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Your FREE All ACCESS PASS will admit you to all in-person AND virtual screenings at the 2023 Water Docs Film Festival.
Virtual access available Nov 20 - Dec 17
SAT NOV 18 at 1PM
#LaterNoMore: Activating Climate Solutions Now!
Indigenuity
Presented in collaboration:
The Ecologos Environmental Organization
Regenterating Toronto
School of the Environment
at the University of Toronto
Funded by:
The Government of Canada’s
Community Services Recovery Fund
Also made possible by:
Stantec, Peterborough KM Hunter Foundation,
and the ongoing financial support of our many donors.
Join us for a special screening of short films about utilizing Indigenous wisdom and knowledge of the land, the waters, and ecosystems in order to work together with nature to help navigate through the climate crisis.
Bringing The Salmon Home
Directors: Teresa Marshall, Jeremy Williams
Producer: The Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative
CANADA | 2023 | 30 MIN
The iconic river of the west, the mighty Columbia River, was once the source of the greatest salmon runs in the world. But massive dams have blocked salmon from returning to the vast headwaters of the upper Columbia River in Canada for over 80 years. BRINGING THE SALMON HOME is the story of three Indigenous Nations who are upholding their sacred responsibility to reintroduce the salmon, working with US Tribal relations and allies along the river. First person stories are combined with vivid landscape and underwater salmon footage, and archival film reels, to tell the long-hidden story of these Salmon People. The losses have been immense. Nation members recount how they were offered tins of Spam as they were starving from the lack of salmon, at the same time as their children were wrenched from their homes through a genocidal Indian residential school system. Today the Syilx Okanagan, Secwépemc, and Ktunaxa Nations are working to bring the salmon home, for the benefit of all.
BRINGING THE SALMON HOME offers new beginnings while acknowledging the past. It prompts necessary reflection and action to support self-determination and decolonization. It proposes early steps towards understanding what reconciliation requires. Of working collaboratively through an Indigenous-centred process that includes all Columbia River basin residents. Of finding solutions to complex challenges by combining traditional Indigenous knowledge and western science, and cultural renewal. This is a vital film that calls on the inspiration and commitment of present and future generations.
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Ancestral Rivers
Director: Taylor Smith
CANADA | 2023 | 23 MIN
The Indigenous Youth River Guide Training (IYRGT) program aims to remove barriers and create opportunities for youth to learn land-based skills such as flat-water and whitewater canoeing, wilderness medicine and whitewater rescue training in order to become wilderness guides. The goal is to improve self-esteem, leadership, self-determination and expose youth to potential career opportunities all while centering Indigenous languages and knowledge. ANCESTRAL RIVERS showcases the first IYRGT cohort’s story.
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Paddle Tribal Waters
Directors: Paul Robert Wolf Wilson & Rush Sturges
UNITED STATES | 2023 | 9 MIN
When the largest dam removal project in history begins, a group of indigenous youth learn to whitewater kayak in hopes of becoming the first people to paddle the restored river from source to sea.
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8 Billions: We are All Responsible
Director: Nelson Koa
BRAZIL | 2023 | 29 MIN
In 8 BILLIONS: WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE, Ailton Krenak, Indigenous leader and thinker, talks about the pain of the Watú (or Rio Doce in the Krenak language). Sick with the biggest environmental disaster in Brazilian history, the Mariana Dam disaster, the river asks for help. From the impacts on his village on the banks of the river, he creates an overview of the current Anthropocene period and invites all human beings to a collective journey of reflection and self-criticism, aiming at the urgent but necessary paradigm shifts.
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Echoes of the Rio
Director: Jackie Barragan
UNITED STATES | 2023 | 8 MIN
ECHOES OF THE RIO is a poetic examination of the decimation and dispossession of the indigenous peoples of the area as well as the ecological disaster of the Rio Grande as a consequence of its use as a political border.
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Samqwan: Water
Director: Pamela Palmater
CANADA | 2023 | 19 MIN
SAMQWAN: WATER is a short documentary about the current threats to the world's water systems from the extractive industry, and the need for us to support Indigenous water protectors on the front lines of protecting the earth's water sources. It is set within the context of my home reserve - Eel River Bar First Nation - and the water sources on Mi'kmaw territory.
This short doc was adapted from a podcast I created for imagineNATIVE 2022 for the FLOW exhibit. I decided to take that podcast and turn it into a short, educational documentary with a powerful call to action take-away for viewers.
I specifically designed it for a social media audience in terms of how people absorb social media content. Many social platforms are designed around fast-paced, short content that is visual, auditory and that can maintain the viewers attention by consistently changing the visual components every 8 seconds or less.
Similarly, the visual content is expected to keep pace with the narration - matching images to words. The reason the documentary was done this way, is to increase audience size and accessibility, and thus increase the impact of my call to action.
The only way to save the water is for Canadians and Americans to join with Indigenous peoples while we protect the water for all life on Mother Earth. #waterislife
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About the Directors
Teresa Marshall, Bringing the Salmon Home
Pocket Desert: Confessions of a Snake Killer, Healing in Pandemic Times, In the Light of Justice / A la luz de la justicia, Fresh Talk, Educate Your Attitude
Jeremy Williams, Bringing the Salmon Home
Ctsenmew'sctem re Stsmemelt - Showing the way for the Children, Haíɫzaqv λiác̓i - Building a Legacy, The Guardians of the Land, Wildfire Warriors, T'eqt’aqtn - The Crossing Place
Producer, Bringing the Salmon Home: The Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative
Taylor Smith, Ancestral Rivers
Taylor is a Metis filmmaker from the Alberni-Clayoquot region of Vancouver Island. He has been filming in the outdoor industry since 2014 where his work can be seen on major networks such as Outdoor Channel and Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN). In 2018 he was hired as the Director of Photography (DOP) for APTN’s documentary series, ‘Yukon Harvest’. The show was a hit and for the 2nd season he was given dual duties as Director and DOP. Taylor continues to make short Indigenous documentaries through his company, Arrowsmith Productions which he launched in 2016. He has a passion to share stories of inspiring Indigenous leaders and change-makers. Cultural preservation and youth empowerment have proudly become the two pillars of Arrowsmith Productions.
Paul Robert Wolf Wilson, Paddle Tribal Waters
Based in his ancestral homelands of Southern Oregon and Northern California. His works focus on the connections between peoples, the lands and waters they steward, and the cultures that tie them together. A Leader in Environment, Access, and Diversity (LEAD) Ambassador for Northwest River Supplies (NRS), Paul works to provide opportunities for indigenous youth to strengthen and grow relationships with their rivers through white-water recreation. As an alumnus of Ríos to Rivers, he co-founded the Maqlaqs Paddle with his sister, Ashia, to help bring access to paddling to their tribal community. Paul has also actively worked to change policy around dams and endangered rivers worldwide, attending and speaking at UNFCCC COP events and serving as an advisory member for Water Climate Trust. Paul also serves on the board of directors of Rogue Food Unites, an organization that addresses food insecurities of communities across Southern Oregon.
Rush Sturges, Paddle Tribal Waters
Raised on the banks of California’s Salmon River, Rush started splashing around in kayaks before he could walk. By the age of 12, he had devoted himself to learning his way around rivers and cameras. Rush is widely considered one of the world’s best kayakers, as well as a prominent action sports filmmaker. To date, he has created nine award winning whitewater kayaking films, including his latest feature documentary "The River Runner" which won “Best Mountain Film” at Banff in 2021 and is now available on Netflix. Rush studied film at The Art Institute of Vancouver, B.C., and has honed his filmmaking skills on location in some of the planet’s wildest places. In 2009, Rush founded River Roots, a media production house based in his adopted hometown of White Salmon, WA.
Nelson KOA, 8 Billions: We are All Responsible
Nelson KAO, ABC is a cinematographer. He shot three features: “São Ateu”, directed by Hiro Ishikawa (2022), the documentary “Incarcerated”, directed by Cláudia Calabi, Fernando Grostein de Andrade and Pedro Bial (official selection in 43ª São Paulo International Film Festival and in 21º Rio de Janeiro International Festival), and “Você Só Pode Estar Louca”, directed by Karla Bonfá and Ricardo Garcia.
He also shot many short films, including “What if…” (2022), winner of JCS International Young Creatives Award, “Ana” (2017), best cinematography for a fiction short film on 4th Bento Gonçalves Cinema Festival (2019) and best foreign short in Los Angeles Independent Film Festival (LAIFFA) 2018, “Jadzia” (2018, in post-production) and “As Aparências Enganam”, winner of CeluCine Festival 2011.
Jackie Barragan, Echoes of the Rio
Jackie is a documentary filmmaker from the U.S./Mexico Border. She graduated from UTEP with a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and a Minor in Dance. During her studies, she focused on indigenous cultures of the Americas and grassroots social movements. In 2021, her documentary short film, JOSIE, received First Place Award and the Audience Choice award at the Plaza Classic Film Festival. She went on to direct and produce Ome Tlaloc: Ceremonial Tattoos through the REEL South PBS program and is continuing to direct and produce more films to come. She is the Director of Community Engagement for the Femme Frontera Filmmaker's collective of women and non-binary filmmakers on the border.
Pamela Palmater, Samqwan: Water
Pamela Palmater is a Mi'kmaw lawyer, professor, author, public speaker and producer from Eel River Bar First Nation, who has been creating Indigenous digital media content as part of her public education and advocacy on Indigenous issues since 2012. She is the President and CEO of her own Indigenous production company, Warrior Life Studios.
Creator, producer, and host of the popular Warrior Life Podcast, featured at digital media & art festivals, Pam uses her podcast to help lift the voices of Indigenous land defenders, water protectors, advocates, and leaders from all over Turtle Island.
Pam is also the producer and host of her award-winning Warrior Kids Podcast which combines her passion for Indigenous cultures with her desire to educate and inspire young children to take action on social justice and earth justice issues.
In addition to her podcast work, Pam produces, curates, and hosts digital media art in the form of audio and/or video content for special radio shows, artistic events, exhibitions, and stand alone work for festivals. Her award-winning docu-podcast Samqwan: Water has been produced into a short documentary to be featured at several festivals in 2023.
You can also see Pam in front of the cameras in public speaking events, art festivals, numerous documentaries, and her own social media content. Her current projects include a television series honouring Indigenous stories where she is host and producer.
Pam has also done a significant amount of public education through her mainstream media work as a political and legal analyst on Indigenous issues, human rights, social justice, and climate change. You can find her on numerous media interviews and special TV programs.