'There's history sitting there': Documentary draws on unseen footage to tell story of Idle No More

From rallies and round dances to a hunger strike that caught the world's attention, the story of Idle No More has been painstakingly chronicled by two Winnipeg producers.

Theresulting 2020 documentary, calledThe Power Was With Us: Idle No More, has previously been screened elsewhere, but to mark the 10th anniversary of the movement, it will have a public presentation in Winnipeg for the first time this Saturday at Dave Barber Cinematheque.

The Power Was With Us: Idle No More premieres in Winnipeg

2 years ago

Duration 2:28

Journalists Tim Fontaine and Rick Harp use archival APTN footage to tell the story of a movement which began in protest to Bill C-45 under Stephen Harper's government, grew to encompass Indigenous rights and sovereignty as a whole and continues to shape Canada today

The two-part documentaryfollowsthe Idle No More movement, using hours ofAPTN archival newsfootage.

APTNgathered a wealth of footage showing many of the movement's pivotal moments, said co-producer Tim Fontaine.

"In a newsroom, there's a glut of tape," said Fontaine, a former APTNand CBC journalist. "You shoot an hour and you use a minute."

Producing the long-form documentary allowedthe luxury of being able "to go through hours and hours of footage ... and tell the bigger story you didn't get to tell when you're doing daily news," said Fontaine.

"It's history, right? There's history sitting there."

Idle No More began in 2012with Indigenous opposition to the federal Conservative government's Bill C-45 omnibuslegislation that proposed changes to the Indian Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the Environmental Protections Act.

Critics said the billdiminished the rights of Indigenous communities and made it easier for resource projects to go forward without strict environmental assessment.

The movement began to spread quickly through social media and the #IdleNoMore hashtag, and soon evolvedto encompass broader issues around Indigenous sovereignty and environmental protection.

Both Fontaine and co-producer Rick Harp covered much of the movement as journalists. Fontaine worked in Halifax for APTN at the time, whileHarp who now works with APTN was working as a radio host at CBC Edmonton.

APTN was quick to cover the movement, but other media outlets weren't, said Harp.

"It didn't get on mainstream media's radar right away," he said. "I don't remember the CBC Edmonton plant being particularly fired up as to what was going onliterally steps away from their downtown headquarters."

They watched as the movement moved from rallies and "teach-ins" raising awareness, to flash mobs performing round dances in malls across the country.

APTN approached Harp and Fontaine after the success of other news-focused documentaries like Netflix's Making A Murderer. The news organization asked them to craft a story, based on access totheir archives.

Fontaine says there were more than a dozen subjects they could've chosen, but Idle No More encompassed all the issues he and Harp were interested in.

For more than a year, the pair combed through hours of archival footage, some of which hadn't yet been digitized often workingpart-time and remotely.

They also drew on social media posts from the timeand interviews with people who lived through the events to craft the documentary.

Among other things, the documentary followsthe creation of the Idle No More Facebook page by the four women from Saskatchewan Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon, Nina Wilson and Sheelah McLean whose opposition to Bill C-45planted the seeds for Idle No More.

Fontaineremembers the movementbeginning as social media started playing a larger role in news coverage, particularly the use ofTwitter to report on stories.

"Could this [Idle No More] have happened without social media? I don't think it would have happened the same way," said Fontaine.

The film also highlights the story of Theresa Spence, then the chief of Attawapiskat, whowent on a six-week-long, liquid-only hunger strike in the winter of 2012-13 to push for meetings between then prime minister Stephen Harper and First Nations leaders.

Harp hopes the documentary leaves audiences with a renewed appreciation for the movement.

"It was an incredible moment in history ... a moment that continues to echo and resonate," he said.

"It's all there. It's incredible," said Fontaine, speaking to the footage gathered. "Luckily the cameras were rolling the whole time."

The Power Was With Us: Idle No Morescreens at the Dave Barber Cinematheque in Winnipeg on Jan.21 at 1 p.m. The theatre's website says the event is technically sold out, but you can still join a waiting list for tickets.