Cinematic Superhero

“There will come a time of a great war. Not a war with guns or bombs, but with paper and with words.” Faith Gemmil of RED-OIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction On Indigenous Lands) is sharing with us a prophecy told to her by her Alaskan Athabascan elders. “How this war will end, who will win, is not known. But it will determine the fate of humanity, and will be a chance for the peoples of the whole world to come together for the common good.”

Faith believes the time for the great war of words is now upon us. After spending ten days in Copenhagen at the largest environmental conference in history, I find it pretty hard to disagree.

During the two week conference, there were two main voices battling for dominance in Copenhagen: the words coming from the conference rooms of the Bella Center, a large, glass, sterile structure dominating the landscape on the outskirts of the city; and those coming from the DGI – Byen, an unassuming community center across from the main train station in the downtown core.

The former, the official headquarters for the UN COP15 conference, represents the words of governments and economics. The latter, the setting for Klimaforum09, or “The People’s Conference,” represents the “alternative” view. Although it’s a mere six kilometres between the two locations, when listening to the different messages coming out of these buildings, I find it hard to imagine two ideologies further apart.

The majority of the mainstream media was focused on what’s happening at the Bella Center and COP15. Although we spent some time at the Bella Center while in Copenhagen filming for Down2Earth, we mostly focused on Klimaforum09. That is where the Indigenous voice was strongest and best represented, where the words of Indigenous people were heard loud and clear.

Here’s a list of some of the events we attended:

• Demonstration by the People’s Movement on Climate Change – Held outside the entrance of the Bella Center, an expression of the perspectives and aspiration of indigenous peoples’ response to the climate change issue.
• Assembly on the People’s Protocol on Climate Change – Developed by the People’s Assembly on Climate Change, the Protocol is a document responding to the challenges of climate change, founded on the principles of peoples’ sovereignty, respect for the environment, social justice and human rights and common but differentiated responsibilities.
• The Indigenous Caucus at COP15 – The Caucus met daily to discuss the developments at COP15 and how they effected the interests of Indigenous People.
• Conversations with the Earth – A series of films by Indigenous filmmakers from around the world about the impact of climate change on their communities.
• Indigenous People Speak Out – An uncensored expression of indigenous peoples from every corner of the earth regarding their experience with climate changes.
• Climate Change and the Arctic People’s Perspective - The Nordic youth Association presented the effects of climate change for the people of the far north.
• Global Day of Action on Climate, March at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen - Rally and March led by the COP15 Indigenous Caucus and the Indigenous Environmental Network. Speeches by Vandana Shiva, Constance Okollet, and Tom Goldtooth
• Biodiversity Lecture at Forest Day3 - A Learning event to show how Climate Change and Biodiversity are inextricably linked.
• Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the National Museum of Denmark – a celebration of what indigenous peoples have achieved in advocating for their rights in the climate change negotiations
• Tar Sands Protest at the Canadian Embassy - lead by members of the Indigenous Environmental Network
• Inuit and Arctic Day - A Celebration of Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ Culture and a Global Call to Actionork)

Here’s a list of the people we met:

• Faith Gemmil - Outreach coordinator for REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands)
• Vandana Shiva – Founder and Executive Director of Navdanya
• Yudhvir Singh, Elvira M. Baladad and Chavannes Jean-Baptiste – all farmers with La Via Campesina
• Marilyn Wallace – An Aboriginal Filmmaker and social activist from Australia
• Constance Okollet – A Climate Witness from Uganda
• Vivian Ford (Canada) and Carl “Puju” Chrolson (Greenland) – Executive Members of the Inuit Circompolar Council
• Maria Theresa “Tetet” N. Lamron – Activist and General Secretary of APRNET (The Asia Pacific Research Network)
• Keidy Magtoto Transfiguracion - A Participatory Video Facilitator and member of the Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network
• Nikke Alex - Director, Navajo Green Jobs Initiative
• Brian Wyatt - Chairman – National Native Title Council (Australia)
• Pam Gross - Student and Inuit “Conversations with the Earth” representative
• Robby Romero - A Navajo musician and environmental activist.
• Earl Tulley – Vice President of Diné CARE
• Chief Gary Harrison – The Traditional Chief of the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, Athabascan Nation
• Wahu Kaara - The Executive Director of the Kenya Debt Relief Network
• and Clayton Thomas-Mullar - The Indigenous Environmental Network Oil Campaign Organizer

Speaking with Indigenous people from around the world we learned that Climate Change is being felt NOW and EVERYWHERE. Although the specific experiences are region dependent, whether it’s coming from Uganda, Greenland, Arizona or the Philippines, the overall message was the same. ‘The effects of Climate Change are having a significant and negative impact on the local environments, and on peoples’ ability to live in harmony with the land as they’ve done throughout history.’ As we heard many times during our time in Copenhagen, Climate Change is most impacting those who are least responsible for it. Therefore, in an effort to insure the Indigenous perspective was heard at COP15, the ‘Indigenous Caucus‘ (IC) was created, a formal organization of peoples from around the world which met daily to discuss the developments at COP15 and lobby governments on their behalf. For us, it was a powerful and profound experience to step into a room full of the world’s Indigenous peoples and see their collaboration, joining forces on behalf of their cultures and Mother Earth. I felt that I was witnessing something sacred, the concentration of the world’s wisdom traditions challenging the insane hubris of our modern society. For the most part, the IC and Indigenous NGO’s were critical of the proposals put forth by the developed counties (the plans you hear about on the CBC, BBC and MSNBC) which seek to solve the problems by further ‘commodifying’ the natural environment through programs such as REDD+ and Carbon Credits. Most members of the Indigenous Caucus believe these proposals would result in more land being taken from their Indigenous communities, a loss of biodiversity, and ultimately, do very little to solve or even slow down the problems. “What we need is social change. Not more of the same ‘profits at all costs’ capitalism which got us into this situation,” explained Wahu Kaara, Executive Director of the Kenya Debt Relief Network. “System Change, Not Climate Change” was a slogan we heard a lot. Of course, in the end there was no deal. Or, at least not the legally binding one so many people were hoping for. However, for members of the IC and the majority of the people we interviewed, no agreement was not so bad. “No deal is better than a bad deal,” is how the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, explained it at an IC event. Morales is the first Indigenous president in the Americas in over 500 years, and along with Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, is the major political ally of the IC. So, as the media and large NGO’s declare COP15 a colossal failure, for the Indigenous peoples who came to Copenhagen in full force, that’s hardly the case. While everyone would have loved a “fare, legal and binding agreement”, that possibility was never really on the table. Instead, what Copenhagen provided was an opportunity for Indigenous people the world over, people whose voices have been silenced for so long, to come together and be heard. There was a feeling by the end of the conference that new bonds had formed, both within the Indigenous communities and between the developing countries whose views they so often shared. When it comes to paying back our environmental debt, it’s clear that those who have been elected to lead us in the developed world are not up to the task. It’s now time to listen to those who are the real experts on the subject. The war of words over the fate of our planet is still being waged, and, everyday, more and more individuals are adding their voice to the call for justice. 4MANXMN9UBYJ

We have been absolutely blown away by the huge response we’re getting from Indigenous individuals and organizations planning to attend COP15 in Denmark in December. Representatives from Canada, the United States, Samoa, Australia, New Caledonia, the Philippines, Greenland, the Carteret Islands, Uganda, Mexico and the Cook Islands have already agreed to share their stories with us in Copenhagen.

And from what we’re being told, that’s only the beginning! At Klimaforum09, global civil society/NGO conference paralleling the official UN event, a whole day (December 10th) is focused on issues of Indigenous peoples, their lands, and the Environment.

Vandana Shiva, recipient of the Right Livelihood Award for her work on behalf of women and the Earth, is traveling from India to participate in Klimaforum09, and and is one of the many who has agreed to an interview with us.

As a non-Indigenous filmmaker, I’m honoured and humbled by the opportunity to experience so many passionate, Indigenous voices harmonizing around the common dream of ecological health and responsibility.

Sadly, as the conference approaches, there is a building sense that the politicians, yet again, are going to fail us…

… However, in the face of political bureaucratic gridlock, a resolve is building amongst the global population. People everywhere are realizing it is up to them, to each of us, to be a part of the change. It is clear our governments and “leaders” are not going to do it for us.

In so many cases, the Indigenous people we are meeting are the ones on the front lines of this global battle: it is their lands being ravaged for economic greed; their crops stunted by years of drought; their islands drowning as the tides continue to rise.

More than most traveling to Copenhagen this December, many of the Indigenous delegates understand the severity of the stakes we are facing. They are coming to share their experiences with us. But more than that, they are also sharing their hopes and, so often, their solutions.

What we need to do is listen. Learn. Act. Our health and the health of the planet depend on it.

Like any great editor, time can be ruthless.

In August, I finished writing the second draft of my new feature screenplay, Bitter Pills.

Bitter Pills is the story of a small town doctor who begins telling all his healthy patients they are dying of cancer. This news gives them a new perspective on life.

Back in August, I was rather happy with what I had written and felt the script was almost ready to be released into the world.

Having spent most of the first eight months of 2009 distributing The Last New Year (and writing Bitter Pills), in September it was time to get a job and pay some bills. I took a job as a producer on Down2Earth, and put the writing aside for a while.

Last week, I picked up Bitter Pills for the first time in almost three months. Reading it, I was shocked (and somewhat dismayed) over the amount of work which still needs to be done! Far from the polished work I had considered it to be three months ago, I feel it’s now a ‘good’ draft that requires considerable structural changes to get it where it needs to be.

… As the paint dries, the cracks begin to show through.

Stephen King says giving your drafts time to rest is one of the best things you can do as a writer. He suggests pounding out a draft, and then putting it away for at least a few months. The time between drafts allows one to become detached and provides a new perspective on the work.

Of course he’s right. What’s most surprising is my ability to forget this truth over and over again. Every time I finish a draft, I think it’s perfect, or at worst, only a ‘polish’ away from perfect.

Coming back to the work several months later is both daunting and exciting. Daunting because, even after diving back in, tearing the work apart and piecing it back together with laboured precision, there’s a good chance I could find myself in a similar state of mind three months after completing the next draft.

Exciting because, seeing the cracks so clearly now, I know there are ways to make it better.

Despite my feelings last September that Bitter Pills was ready to leave the nest and face the critiques of a harsh, unforgiving world, I never really felt it was as good as I’d initially hoped. Although well structured with strong characters, it wasn’t as remarkably, unbelievably, stupendously compelling as I thought it deserved to be. It wasn’t jumping off the page and grabbing me in a headlock and throwing me on the ground and kicking me in the teeth. It just wasn’t THAT good yet, and I thought, perhaps that’s just its fate. Perhaps it will never be that good…

But, perhaps it will, and with time come new ideas and new hope. I again believe it can and will be an amazing script, an ass-kicking script, and I have an arsenal of ideas about how to take it to the next level.

Now all I need to find is the time to work on it!

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