Press Releases

Opening of the 34th Festival, Land InSIGHTS in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation

Montreal, August 1^st, 2024. Amnesty International has made the unprecedented decision to designate Likhts’amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta’hyl of the Wet’suwet’en Nation as the first-ever designated Amnesty International prisoner of conscience in Canada. This decision recognizes Aboriginal peoples’ challenges when defending threatened territories against powerful economic forces prioritizing financial gain over ecological concerns.

Yintah, the opening film of the 34^th First Peoples’ Festival, bears witness to this. This documentary depicts the resistance of the Wet’suwet’en people against the combined pressure from the RCMP and oil companies to build pipelines, while one of the leaders of this resistance is under house arrest in Canada.

FIPA is the standard-bearer for defenders of the Earth who face legal and police harassment, if not outright death threats and assassinations, as in some parts of the Americas.

FIPA is joining Amnesty International in calling for an end to the criminalization of the Wet’suwet’en and condemning actions that undermine the sovereignty of indigenous peoples. Several films in the FIPA 2024 selection portray the ongoing struggles of communities defending the Earth, including Amazonie, à la rencontre des gardiens et gardiennes de la forêt by Santiago Bertolino (screening on August 8^th at 6 pm at the Cinéma du Musée) and This is our Everything by Frederik SubeI (screening on August 11^st at 4 pm at the Cinéma du Musée).

FIPA 2024 proudly advocates for indigenous sovereignty and the protection of Mother Earth.

www.prresenceautochtone.ca

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