Water flows through the history of Colorado, and making a film about the subject is as complex and challenging as the issues surrounding the future of slaking the region’s ever-growing thirst.
But Jim Havey has done just that in a new movie called “The Great Divide.”
The longtime Denver filmmaker debuts the documentary Aug. 6 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. It was a proverbial labor of love, but also proved a bear to make.
“Finished? Who says it’s finished?” Havey joked on a recent morning upon being congratulated on the movie’s completion. “I’m still tweaking it. You don’t let go of a film until you have to, and Thursday is when I have to.”
The film traces the history of the water in Colorado, from the ancient irrigation systems of Mesa Verde to the modern engineering marvels such as the that funnels water west-to-east across the state.
And it also delves into the , something that is critical given how Colorado drainages serve 18 downstream states and Mexico.
“Water is a thread running throughout the history of the West,” Havey said. “There are some many issues tied to it: population demands, climate change and questions on allocation.
“Everyone on both sides of the issue agrees that people need to know more about where their water comes from.”
For Havey, the movie in some ways was of a piece with other documentaries he has produced over the years, such as “Centennial Statehouse: Colorado’s Greatest Treasure,” and “Colfax Avenue: Main Street Colorado.”
“It was really a continuation of the Colorado history films we’ve done for the last few years,” he said.
Editing the film was demanding, both in the field and in the post-production studio. “Telling a story so huge in 90 minutes was a real challenge,” Havey said. “We have 51 people who were interviewed in the film.”
Made for $350,000, the movie was created in conjunction with Colorado Humanities, a non-profit cultural organization that served as managing partner on the film. There is also a companion book, “The Great Divide” (TwoDot), that expands on the movie. It was written by Stephen Grace, who won a Colorado Book Award for “Dam Nation: How Water Shaped the West and Will Determine Its Future.”
Havey said his goal is to put DVDs of “The Great Divide” into 2,000 schools and libraries throughout Colorado. (The Newman Center showing will help underwrite that.
Havey and his team at in Denver also plan a 10-city tour of the film through the state; that starts at the end of the month. And on Aug. 31, the film will get a 7 p.m. airing on KUSA-TV (Channel 9).
Beyond that, Havey hopes to have the film shown on all the regional PBS stations. “Our intent is to get it into all 18 states that get downstream water from Colorado,” he said.
Havey already has new films planned, including a documentary on the historic Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. in Pueblo, and another one on the power of wilderness in people’s lives.
But for now, he’s tweaking his latest outing on the state’s waterways, their past and their future.
“The movie really flows,” Havey said.
Advance tickets to the August 6 Newman Center screening are $20, or $25 at the door. They can be purchased online at thegreatdividefilm.com. The center sits at 2344 E. Iliff Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the film will be shown at 7 p.m.
William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp
