NFB Collection
The Stand
20241 h 34 min 30 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Chris Auchter
Production: Shirley Vercruysse (National Film Board of Canada)
Script: Chris AuchterSarah Hedar
A production of the National Film Board of Canada.
On a misty morning in the fall of 1985, a small group of Haida people blockaded a muddy dirt road on Lyell Island (then known as the Queen Charlotte Islands).
After a century of colonialist rule, Haida culture was nearly obliterated, with language and traditions fading, and the land stripped of its resources. But a committed group of Haida and their supporters took a stand, demanding a stop to clear-cut logging practices that had destroyed salmon habitat and ravaged old-growth forest. In the face of overwhelming pressure from the RCMP, private logging interests and even the media, the defenders called for the government to work with Indigenous people to find a way to protect the land and the future.
In a riveting new feature documentary drawn from more than a hundred hours of archival footage and audio, award-winning director Christopher Auchter (Now Is the Time) recreates the courage, tenacity and tension of this critical turning point. From furious showdowns between television pundit Jack Webster and Haida leader Miles Richardson, to the support of then-NDP MLA Svend Robinson, The Stand captures the struggle as it unfolds on a moment-to-moment basis.
As a complex battle played out on remote logging roads, in the legal system and in the court of public opinion, authorities staged a steady propaganda campaign, alongside stalling tactics and a police presence, to undermine the Haida cause. With the whole world watching, would the Haida hold fast to their strategy of peaceful resistance, or would violence erupt?
The parallels between past and present continue to resound, as the Lyell Island blockade laid the foundations for current land-claim treaties across Canada. From the Haida Nation’s resolute act of vision and conscience emerged an unbreakable commitment to justice, solidarity and Indigenous sovereignty that echoes forth to this day.
Other versions
Subject categories
- Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) > British ColumbiaLand Claims and RightsRelations with Government and Security Forces
- Forestry > LoggingLumberjacks
- Rights & Title > Claims Forests
- Indigenous Peoples: Canada > Haida
- Indigenous Governance General (Modern, Contemporary) > Protests, Activism, Popular Political Movements, Resistance, Conflicts
Credits
- writer
- Chris Auchter
- director
- Chris Auchter
- editor
- Sarah Hedar
- story editor
- Sarah Hedar
- producer
- Shirley Vercruysse
- line producer
- Jennifer Roworth
- original music
- Genevieve Vincent
- sound designer
- Luigi Allemano
- animator
- Chris Auchter
- featuring
- Delores Churchill
- senior production coordinator
- Lee Clapp
- Nathan Conchie
- Nicolas Ayerbe Barona
- technical coordinator
- Wes Machnikowski
- Lyne Lapointe
- re-recording mixer
- Shelley Craig
- colourist
- Serge Verreault
- title designer
- Tim Linklater
- graphic designer
- Tim Linklater
- 3D modeler
- JC Cappelletti
- visual effects
- Russell Heyman
- animation colourist
- Tara Barker
- additional animation
- Eoin Duffy
- graphic artist
- Eoin Duffy
- foley artist
- Karla Baumgardner
- foley assistant
- Lauren Falvo
- researcher
- Caroline Coutts
- musician
- Brenda Fedoruk
- Dakota Martin
- Genevieve Vincent
- Holly Bryan
- Katherine Watson
- Lani Krantz
- Nick Anderson
- William Loveless VI
- Cristian Markos
- Isabelle Roland
- John Walsh
- Janet Steinberg
- Jennie Press
- Peter Ing
- Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
- Nicholas Wright
- Tejas Collison
- recording engineer
- Chris McIntosh
- Zach Blackstone
- music mixer
- Noah Hubbell
- singer
- Carsen (Gray) LaPlante
- Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
- music producer
- Genevieve Vincent
- music leader
- Genevieve Vincent
- orchestrator
- Danielle Schwob
- copyist
- Danielle Schwob
- marketing manager
- Kay Rondonneau
- publicist
- Katja De Bock
- studio administrator
- Nathan Conchie
- Carla Jones
- legal counsel
- Peter Kallianiotis
- executive producer
- Shirley Vercruysse
Awards
- Northern Lights Audience AwardInternational Film Festival
- Special Mention for the ARBUTUS Award (Best BC Film)International Film Festival