Documentary ‘Hanna Ranch’ at Ivywild School
Showings: 7 p.m. Saturday; 3, 5 and 7 p.m. Sunday; 5 and 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Ivywild School, 1604 S. Cascade Ave. Tickets $8, tinyurl.com/mw3ovsm or hannaranchmovie.com, 877-987-6487
“Hanna Ranch” is coming home.
The spread south of Colorado Springs near Hanover has a multigenerational ranching history known across the American West.
This “Hanna Ranch,” however, is the screen version of a tragic chapter from that history, in a documentary that is at times touching, puzzling, enraging and heart-tugging. It was first shown at Starz Denver Film Festival in November and had Los Angeles and New York premieres in May. Now it’s time for a more personal local premiere.
It’s the story of visionary Kirk Hanna, dubbed the “eco-cowboy,” and his dreams for his land as he faced encroaching urban sprawl, water issues, family dissension and a fight for just plain survival. His vision of extreme land conservation and holistic methods, which put him at odds with more traditional cattlemen, evaporated in 1998 when he killed himself at age 43. Many locals familiar with the Hanna family and the tragedy that was Kirk Hanna will no doubt nod in understanding at his quote, the opening line of the documentary: “A cowboy never really knows what he’ll get into.”
Family members tell their stories of family crises and successes, as does Kirk Hanna’s widow, Ann, who still lives on the ranch. Like her husband, she, too, has faced offer after offer to give up their land to developers. In 2007 she told Gazette reporter Dave Philipps, “I’ll come home and find notes on my door asking me to sell, and the prices are obscenely high. Once you live on this land, and you see what’s going on around you, it’s a lot better than having millions in the bank.” She told Philipps someday she wants to put her portion of the 6,000 acres she shares with other family members in an easement in honor of her late husband.
At the Saturday premiere, “Fast Food Nation” author Eric Schlosser, one of the film’s producers, will weigh in on his shared beliefs about the validity of Hanna’s ranching ideas. Family members will also be there for the premiere.
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