An alligator swims through a blue-green algae bloom in the documentary "River of Grass." (Photo courtesy of Sasha Wortzel and Walking Productions)
“River of Grass” is that drop of rainwater that hesitates for a moment before it goes down a leaf in the aftermath of a storm. It's the hum the wind makes when it sweeps through undulating blades of sawgrass. It's that conspiratorial look a guide gives you in the middle of a walking tour, when they know you're on the same wavelength. For those who care about Florida, it's a fellow traveler making their way down a muddy road, knowing the natural beauty that lies at the end is well worth getting their shoes dirty.
The new documentary from filmmaker Sasha Wortzel is named after Marjory Stoneman Douglas' 1947 book, the one that made people look at the Florida Everglades in a whole different light, not as a festering bog but as a vibrant organism whose well-being benefits us all in the long run.
But there's no mistaking this for a dry history of the Sunshine State's most precious resource. This is no Cliffs Notes synopsis, but a impressionist remix, refracted through the writer-director's personal lens. It's a lyrical cine-essay that melds archival footage with Wortzel's anecdotes of growing up in the Sunshine State.
An aerial view of a sawgrass marsh in the Florida Everglades in the documentary "River of Grass." (Photo courtesy of Sasha Wortzel and Walking Productions)
Let's dive into “River's” layers. Wortzel anchors her glimpses of flora and fauna through her portrait of Stoneman Douglas as a pioneer and free thinker who brought the worldview of the Indigenous people who call the Everglades home to the masses. This is a “grassy river,” not just a mosquito-infested breeding ground for destructive pythons. The movie goes beyond its subject's literary and philanthropic contributions to find the feisty and driven environmentalist who was rarely seen without her pearls, a child of privilege who rolled up her sleeves and got to work, remaining active well into her nineties. (She died in 1998 at age 108, Wortzel informs us.)
Wortzel darts back and forth between vintage Stoneman Douglas interviews, one of them conducted at the Coconut Grove home where she wrote her best-known work, and vérité footage of the current guardians of the Everglades. There's Miccosukee educator Betty Osceola, who surveys the waters from her airboat and imparts her wisdom during the prayer walks she organizes. In some of the documentary's more stunning visuals, the walkers are reduced to tiny dots, dwarfed by the vast landscape.
Reverend Houston R. Cypress walks through a cypress dome in the documentary "River of Grass." (Photo courtesy of Sasha Wortzel and Walking Productions)
Then there's Reverend Houston R. Cypress, a self-described “Two-Spirit poet, artist & activist,” who sees the Everglades as an extended family. He introduces the notion of chosen family, a concept that's all too relatable to the LGBTQ+ community. Wortzel, a queer filmmaker herself, runs with it, depicting the Everglades akin to a queer space that needs to be protected. Thus, seeing Cypress riding his bicycle as the dead of night gives way to the dawn takes on an added dimension.
Wortzel also traces misguided attempts to domesticate the Everglades, including an ill-fated effort to build an airport that was nixed by President Richard Nixon. The filmmaker contrasts these historical snippets with her own experiences as a Floridian, such as when her family used to travel across the Everglades, from one coast of Florida to the other, to visit her grandparents for Seder, as well as her close brushes with hurricanes, or, as Osceola calls them, “nature's way of cleaning house.”
Miccosukee educator Betty Osceola on her airboat in the documentary "River of Grass." (Photo courtesy of Sasha Wortzel and Walking Productions)
And above the gators and dolphins that peek above the water's surface, there's the sun, bathing the vegetation in its golden light. It gives off a white glow whenever Wortzel and cinematographer J. Bennett, in the film's more abstract shots, show it reflected on the water. At one point, the camera gazes directly at that yellow orb until the rays form an “X” that bring Florida's flag to mind.
“River” runs its hand across these waters that no longer flow like they should, due to man's meddling. It cascades across the decades, seamlessly integrating invaluable film footage of the Everglades, its habitat pristine and unblemished, with the way it looks now, not just from the point of view of the Miccosukee Tribe, but from the Black and brown communities dealing with the punishing toll of sugarcane burns.
Wortzel could have chosen to shake her fist and make an angry film, but she opts to go in the opposite direction. She's crafted a loving eco-doc where the personal and the political are intertwined like a double helix. At 83 minutes, it's a symphony in miniature, majestic yet compact. Its ripples of time reverberate with hard-earned wisdom, tinged with longing for a Florida that's no longer within reach. The filmmaker doesn't just capture the setting with painterly grace; she listens to her subjects.
Prayer walkers carrying a Miccosukee flag in the documentary "River of Grass." (Photo courtesy of Sasha Wortzel and Walking Productions)
“There's never an end to the fighting,” Stoneman Douglas said about the ongoing battle for the Everglades, her words more prophetic than she probably realized. Then there's Osceola's clear-eyed nugget that should be a daily mantra for every inhabitant of this pale blue orb: “Nature is always going to win in the end.”
Wortzel's cohesive fusion of different strands of nonfiction storytelling would hold their own under any circumstances. She never loses her focus, or her playful curiosity. But with the current challenges Florida is facing, its release is timelier than ever. This is a fractured state, a house divided in ways that reflects the fissures beyond its borders. How heartening to find a work of art that all Floridians can rally around. “River of Grass” is a steel dandelion, a wistful look back that points the way forward. It jumps in with eyes wide open.
Reverend Houston R. Cypress rides a bicycle at sunrise in the documentary "River of Grass." (Photo courtesy of Sasha Wortzel and Walking Productions)
“River of Grass” is showing through Thursday at Coral Gables Art Cinema, its first theatrical engagement after screening as part of the 2025 Miami Film Festival. It's set to open Friday in New York City, but there are standalone screenings scheduled across Florida in the coming weeks.
