Christopher Auchter

With the 40th anniversary of the old-growth forests roadblock on Haida passing recently, a film recognizing the Haida people’s efforts has come back into the spotlight. Christopher Auchter’s documentary The Stand uses archival footage and animation to take viewers through the 1985 logging conflict on Lyell Island between the B.C. federal government and the Haida Nation. Oct. 30 marked 40 years since the blockade took place. …Auchter grew up on Haida Gwaii in a family of loggers and fishermen, and recognizes the importance of old-growth to the Haida, as they rely on big cedar and spruce for building canoes and totem poles, as well as fruit and bark. …The film contrasts the two sides of the protest, with the Haida people’s battle on the blockades and in court on one side, and the loggers, government and media on the other.