The Stand

December 1st 4 pm

Chris Auchter | Canada |

National Film Board of Canada 

2024 | 94 min  | Film: Documentary  

It’s 1985 the Haida youth are blockading a remote logging road on Lyell Island, demanding that logging stops, and that the government negotiates a path of co-existence. Noticing the young generation’s spark of initiative, the elders step in to fan the flames. They arrive on that remote logging road to stand with the youth, quietly confronting the loggers, the police, and the government, together. The Haida’s integrity and peaceful approach captures the eyes of the world. Now, with everybody watching, will the Haida people back down? Or will they carve a new path for their nation and culture? Thirty-five years later we hear from people who were on the line in 1985 about how that event shaped their lives – and how the same story is still playing out again and again – most recently in Fairy Creek where protestors, loggers, police have been clashing for over a year now and record numbers of activists have been arrested. The story is deeply rooted in BC, on Haida Gwaii; it’s was a pivotal event in Haida and BC history; the story of logging and the complexities of this activity is ongoing in BC, as are the protests; in the case of The Stand, individuals who were on the line in 1985 remain activists today.