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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.