The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is releasing a musical documentary that was partly shot in Prince George.
Marie Clements’ musical documentary, The Road Forward, is now streaming for free to mark Indigenous History Month.
It's a musical documentary that connects a pivotal moment in Canada's civil rights history, the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s with First Nations activism today.
The film includes interviews and musical sequences describe how a tiny movement, the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, grew to become a successful voice for change across the country.
The Road Forward connects past and present through story-songs with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.
It was shot throughout B.C. in Prince George, Richmond, Delta, Maple Ridge, Fort Langley, West Vancouver and Vancouver.
After premiering at the 2017 Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival in Toronto, and opening for the 2017 DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver, the film won an award at the 2017 Dreamspeakers International Film Festival in Edmonton and won best director at the 2017 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.
Over 10,000 people have seen the film in theatres through festivals as well as through community screenings and now the film is available for everyone to stream for free.
The film’s opening song, Indian Man by Wayne Lavallee, was released as a single in 2018 and played in the Indigenous Music Countdown charts for about half a year reaching No. 2.
Musical performers include Richard E. Brown, Ronnie Dean Harris, Shakti Hayes, Jennifer Kreisberg, Jeremy James Lavallee, Wayne Lavallee, Cheri Maracle, Shamantsut/Amanda Nahanee, Delhia Nahanee, Marissa Nahanee, Latash-Maurice Nahanee, Corey Payette, Murray Porter, Michelle St. John and Russell Wallace.
You can also watch the whole documentary on YouTube.
