The distributors of a film on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are hoping the documentary will turn the eyes of the nation to the fight to shut down an oil pipeline and uphold Indigenous sovereignty.
The “Bad River” documentary weaves the long history of resistance to settler colonialism of the Bad River Band with the band’s current fight to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline on their sovereign land, a pipeline now at imminent risk of a catastrophic rupture, threatening the pristine waters of Lake Superior, the Sierra Club said in a news release.
They say the 645 mile, 71-year-old pipeline operates illegally through the band's land in northern Wisconsin and continues under the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan where commercial ships anchoring on the pipeline there pose an "equally devastating risk of rupture".
"Line 5 has outlived its intended lifespan by two decades — posing catastrophic risks to Treaty-protected lands, Great Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron, pristine natural areas, and over 400 rivers and streams, wetlands, and farmland, including pristine glacial aquifers," states the release.
The film opens in AMC theaters in multiple cities across the country on March 15. Fifty percent of the profits from ticket sales will go directly to the Bad River Band.
The film will be shown in Michigan at March 15 through 20 at AMC Cherry Blossom 14, 3825 Marketplace Circle, Traverse City and AMC Forum 30, 44681 Mound Rd., Sterling Heights.
Tickets can be purchased at www.BadRiverFilm.com/dates.
