Still - Power: One River, Two Nations
Still - Power: One River, Two Nations
 

Power: One River, Two Nations

by Magnus Isacsson
A doc that follows the inside story of the Cree's battle to defend their land and rights against Hydro-Québec.
1996  ·  1m  ·  Canada
English, French
About the Film

When Hydro-Québec announced its intention to proceed with the enormous James Bay II hydroelectric project, the 15,000 Cree who live in the region decided to stand up to the giant utility. With unprecedented access to key figures like Cree leader Matthew Coon Come and American environmental activist Robert Kennedy Jr., Power – One River Two Nations is the compelling, behind-the-scenes story of the Cree’s five-year battle to save the Great Whale River and their traditional way of life.

With unprecedented access to sensitive strategy meetings, confidential talks between leaders and private moments among the Cree, director Magnus Isacsson offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at one of the most important environmental battles of our times.

From the early days of the James Bay Agreement to the 1995 Quebec referendum on independence, Power chronicles a historic period in the Cree drive to self-determination. In uniting to stop a hydro project, the Cree of Northern Quebec discover their own power as a nation.

Upcoming Screenings

Stay tuned for upcoming screenings!

Festivals and Awards
1999
Festival international du film sur l'énergie Lausanne, Grand Prize of the Festival and Grand Prize of the Press
1996
Best Feature Length Documentary, Nominated for the Genie Award
1997
Festival international du film d'environnement, Winner of the Best Documentary Award
1997
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Winner of the Nominated for the Best Feature Length Documentary Award
Editor
Susan Shanks, Glen Salzman & Hannele Halm
Co-director
Producer
Glen Salzman, Mark Zannis, Katherine Buck & Don Haig
Sound Editor
Researcher
Soundtrack Composer
Mark Korven
Translator
Writer
About the Director

Magnus Isacsson

Telling dramatic stories which bring crucial social and political issues to the attention of the public – that was Magnus Isacsson’s objective as a documentary filmmaker. In the last fifteen years, he specialized in feature length “process films”, following conflictual situations over long periods of time. Power (Cineflix 1996), told the five-year story of how the Cree Indians defeated Hydro-Québec’s Great Whale megaproject. The film received the award for best documentary at the Paris International Environmental Film Festival in 1997 and the Grand Prize of the Lausanne festival in 1999.  The Choir Boys (Érézi 1999) about Montreal’s choir of homeless men, was nominated for several major Canadian awards and received the Golden Conch at the Mumbai International festival in 2000. The feature length View from the Summit,  (Érézi 2002) is a multi-faceted view of the politics of protest, which the Globe and Mail called “remarkable…riveting”.  Isacsson also co-directed Pressure Point (Multi-Monde 1999), a film on the same theme that received the Quebec Film Critics award for Best Documentary in 2000. Maxime, McDuff and McDo  (Virage), his second film on attempts to unionize McDonald’s restaurants, was nominated for three Gémeaux awards.  Isacsson’s most recent films are ‘The Battle of Rabaska’ ( with Martin Duckworth, ONF 2008) and Art in Action (Amazone Films 2009) which received the Prix Gémeaux for best portrait or biography in 2011. Isacsson received the 2004 Prix Lumières from the Quebec directors’ association. ( ARRQ.)

Magnus Isacsson was born in Sweden in 1948. He immigrated to Canada in 1970 and became a Canadian citizen in 1978. He is fluent in Swedish, English and French and understands Spanish. After studying political science at the Universities of Stockholm and Montreal, Isacsson started his career as a radio producer for Swedish Broadcasting and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1972 to 1980. From 1980 to 1986 he directed numerous current affairs reports and investigative stories for the English and French television networks of the CBC, for programs such as Le Point, Contrechamp and The Fifth Estate.

Isacsson taught audiovisual production at l’INIS, the Quebec film school, and at several universities, including Whitman College in Washington State, the University of Montreal and Concordia U. In the mid-eighties he taught video production in Zimbabwe and South Africa for Montreal-based Vidéo Tiers Monde (Third World Video). He directed an instructional tape on video production, which received the award for best audiovisual production from the Association for Audiovisual Teaching Techniques in 1991. He was a member and former co-chair of the Documentary Association of Canada (DOC), a member of the Association des Réalisateurs et Réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), and of SARTEC. He was also vice-president of the Observatoire du documentaire.

Isacsson passed away in 2012.

 
Other films by Magnus Isacsson

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