The images of The Stand may be 40 years old, but they find echoes in contemporary headlines. The Stand, now streaming for free from the National Film Board of Canada, revisits the 1985 blockade at Athlii Gwaii/Lyell Island. The film by Christopher Auchter (Now Is the Time) captures the resistance of the Haida nation as settler loggers rode into their territory to pillage the old growth trees that defined the picturesque landscape of the unceded territory.
Told entirely through archival images from the blockade, along with an animated mouse figure, The Stand shows how elders, knowledge keepers, and everyday people stood their ground in a landmark protest for land rights and Indigenous sovereignty. The archival images seemingly unfold in the present tense as their significance remains as relevant as ever.
The standoff becomes embodied in the voices of two men. On the Haida side is leader Miles Richardson, who serves as the main spokesperson for the nation both at the blockade and outside in the media. On the other side is Frank Beban, who insists on his company’s right to log on the land. But Richardson’s clear that Beban’s permit is worth beans when the Haida never ceded that territory. The standoff assumes national significance for the precedent the case entails: who has jurisdiction over unceded land?
“The interest in the case is evident in the impressive range of footage that Auchter provides. There’s extensive coverage of key scenes drawn from over 100 hours of news material,” said POV in its review of The Stand. “Although the low-res video (and 1980s’ fashion and haircuts) risk dating the material, it feels very much in the present tense. There’s enough coverage of key scenes to provide all the voices and perspectives with the tempo of a dramatic shoot.”
With docs like Yintah similarly drawing acclaim for its powerful depiction of land defenders, these films offer a reminder that the resistance in Canada seemingly never ends.
Watch The Stand below from the NFB.
It also screens at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on June 21.
The Stand, Chris Auchter, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
