First Nations elders and leaders gather in Sudbury for film premiere
Having grown up in Montreal filmmaker Michael Zelniker says his love of the Boreal forest made him want to know more.
That curiosity sparked inspiration for his latest film, The Issue with Tissue-A Boreal Love Story, which made its world premiere at Cinefest in Greater Sudbury on Sunday afternoon.
“As we travelled across the boreal over 42 days 16,000 trip, we met with more than 50 First Nations elders, leaders, scientists, conservationists. What began as a story about trees and toilet paper evolved and emerged into a story that runs from trees to toilet paper to treaties from carbon to climate change to colonization,” Zelniker told CTV News.
Told in the words and voices of First Nations elders and leaders, along with leading scientists and activists, the film aims to bring awareness to the issues surrounding clear cutting of the Boreal for the manufacturing of toilet paper and what everyone can do to make a difference.
“Basically when you look at the Boreal forest it’s an ecosystem, but all they’re interested in is fibre. Two trees make fibres spruce and jack pine but Boreal’s made up of hundreds of different species. It’s an ecosystem that relies on everything. The song birds are disappearing. The moose are disappearing at a remarkable rate and just to bring awareness to people. We need more allies than foe,” Chief Keeter Corston of Chapleau Cree First Nation said.
The documentary shown Sunday at Cinefest is only a two hour snippet of a five-and-a-half hour planned docu-series that Zelniker hopes will be picked up by a broadcaster or streaming service soon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Slovakia's populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections
Slovakia's populist prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday after a political event in an attempted assassination that shocked the small country and reverberated across Europe.
Transport Canada's UFO 'lead' planned to meet with U.S. intel officials, called info requests a 'wild goose chase'
Canada's transportation department had a UFO 'lead' who tried to 'quell' media interest and planned to meet with U.S. intelligence officials.
'Very expensive lunch': Sask. driver handed a cell phone ticket for using points app in McDonald's drive-thru
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
'The Fly' has become notorious in France after a brazen escape. What's his criminal history?
A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.
Ontario's 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski arrested
Aiden Pleterski, the self-proclaimed 'crypto king' from Whitby, Ont., has been arrested in Durham Region after allegedly running a Ponzi scheme worth more than $40 million.
Barge hits a bridge in Texas, damaging the structure and causing an oil spill
A barge slammed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, spilling oil into surrounding waters and closing the only road to a smaller and separate island that is home to a university, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Person responsible for 1996 drugging of 'Titanic' crew likely not a local: Halifax police
Halifax Regional Police believe a non-resident could be responsible for the infamous drugging of numerous crew members of the 'Titanic' movie with a hallucinogenic in 1996.
Latest updates on the biggest wildfires burning in Canada
Thousands of people in Western Canada remain displaced from their homes as wildfires threaten their communities, triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
OPINION If you think you can’t focus for long, you’re right: Sandee LaMotte
Regaining your focus requires you to be mindful of how you are using technology -- a daunting task if you consider the average American spends at least 10 hours a day on screens.