Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper — A new documentary highlighting large-scale conservation in northern New Mexico is coming to Albuquerque for a special one-day screening event.
Preserved: The Story of Ted Turner’s Vermejo, directed by Ben Clark, will screen Monday, March 30 at the Guild Cinema, with showtimes at 3:00 p.m., 5:15 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. Select screenings will include post-film Q and A panels featuring Clark and other experts, including former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland at the evening showing.
The 94-minute film tells the story of Vermejo, a 560,000-acre property in northern New Mexico that has undergone decades of restoration after years of overgrazing and mining. Today, it is considered a model for conservation and rewilding in the American West.
For Clark, the project began unexpectedly.
“I come from an extreme sports background. I have filmed all over the world. I’ve been really fortunate to get to work all over the world as a filmmaker in natural environments,” says Clark. “When the pandemic hit, I had the opportunity to learn the science behind those environments by being able to visit Vermejo.”
What Clark found was a story he felt had not yet been fully told.
“It felt like this sleeping giant of a story that so many people locally sort of understood was happening, but on a national level, we hadn’t yet had that glimpse inside of this place,” says Clark.
Unlike many environmental documentaries that center on destruction, Preserved takes a different approach by focusing on recovery. “As a filmmaker, I’m always looking for stories that have a positive outcome,” says Clark. “It can’t be this sort of ‘eat your broccoli’ lecture.”
The film explores the ecological and cultural history of the land, while documenting the work that has transformed it into what Clark describes as “this living laboratory that’s been restored.”
Production took years and included about 130 days spent filming on the property. Clark explains that one of the most striking aspects was witnessing the return of wildlife and ecological balance.
“To be able to go to a place like that, and to be just an observer at sunrise, all these different times to feel and see all the moods and moments of this landscape,” says Clark.
For New Mexico audiences, Clark explains that the story carries particular significance. The film highlights partnerships between private landowners and public agencies, including efforts to restore the Rio Grande cutthroat trout.
“To see this sort of public/private partnership working and that being a great example of what New Mexico does and how people are working together to help better habitats across the place,” says Clark, “I think it’s a really cool thing to celebrate.”
Clark emphasizes that the film also challenges assumptions about conservation. “I didn’t understand conservation,” says Clark. “I thought that maybe it was more about letting nature run its course.”
Instead, Clark explains that the process revealed the importance of active stewardship and collaboration.
“We are nature too,” Clark says. “Understanding that sort of balance, and then also looking at all these ranches and all this agriculture around us that’s actually working very hard to restore its land, I started to understand that commerce was such an important part of conservation.”
The Albuquerque screenings will include panel discussions designed to connect audiences with local conservation efforts.
“If we could introduce them to the people doing that local work and invite them into that community after watching this film. Then it felt like to me, that was the best thing we could do for conservation with this movie,” says Clark.
Ultimately, he hopes the film leaves audiences with a sense of possibility.
“I hope audiences will see this true story as a framework for the future that we can attain,” says Clark. “It is definitely a hopeful story.”
Preserved: The Story of Ted Turner’s Vermejo
March 30, 3 p.m., 5:15 p.m., 7 p.m. (The Q&A will be after the 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. screenings)
The Guild Cinema
3405 Central Ave. NE
3 p.m. screening tickets: $7
5:15 and 7 p.m. screening tickets: $10