Filmmaker Nick Mallet screens clip of 'Water, the Sacred Gift' and previews Colorado River film

At the July 1 Larimer County administrative meeting, filmmaker Nick Mallet and his daughter Claire Mallet showed a two-minute clip from their PBS documentary "Water, the Sacred Gift" and discussed an upcoming project about the Colorado River titled "Stream of Conscience."

"The purpose of that film was to call attention to... the watershed," Mallet said, describing the Rocky Mountain headwaters featured in the documentary and noting the film is currently available on the Rocky Mountain Channel and on PBS. He said the film has won four Telly Awards and received three regional Emmy nominations.

Mallet described how the project uses aesthetics and scientist interviews to tell the watershed story. He named Denver meteorologist Mike Nelson and Fort Collins scientist Scott Denning among contributors to the film and said indigenous voices and Ute trail history also appear in the documentary.

He outlined his next film, "Stream of Conscience," which will follow people and science along the Colorado River, and said he has filmed sequences in Moab, Canyonlands and at Horsetooth Reservoir. Mallet said the new project will look at the river's distribution, the deposits behind Lake Powell and the lived experiences of farmers, scientists and residents who rely on the river.

Commissioners praised Mallet's work and noted the film's educational value for stewardship and Leave No Trace messaging. The presentation was framed as a guest outreach and no county action was requested.