Tucson-based cinematographer Ryan Olinger is taking audiences on a journey along the Colorado River in his new documentary, “The American Southwest.”
Olinger started his career as a wildlife biologist, graduating from the University of ֱ with a degree in wildlife conservation and management, before eventually becoming a wildlife cinematographer and storyteller.
“I worked as a wildlife biologist for about a decade before I switched into film, and that I've been doing full time for around seven years now,” Olinger said.
In that time, he has worked as a cinematographer on the documentary series “Nature,” and National Geographic’s series “America’s National Parks,” as well as “Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story,” and more.
Tucson based wildlife cinematographer Ryan Olinger.
Olinger’s latest project, “The American Southwest,” is set for a theatrical release on Sept. 5, and will be shown in around 70 theaters across the Southwest, including in Tucson at the Loft Cinema at , and Cinemark Century El Con,
“We're playing in every state that uses the Colorado River,” Olinger said. “That's California, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, ֱ, Utah, and Nevada.”
Written and directed by Ben Masters, and narrated by Quannah Chasinghorse, “The American Southwest” follows the Colorado River, starting at the headwaters, and ending at the delta, where the water no longer flows. Along the way, the film confronts the ecological impacts of human development, and showcases the unique and abundant wildlife species that call the Southwest home.
“We have about seven different wildlife scenes that take you down the river, and around four hydrology sections,” Olinger said. “The wildlife scenes within the film are highlighting conservation recovery stories, are highlighting wildlife relationships to the river and riparian habitats as a whole. The hydrology sections talk about how we've conquered, canalled and utilize the river for our existence and our growth.”
Ahead of its theatrical release, “The American Southwest” has been shown at the International Wildlife Film Festival, the DC Environmental Film Festival and premiered at Mountainfilm in Telluride.
“And we're really excited to share that we're a finalist in Jackson Wild, which is kind of like the biggest wildlife filmmaking festival you can get into,” Olinger said. “So we're really honored to be a finalist for that.”
For independent films, reaching a theatrical run is difficult, Olinger said. And it’s even more rare for independent wildlife documentaries.
“Our last film, ‘Deep in the Heart,’ we ran in theaters just in Texas, and that went great. That inspired us to dream bigger and to tackle bigger issues and more states,” he said. “For us to have a theatrical film in seven states and nearly 70 theaters across the Southwest is just incredible. I don't know of another wildlife documentary that's ever done this. So this is very much a first in the wildlife filmmaking world.”
It has been a long time in the making, too. Olinger said the film took more than three years to make, with two and a half years being dedicated to filming.
“With wildlife filmmaking, you don't have the advantage of saying ‘action,’ or ‘cut,’ or ‘you stand here in this perfect light,’ meaning our subjects are always doing their own thing,” Olinger said. “For instance, the jaguar sequence took us eight months.”
Image from Ryan Olinger's upcoming film "The American Southwest."
Olinger said one of his favorite scenes in the film is one that is close to home.
“We have a saguaro sequence in this film that shows how saguaros are amazing water conservationists, and how they've adapted to conserve and store water,” he said. “Not only do they do that, but then in the early summer and late summer, they give back to the desert via these beautiful nectar-rich flowers at night, and turning them into fruit that are pollinated and giving back that way.”
“I love Tucson, and I love the fact that I can drive 15 minutes from my house-and be in the densest population of saguaros on earth,” Olinger said. “My career as a conservationist began here. It began walking under saguaros, and it began walking around rattlesnakes. So all of those things are very, very special to me.”
To create such a large scale, educational film, Olinger and the team partnered with several conservation-focused organizations.
“American Rivers is our main conservation partner. We also worked with Natives Outdoors,” Olinger said. “There's so much amazing work happening in the conservation space and along the Colorado River that we wanted to just team up with as many of the people as possible, and not just extract their knowledge, (but) give back to them via fundraising screenings and sharing their information on our websites and things like that.”
Other partners on the project include Pronatura Noreste, the Peregrine Fund and the Northern Jaguar project.
“We would have never got the amazing jaguar footage we got if it wasn't for the Northern Jaguar Project, we wouldn't have been able to tell the complex stories of water management in the West if it wasn't for the guidance of American Rivers. I mean, the list goes on,” Olinger said.
Cholla Duir, assistant director of the Northern Jaguar Project, said working with Olinger and Masters on the documentary provided a valuable opportunity to further their mission of education.
“A lot of people don't realize that jaguars are a native species to the Southwest,” Duir said. “They were kind of disappeared from our minds, so a lot of people don't have a memory of them being a part of our landscape. And something so visually powerful really brings them back. One of the images, you see the animals in front of cactus, not exactly in a tropical landscape where most people picture them.”
Duir said the project was grateful to be a part of the film, and for the attention it brings to their cause.
“I mean, there's so many animals that are special and beautiful and that they could have highlighted probably a lot easier,” Duir said. “We're just really grateful for their time and effort. And hopefully the exposure will give us more power to do what we're doing.”
A sunset image from Ryan Olinger's upcoming film, "The American Southwest."
To celebrate the theatrical release of the film, the Loft Cinema is hosting two special screenings on Sept. 4 and 5 at 6:30 p.m., featuring Olinger and some of the project partners.
“September 4 is going to be with the Northern Jaguar Project, and that is going to be our last advanced screening. So you're going to be able to see it before anyone else,” Olinger said. “That Q&A will be focused around jaguars and the border and stuff like that.”
The special screening on Sept. 5, Olinger said, will include a discussion with Sonoran Institute’s Luke Cole and American Rivers’ Page Buono.
But if you can’t make it to theatres to experience it on the big screen, Olinger said there will be opportunities to watch the film on streaming platforms in the future. While he was not able to share an exact date, Olinger estimated it should be coming to streaming around mid-October.
A hummingbird feeds on a saguaro flower in an image from Ryan Olinger's upcoming film, "The American Southwest."
“I want to push for people to go see this in theaters more than anything, before it's out into the world of streaming. Go see a saguaro bigger than you've ever seen it,” Olinger said.
“Go see a saguaro flower taking up the entire screen. Go see a rattlesnake filling up the entire frame.”
“It's entertaining, it's fun. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be fully engaged throughout the entire film,” he said. “We're really proud of it and excited to share it with everyone in the Southwest.”