MIRASOL, Looking at the Sun Is Now Free to Watch Online

Colorado's water and farmland are disappearing faster than most people realize. This is the film that makes it personal — and it's now free to watch.

Palmer Land Conservancy is thrilled to announce that MIRASOL, Looking at the Sun—the award-winning documentary directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ben Knight—is now available to watch online for free.

'What is MIRASOL, Looking at the Sun?

On the St. Charles Mesa east of Pueblo, Colorado, the irrigation ditches still run. The chile fields still stretch toward the horizon. And the families who have worked this land for generations—some for more than a century—are still here.

But for how long?

MIRASOL, Looking at the Sun takes us inside the lives of multi-generational Italian and Hispanic farming families in one of Colorado's most productive agricultural communities. From a 92-year-old farmer to the young people poised to inherit the land—and the weight of its uncertain future—the film is an intimate, unhurried portrait of a community at a crossroads. Through their voices, the film explores their fight to safeguard a way of life that hangs in a delicate balance in the face of rapid development, water scarcity, and population growth.

"This land should be like our only child," says one farmer in the film. "We should be protecting it with everything we have."

Why Palmer Made This Film

For over a decade, Palmer Land Conservancy has worked alongside the farming families in Pueblo for the Bessemer Farmland Conservation Project—a pioneering effort to find solutions that benefit growing cities, farming communities, and nature to address the looming dry-up of more than 5,000 acres of prime irrigated farmland in eastern Pueblo County.

Along the way, we came to understand something—data and policy arguments, however compelling, rarely change hearts. Stories do.

We believe the best arguments in the world may not change a person's mind—but a good story can. MIRASOL is that story. It goes beyond agriculture and water policy to illuminate something more fundamental—the intrinsic human connection to food, family, land, and belonging.

Palmer recruited Ben Knight, one of the most respected documentary filmmakers working in the American West, to direct the film. The result is a work that is humble in its approach and powerful in its impact.

The Film's Journey

Since its premiere at the prestigious Big Sky Film Festival in Missoula,  MIRASOL has traveled across Colorado and beyond— screening at the Telluride Mountain Film Festival, the 5Point Adventure Film Festival, and dozens of community events from Pueblo to Fort Collins.

More than 5,000 Coloradans have seen the film. It has been screened for water managers, policymakers, farmers, students, and community members. It has sparked panel discussions with Colorado's Attorney General, county commissioners, agricultural researchers, and conservation leaders. It has opened doors and started conversations that data alone never could.

Now, for the first time, MIRASOL is available for anyone to watch — anywhere, anytime, for free.

Watch It. Share It. Let It Change How You See Colorado.

Whether you're a longtime Palmer supporter, a Pueblo local, a water policy wonk, or simply someone who loves Colorado and wants to understand it more deeply—this film is for you.

MIRASOL is not a film about loss. It is a film about what is worth fighting for. And it asks each of us, in our own way, to answer that question.

Already seen it?

You know better than anyone how powerful this story is. Share it with someone who needs to see it—a neighbor, a friend, a colleague who cares about the future of Colorado's land, water, and local food.

Support the Work Behind the Story

MIRASOL exists because a community of conservation-minded donors, partners, and landowners believed that protecting Colorado's farms and water is worth fighting for—and worth telling the world about.

If this film moves you, support the conservation work it represents. Every gift to Palmer Land Conservancy funds the partnerships, legal tools, and long-term stewardship that turn stories like this one into permanently protected land.