Scuba diving in mountain caves to view the elusive American eel. Scaling cliffs to witness the first flight of a fledgling peregrine falcon. Spending nights in a tree stand to potentially glimpse a black bear.

It’s all in a day’s work for Elizabeth Crowl and the crew of her new nature documentary “Shenandoah.” More than five years in the making, the film stars the flora and fauna of the 300-square-mile Shenandoah National Park in Virginia’s northwest corner.

On Oct. 26, the public will get its first glimpse of the one-hour documentary as part of the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville.

Broadly, Crowl says the film she co-directed embraces a theme of change: formation, migration and transformation.

“Life, in general, is always in flux. Everything is always changing,” says Crowl, who was born in Chicago and raised in Geneva before studying art history and film at New York University. “The park is a great place to witness how life is constantly changing and evolving.”

The documentary began its life as a 24-minute interpretive film for Shenandoah National Park’s visitor centers. Orange Frame Productions — which Crowl is the executive producer and creative director for — was originally hired to handle cinematography duties on the visitor center film; the company eventually took over directorial duties.

At the helm was Jeff Boedeker, a former National Geographic series writer and producer and co-founder of Orange Frame Productions. Sadly, Boedeker died unexpectedly in Oct. 2023 while the visitor center film was in post-production; Crowl completed it.

Before his death, Boedeker had discussed his desire to create an hour-long version of the film for public television. Crowl fulfilled his wishes and brought the project to VPM*, which had previously presented Boedeker’s 2020 documentary “These Things Can Be Done: Women’s Suffrage in Virginia.” VPM is presenting and co-producing “Shenandoah”; Steve Humble, VPM’s chief content officer, is an executive producer on the film.

“The film wouldn’t have been made without him,” says Crowl of Boedeker. “He started the documentary and he had the vision for the original film. It still feels surreal and strange that he’s not here anymore. Finishing this film is part of the healing process for a lot of us. I still feel like he’s off on a trip and he’s going to come back.”

Crowl says Boedeker’s friends and family have been supportive of her finishing the film, including his widow Anna Boedeker, Orange Frame Production’s co-founder and owner.

Crowl credits the National Park Service’s media team for its assistance with the film. A black bear seen early in the film, for instance, was actually captured by a member of the media team after fruitless attempts by Crowl’s team. Spotting the black bear while driving around the park, the media team member pulled over, grabbed his camera from the backseat and started filming.

“Filming wildlife takes a lot of patience,” Crowl says. “They show up when they are ready, not when you are.”

“Shenandoah,” which is narrated by actress and former Richmond Christmas Mother Daphne Maxwell Reid, goes beyond the plants and wildlife that make up the national park to include human’s history in the area.

To create the park, more than 500 families were displaced after their land was either purchased or condemned by the federal government roughly 90 years ago. In the documentary, the descendent of an evicted family explains the impact the removal had on his relatives.

“[‘Shenandoah’] was originally going to be just a nature documentary, but we really felt like it would be wrong to not include a bit of the history,” Crowl explains. “It’s such a sticky subject, because it’s very tragic.”

The documentary’s premiere will take place at the University of Virginia’s Culbreth Theatre and feature an introduction by Anna Boedeker and a discussion with Crowl, Humble, Shenandoah’s division chief of natural and cultural resources Evan Childress, park interpretive specialist Claire Comer, and U.Va. biology professor Robert Cox.

VPM will air the documentary next spring to roughly coincide with the 90th anniversary of Shenandoah National Park.

Crowl says the film is a reminder of the importance of nature.

“We easily get caught up in our day-to-day lives and forget that we, too, are also a part of this world,” she says. “I hope it inspires audiences to notice the natural world around them with fresh eyes.”

“Shenandoah” will have its world premiere screening and discussion at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26 at the Culbreth Theatre as part of the Virginia Film Festival. For more information visit virginiafilmfestival.org.

*Full disclosure: VPM owns Style Weekly.