Environmental Documentary
Leonardo DiCaprio Boards Urgent Sundance Documentary ‘The Lake’ Ahead of World Premiere
Leonardo DiCaprio has once again thrown his weight behind an urgent environmental cause. The Oscar-winning actor and climate activist, along with Appian Way partners Jennifer Davisson and Phillip Watson, has signed on as an executive producer of The Lake, a hard-hitting documentary premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this week. Directed by Abby Ellis (Flint’s Deadly Water), The Lake investigates what filmmakers describe as a “looming environmental nuclear bomb” beneath Utah’s rapidly shrinking Great Salt Lake—a crisis that threatens millions of people living along the Wasatch Front.
A Toxic Threat Beneath Utah
As the Great Salt Lake dries up due to overconsumption of water and climate change, its exposed lakebed is revealing dangerous concentrations of arsenic, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals. Scientists warn these toxins could become airborne through intensifying dust storms, dramatically increasing the risk of cancer, respiratory disease, and reproductive health problems across northern Utah.
Premiering on Sundance’s opening day, The Lake follows scientists and political insiders racing against time to avert ecological and public health catastrophe. The film blends investigative reporting with deeply personal storytelling, grounding global climate anxieties in a local crisis unfolding in real time.
A Personal Story With Global Stakes
For Abby Ellis, the project is deeply personal. A Utah native, she spent more than three years documenting the emotional highs and lows of those fighting to save the lake.
“What’s happening in Utah is a microcosm for so many environmental stories around the world,” Ellis said in a statement. “The stakes couldn’t be higher. Watching people fight to save something you love has been terrifying, frustrating—and inspiring.”
That urgency resonated with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, known for backing environmental films such as Before the Flood and Ice on Fire.
“Abby’s work reflected everything we stand for,” said Jennifer Davisson, Appian Way’s president of production. “We hope audiences not only respond to this film but look inward and work together on sustainable solutions in their own communities.”
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More Than an Environmental Documentary
According to Sundance Film Festival programmers, The Lake pushes beyond traditional environmental storytelling, confronting viewers with difficult questions about responsibility and complicity. The film examines the fragile balance between agriculture, politics, science, and faith—highlighting how collective inaction can be just as destructive as overt denial.
Early critical response suggests the film strikes a powerful emotional chord, portraying the crisis as both terrifying and motivating, without resorting to easy answers or false hope.
Why ‘The Lake’ Matters Now
With no successful global case studies for saving a collapsing ecosystem of this scale, The Lake delivers a sobering message: slow progress may be indistinguishable from failure. As climate extremes intensify worldwide, the documentary positions Utah’s Great Salt Lake as a warning—and a test case—for how societies respond when science says time is running out.
The Lake screens at Sundance on Jan. 22, with additional showings in Salt Lake City and Park City through Feb. 1.
