In the summer of 1969, folk musician Pete Seeger built a boat and launched a movement, intersecting environmentalism, civil rights, and anti-war resistance. An intimate portrait of Pete, his spouse Toshi, and the participatory grassroots community they anchored in the Hudson Valley for over forty years, Down by the Riverside portrays how an unconventional campaign to save the polluted Hudson River prompted a green revolution.

As the globe confronts a seemingly insurmountable climate crisis, this film is a parable for our time that offers hope for the next generation, revealing the power of imagination to transform the planet.