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Taking a STAND against Enbridge's pipeline

Local filmmakers to screen their paddleboard documentary at two Sea to Sky events
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stand up A new documentary looks at Enbridge's proposed tanker route from the perspective of a paddleboarder. Photo by Nicolas Teichrob, submitted

There have been a whole host of films released in recent months that take aim at the proposed Enbridge pipeline, which would send Alberta tar sands to Kitamat and through rocky channels of water that border the Great Bear Rainforest.

It's a perfect topic for a documentary: there's drama, conflict and gorgeous scenery of Northern B.C. that never gets boring, no matter how many times you see it.

But for Anthony Bonello, it all began with a dog-eared magazine in a cabin in the interior. The Whistler filmmaker was on a Solomon shoot when he came across a publication featuring Norm Hann, a professional paddleboarder, on the cover.

Hann had made a film about his 2010 expedition through the proposed tanker route to raise awareness about Enbridge's plan. "It was a really good film, but I saw that and I thought, 'Wow, we could do something cool that reaches a lot more people," he says. "I just called Norm out of the blue, and had coffee and hatched a plan."

The project began to grow from there. Norm was involved in a paddleboard initiative in Bella Bella where high school kids were creating their own wooden paddleboards with help from a wood working teacher there. Bonello saw an opportunity for another narrative thread. "When I got in touch with Chris (Williamson, the teacher) that's when the project became something more than a white dude paddling to raise awareness," he says. "At that point I didn't know Norm and the full extent of his connection (to the area). It was, to me, unique and powerful."

Partnering with Sunshine Coast photographer Nicolas Teichrob, the group decided to film Hann paddling the full tanker route while chronicling the teens creating their own boards and contemplating the importance of having a viable shoreline for the future.

"We shot the kids before we shot anything else," Bonello says. "In the winter they were building their boards while they were still in school. I was up there last March every couple of weeks during the different stages. It took a lot to earn their trust and unlock them."

One way he did that was by participating in a 48-hour hunger strike alongside many of them to show their opposition to the proposed pipeline and tanker route. It was startling to watch them open up, he adds. Three days before Enbridge's Joint Review Panel hearings in Bella Bella "you could barely squeeze a word out of them then they were undergoing a 48-hour hunger strike and speaking so eloquently about things kids shouldn't have to concern themselves with," he says. "It blew me away. It strengthened (my) resolve to do the film and include them in it."

Visuals of Hann's epic Haida Gwaii journey also offer some of the most memorable shots in the film. For Teichrob, the last day of the expedition was a stand out. "We woke up to an absolutely glassy, calm ocean that was unbelievable to witness," he says. "Anthony and I cruised around on a zodiac following Norm as he paddled and I think we had perma-smiles on our faces."

Those smooth waters — the only kind on which Hann could paddle—posed a problem. One of the arguments against the tanker traffic is that the waters on the proposed route can quickly turn treacherous — and, indeed they did, but those shots didn't make it into the film.

So, the team decided to travel to Tofino to talk to surfer Raph Bruhwiler about the proposal. Though his island home is far from the tanker route, he too has a lot to lose if an oil spill were to happen. "He's a strong character," Bonello says of Bruhwiler. "We wanted to incorporate some of that volatility and drama of the ocean to support that whole argument of how rugged the coast is."

One of the biggest strengths of the film, though, is that it doesn't force the filmmakers' views on its audience. While the main characters are clearly anti-pipeline, the documentary also includes hard facts about the fishing and tourism industries along with revenue and job creation numbers that the pipeline and tankers would generate. They were fact checked with Enbridge, Bonello says.

"We worked really hard on that," he adds. "As a (viewer) and as a filmmaker, I really like to come to my own conclusions. I really hope that people come to their own conclusions. We were in touch with Enbridge trying to get them to sit down for an interview. But we obviously feel one way and the characters feel distinctly one way. It's their opinions. The infographics (with industry statistics), I thought by being transparent about it strengthens our arguments."

The film made its debut in Vancouver last month and went on to win the Vancouver Festival of Ocean Films' grand prize recently. It will be screened around the province this summer, including at an event in Squamish at the Eagle Eye Theatre June 18 and again in Whistler at Millennium Place June 25.

In the end, Bonello says, he hopes STAND fits into the collection of environmentally focused Enbridge films to keep the issue in the public's consciousness. "We pushed at the end to get it out before the election, but in terms of the issue, I think that it's not going anywhere in a hurry," he says. "It's going to be a big issue for the next couple of years."