Sundance doc follows scientists racing to save Great Salt Lake
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A still from "The Lake," directed by Abby Ellis. Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute
A documentary that premiered Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival follows two Utah scientists scrambling to sound the alarm about the Great Salt Lake's potential collapse and convince state leaders to act before it's too late.
Why it matters: "The Lake," directed by Abby Ellis, is a rare glimpse at the balancing act the scientists, Bonnie Baxter and Ben Abbott, have to manage as they carefully weigh their research with advocacy efforts in a deep-red state.
- It also touches on the toll their work takes on their personal lives.
The big picture: The documentary casts a national spotlight on the Great Salt Lake's yearslong decline, fueled by excessive water use and climate change. It's a crisis some have called an "environmental nuclear bomb."
The intrigue: The documentary also follows Brian Steed, the first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner, who was appointed by Gov. Spencer Cox in 2023.
- Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, known for championing environmental causes, and mountaineer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin are listed as executive producers.
What they're saying: Before the film screening, festival director Eugene Hernandez told the audience the "urgent" documentary would not only resonate in Utah but would be "felt far and wide for months and, maybe, even years to come."
- Ellis, who lives in Utah and has worked on documentaries about police shootings in the state as well as the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, said she's accustomed to telling stories after harm has already occurred.
- The Great Salt Lake, she said, offered something different.
- "What Fletcher and I were so drawn to is that the big, bad thing hadn't happened yet — there was still time to change course," she said, referring to her husband, Fletcher Keyes, a producer of the documentary. "This film is a window into a place on the brink of catastrophe."
The bottom line: The documentary received a standing ovation after the credits rolled.