Giving Documentary Footage a Second Life
It’s always rewarding when footage from a documentary project continues to find new life after the original film is finished. That has happened recently with “Upstream, Downriver: Uniting for Water Justice,” a film I wrote about earlier after it began airing on PBS. I was the director of photography for the segment filmed in Navajo Nation, and that experience has stayed with me. The story, the landscape, and the people we filmed all carried real weight.
The director, Maggie Burnette Stogner, has now created three short films from footage originally shot for “Upstream, Downriver.” One of those short pieces focuses on the Navajo Nation story, and much of the footage in it is footage I shot while on assignment there. It is incredibly satisfying to see that material have a second life, especially in a more focused piece that gives this story more room to breathe. You can view the short films here.
In the feature documentary, the Navajo Nation segment was one part of a larger national story about water justice. That broader structure was important because the film connected communities across the country facing urgent water issues. But one of the challenges of any feature documentary with multiple locations and subjects is that each individual story only gets a certain amount of time. A short film can do something different. It can slow down and stay with one place, one community, and one set of voices a little longer.
That is what I appreciate about this new piece. It allows the Navajo Nation story to stand more on its own. The footage of the landscape, the homes, the roads, the water infrastructure, and the people we met now has more space around it. The story feels more concentrated, and the visual material has a chance to build its own rhythm.
Filming in Navajo Nation was a memorable assignment. As a documentary cinematographer, I’m always trying to balance beauty with honesty. The landscape is visually stunning, but the subject matter is serious. Many families in Navajo Nation still live without running water, and that reality changes how you approach the work. The goal was never to make pretty images for their own sake. The goal was to create footage that respected the people we were filming and helped viewers feel the reality of the place.
I’m proud to have been part of “Upstream, Downriver,” and I’m especially glad to see this story fleshed out in its own short film. It’s a reminder that documentary photography and cinematography are not just about capturing what is in front of the camera. They are about helping stories live, travel, and keep reaching people long after the shoot is over.
