Cinéma
Shorts (Program 2, Documentaries)
Saturday, August 10 - 2 pm
McCord Stewart Museum
Free screening
Screening of three short documentaries :
Meskanakatiso : Là où la route s’arrête
Directed by Matthew Joycey
Canada
Documentary
French without English subtitles
16 min 22 s
Synopsis
Last February, a group of colleagues from the Lanaudière Native Friendship Centre (2 Atikamekw, 1 Anishnabeg, and 4 Quebeckers) decided to trek through Quebec’s North Shore to prove that the territory remains accessible even without skidoos and modern technology.
Inia Ikiamri (Our Jungle)
Directed by Martín Kingman
Ecuador
Documentary
Spanish with English subtitles
23 min 23 s
Synopsis
A thriving Indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon clings to tradition and connections to land while preparing for an uncertain future.
The Salmon Forest Project
Directed by Bill Heath
Canada
Documentary
English
27 min
Synopsis
The Salmon Forest paints a haunting portrait of a threatened ecosystem and those who care deeply for it. In the vast rainforest homelands of the Heiltsuk (known as the Great Bear Rainforest), extractive industries have exploited the land, breaking the fragile links that connect thousands of species. Now the salmon are in peril. Here a disparate group of extraordinary people, from Indigenous leaders and elders to university researchers, explore the intersection between traditional knowledge and western science. They are united by their connection to the forest and an understanding that solutions lie in working together. In this visually charged story, magnificent bears lead us to the waters where the salmon spawn. In their subsequent death, the salmon create a cycle that spreads nutrients throughout the forest via an underground mycorrhizal network, sustaining a diverse array of plant and animal life. In bearing witness to the timeless rhythm of life in this ethereal landscape, the film offers a profound meditation on what the salmon nations of the Pacific Northwest have known for millennia – that everything in this world is connected, and maintaining those connections is essential to life itself. Ultimately The Salmon Forest is a stunningly cinematic testament to the bonds that unite us and to the profound beauty that arises in recognizing that while our relationship to land may be broken, it can also be healed.
