly/3QPGt56
ABOUT ELEV8Docs
ELEV8Docs is a Color Congress initiative supporting over two dozen nonfiction films by directors of color, all nominated by member organizations. Through 8 distinct marketing experiments across 2025, Color Congress is tackling the barriers these filmmakers face—from cultural gaps in mainstream marketing to limited data on diverse audience preferences—to strengthen distribution infrastructures. Each documentary receives specialized marketing support, custom assets, and expert partnerships to reach targeted audiences. The project will culminate in 2026 with comprehensive case studies offering actionable strategies for the broader documentary community.
ABOUT COLOR CONGRESS
Color Congress is an ecosystem-builder that is committed to organizations led by people of color that serve nonfiction filmmakers, leaders, and audiences of color across the United States and US islands. We are a membership organization that includes film festivals, artist support and narrative change entities, micro cinemas, filmmaker collectives, and public media. We serve this ecosystem by supporting, resourcing, connecting and championing these organizations to build their collective power. https://www.colorcongressinitiative.org/
PRESS STILLS
Link
PRESS CONTACT
After Bruce
Tracy Nguyen-Chung
tracy@afterbruce.com
