Beyond Extinction: Sinixt Resurgence Film Tour
By Contributor
Autonomous Sinixt are hosting a film tour through the Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔxʷ (homeland) between May 12 and May 15.
The screening times are as follows:
Thursday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Arrow Lake Theatre
Nakusp, BC
Friday, May 13 at 7 p.m.
The Royal Theatre
Trail, BC
Saturday, May 14 at 4 p.m.
Civic Theatre
Nelson, BC
Saturday, May 14, 7:30 p.m.
Vallican Whole Community Centre
Winlaw, BC
Sunday, May 15 at 7 p.m.
The Old Theatre
Castlegar, BC
Governor General’s Award winning filmmaker, Ali Kazimi’s, new film Beyond Extinction: Sinixt Resurgence is on a limited tour in Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔxʷ (homeland).
Beyond Extinction: A Sinixt Resurgence documents three decades of Indigenous struggle by the Sinixt people, whose traditional territories are in Southwest BC and the USA, divided by the border. It weaves together observational footage, contemporary interviews, oral histories, survival stories told by matriarchs, personal as well as public archives, to tell a story never told before.
This documentary traces through generations how the Indian Act, colonialism, residential schools, and borders, that led to the Canadian government declaring the Sinixt people to be “extinct”.
Filmmaker Ali Kazimi’s journey began in 1995, when he was invited and granted intimate access to the community building work of the autonomous Sinixt peoples.
This film traces the journey of matriarchs Marilyn James, Eva Orr and Alvina Lum; Marilyn was appointed the official spokesperson of the Sinixt in 1992.
The film follows these matriarchs and the communities supporting them over a 25-year period as they repatriated the remains of ancestors held in museums, fought against logging in their traditional territories, revived ceremonies, conveyed oral histories and fought against erasure by the Canadian state.
The film starts by locating the viewer within the landscape of the territory and traces the story of a Sinixt man who faced deportation from Canada because he was born on the Sinixt land on the USA side of the international border. The story involves Canada’s immigration laws, environmental laws, and hunting and fishing rights.
The Sinixt seek recognition for themselves and their traditional practices under Canada’s constitution. It ends with a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada but the fight against “extinction” still continues.
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