In a near-future Southwest ravaged by water and power shortages, a botanist from the Navajo Nation embarks on a river rafting trip with two developers set on constructing a new dam inside the Grand Canyon along the Colorado River.
Emery returns to her family’s ancestral homeland, where she spent one formative summer under the guidance of her Aunt Elza, playing in the waters of the Colorado River, and learning to revere what flows, grows, and fades. But the river she once knew is unrecognizable. Her return to the Colorado River is brought on by a controversial dam project proposed by a family run hydroelectric company. Tasked with evaluating its environmental impact, she joins an expedition through the Grand Canyon with two company men, Floyd and Noah and a river guide, Jordan. As they descend into the canyon, tensions mount, and the river forces each one to reckon with the reality of what harm humans have done to the land and, consequently, to themselves.
Blending environmental quest with moral reckoning, LIFE WITHOUT END explores power—who has it, who takes it, and who chooses to walk away from it. At the heart of it all: a river that refuses to be tamed and a woman who makes her place within it.
Emilie Upczak works to elevate female-driven stories, ensuring that women are represented on both sides of the camera. Her projects include a range of narrative, experimental, and documentary feature and short films, public video projections, and digital exhibitions.
An award-winning filmmaker, a Rotterdam Producers Lab alumni and an Andy Warhol Foundation grant recipient, she began her filmmaking career while living in Trinidad and Tobago for a decade, where she served as Creative Director for the trinidad+tobago film festival. In 2017, she released her debut narrative feature, Moving Parts, which tackles human smuggling and sex trafficking in the capital city, Port of Spain.
In 2023, Emilie was awarded the Digital Humanities Fellowship from the University of Colorado, Boulder, to develop a digital exhibition based on the archive of Ann Roy, a feminist who worked to bridge the cultures of Mexico and the US. Currently, she is in post-production on Leo Sacer, a social documentary exploring the interactions between residents of a mountain community and a relocated mountain lion.
Emilie is also developing her second feature, an alt-western indie / eco-drama set in the near future on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. She released a proof of concept called Silt (2022) which premiered at the Independent Film Festival Boston and won the Special Jury Award. Originally from Colorado, Emilie now lives in Oklahoma and teaches at the University of Oklahoma.
Independent Film Festival Boston 2022 - Special Jury Award
Houston Cinema Arts Festival 2023, Borders | No Borders - Narrative Jury Prize
Federal Emergency Management Agency 2024 - Climate Resilience Storytelling Award
Producer - Christi Cooper
Associate Producer - Harlan Taney
Co-Producer - Lisa Yelloweagle
