KS: Scott, after three and a half years, the River Runner is ready to be shown to audiences this fall. It’s an incredible documentary. How do you feel—proud, exhausted, relieved?
SL: Rush and the crew did an amazing job. I feel all of the above. However, if I only had one word to describe it all, it would be vulnerable.
KS: The film explores so many elements. How would you describe it?
SL: It’s an adventure film that takes a deep dive into the behavior of someone who was able to live life to the fullest, then had it taken all away. It’s the story of how, with an enormous amount of help and fate, I was able to heal on far more than a physical level and return to traveling down rivers.
KS: You are a filmmaker yourself, yet chose Rush Sturges to direct a movie about your life. How did you end up picking Rush? Or was it Rush that picked you?
SL: I didn't choose Rush. Nor do I believe Rush choose me. I think the universe brought us together for a reason. This project started out as a 10-minute YouTube video about the completion of the Four Rivers Project. I don’t think either one of us imagined a three-and-a-half-year project. A film like this requires the director to take the deepest of dives, and I could not imagine doing this project with anyone else.
KS: How did the project evolve from a 10-minute YouTube video to a feature film?
"THIS MOVIE ISN'T A STORY ABOUT A WHITE MAN GOING OUT AND CONQUERING RIVERS. IT'S A STORY ABOUT TRAUMA, ADDICTION, AND RELATIONSHIP PATTERNS. IT’S ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES. "
SL: I was set to go to Pakistan and quietly go about my business: run the Indus and finish the Four Rivers Project (running all four rivers originating on Mt. Kailash—The Sutlej, the Karnali, the Tsangopo, and the Indus), and then quietly disappear. I had recently done a Middle Kings with Rush, and he said, "Hey, I'm fired up to
