Kevin Alec

In less than 150 years, 97.3% of British Columbia's old growth forests have been logged. These ancient trees and their ecosystems have been lost forever. Fairy Creek (Ada'itsx), one of BC's last untouched old growth watersheds, lies on Southern Vancouver Island on the unceded territories of the Pacheedaht, Ditidaht and the Huu-ay-aht Nations. Despite Premier John Horgan's 2020 election promise to protect the remaining 2.7% of old growth forest, logging of Fairy Creek continues unabated. In August 2020, forest and land defenders began setting up blockades to prevent the destruction of this beautiful and fragile ecosystem. One year later, after mass civil action, over 500 arrests and intense public pressure, the conflict continues. This comprehensive and compelling documentary film sheds light on the issues around the logging and blockades, through conversations with Indigenous Elders, politicians, police, lawyers, front line activists, and many others.

For more than 100 years, thousands of Indigenous children died while in Canada’s residential school system. Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones survived, but he, like many others, experienced years of beatings and sexual abuse. The scandal has finally brought the Indigenous rights struggle into focus, none more so than at Fairy Creek, an area of forest on First Nations land that protesters are desperately trying to prevent from falling into the hands of logging companies.

"A short documentary amplifying what I witnessed this past long weekend. I hope this film helps spread the word about the importance of the Fairy Creek Watershed. Ancient old growth trees, a watershed connecting waterways and endangered species are all on the chopping block at the Fairy Creek Blockade as RCMP have moved in to arrest peaceful protestors so Teal-Jones can log the watershed."

A film initially was released alongside an injunction granted from the BC court to Teal Jones, enabling them to forcibly remove forest protectors who have been sacrificing their worlds at home to stand and defend some of the last of the 2.7% remaining old-growth on Vancouver Island. In collaboration with filmmaker, Ian MacKenzie, the short-film depicts how much we truly depend on these Ancient Forests for our survival as well.

The ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest are home to giant trees and many secrets, which science is just beginning to understand. But these forests are at risk of disappearing. In British Columbia on First Nation territory, a small band of forest defenders are risking life and liberty to protect some of the last remaining ancient forests.

Taqralik Partridge asks what if every language that had been lost to English — every word, every syllable — grew up out of the ground in flowers? Taqralik’s grandmother’s Scottish Gaelic and her father’s Inuktitut unfold in memories of her family, of pain, and of love.

At Archer’s Aunty Gladys’ funeral, he hears a tap on the window — it’s a bear named Jesus, who has come for Archer’s mom. “A Bear Named Jesus” is an allegory for religious interference, with an aching yet humorous look at estrangement and mourning for the loss of someone still living.

From a historic genocide trial to the overthrow of a president, the sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala’s recent history is told through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.

This short documentary serves as a portrait of Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, one of Canada's most important painters. We meet him at the Bisley Rifle Range in Surrey, England, where he's literally shooting the Indian Act in a performance piece called "An Indian Shooting the Indian Act." It's in protest of the ongoing effects of the Act's legislation on Indigenous people. We then follow him back to Canada, for interviews with the artist and a closer look at his work.

In this documentary short, two men paddle a canoe across a remote part of northern Lake Superior. Each stroke brings them closer to the culmination of an artistic and spiritual journey, one that begins with ancient rock paintings from their Anishinaabe ancestors.

Shoal Lake 40 women talk about their struggles, and those of their parents and grandparents, in trying to raise their families in a hazardous state of enforced isolation. Everyone in the community has a harrowing story of a loved one falling through the ice while trying to get across the lake, with pregnant women and new mothers fearing for their babies and having no choice but to make the trek in dangerous conditions. The film shows the key role of the community’s women in demanding funding for the road from three levels of government, and how their reconnection to culture and ceremony give them the strength to keep going.