The story of the killing of Colten Boushie and his family's pursuit of justice.The story of the killing of Colten Boushie and his family's pursuit of justice.The story of the killing of Colten Boushie and his family's pursuit of justice.
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Brilliant and moving
A deeply moving documentary about the tragic case of Colten Boushie, a young Cree man who was shot and killed by a farmer in rural Saskatchewan in 2016, a tragedy compounded when the farmer was found not guilty at his murder trial. The racism at each and every step along the way - the execution style killing with the words "that's what you get for trespassing," the shoddy police work that included not investigating for a full day while the victim lay out in the rain and harassing the family in their own home (the victim's family!), the racist jury selection that excluded every indigenous candidate, the online bile and hatred towards the family that had just suffered a horrific loss, the weak prosecution of the case, the verdict announced with one juror smiling at the defendant - it all speaks to the very definition of systemic racism.
I loved how Tasha Hubbard gave us a brief account of 19th century history to provide context, and how she allowed the viewer to connect the dots to the present day. The supreme irony of farmers defending their land so ruthlessly when it was essentially taken 150 years earlier, and treating indigenous people as if they were coyotes that could be shot and disposed of is not lost. She gives us a window into the culture and the grief of family members, and it's hard not to get emotional watching this film. I would have liked to have seen more of the farmer's side of the story (or the prosecutors, or the cops, or a jury member, etc), but ultimately I don't feel as though what I watched was overly biased. If anything, it's a triumph of standing up for a perspective that has long been underrepresented, with the result that the system and the colonial attitudes really haven't changed since the time of Treaty 6. (I'm making a massive generalization here, so debate me if you feel I'm wrong).
We do at least hear the farmers venting their frustrations at a public meeting, though their claim that this had nothing to do with race is ludicrous. (You're going to tell me after reading those tweets and seeing that jury selection that it's not about race? That if it had been a young white man on the property it would have been the same outcome?) We also hear Hubbard's own adoptive grandfather (a white farmer) speak in a rather remarkable scene towards the end. He's giving her the stones that he's saved from a field that he cleared so that he could plant wheat years ago, and while he was conflicted at the time because he knew they were used by indigenous people, did it anyway. He also at least raises with question, what are farmers supposed to do to protect themselves - but his great-grandchild has a perfect answer, not shoot people. And that's the thing, the punishment here for whatever infraction had been committed should not have been death at the hands of a vigilante, as if he was an animal.
Last note, and maybe easy to forget given the film's content - the cinematography is truly beautiful here, sometimes breathtaking. I loved the soundtrack too. The quality of the filmmaking keeps up with the emotions that are stirred up. Essential viewing.
I loved how Tasha Hubbard gave us a brief account of 19th century history to provide context, and how she allowed the viewer to connect the dots to the present day. The supreme irony of farmers defending their land so ruthlessly when it was essentially taken 150 years earlier, and treating indigenous people as if they were coyotes that could be shot and disposed of is not lost. She gives us a window into the culture and the grief of family members, and it's hard not to get emotional watching this film. I would have liked to have seen more of the farmer's side of the story (or the prosecutors, or the cops, or a jury member, etc), but ultimately I don't feel as though what I watched was overly biased. If anything, it's a triumph of standing up for a perspective that has long been underrepresented, with the result that the system and the colonial attitudes really haven't changed since the time of Treaty 6. (I'm making a massive generalization here, so debate me if you feel I'm wrong).
We do at least hear the farmers venting their frustrations at a public meeting, though their claim that this had nothing to do with race is ludicrous. (You're going to tell me after reading those tweets and seeing that jury selection that it's not about race? That if it had been a young white man on the property it would have been the same outcome?) We also hear Hubbard's own adoptive grandfather (a white farmer) speak in a rather remarkable scene towards the end. He's giving her the stones that he's saved from a field that he cleared so that he could plant wheat years ago, and while he was conflicted at the time because he knew they were used by indigenous people, did it anyway. He also at least raises with question, what are farmers supposed to do to protect themselves - but his great-grandchild has a perfect answer, not shoot people. And that's the thing, the punishment here for whatever infraction had been committed should not have been death at the hands of a vigilante, as if he was an animal.
Last note, and maybe easy to forget given the film's content - the cinematography is truly beautiful here, sometimes breathtaking. I loved the soundtrack too. The quality of the filmmaking keeps up with the emotions that are stirred up. Essential viewing.
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- gbill-74877
- Nov 22, 2020
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- Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up
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By what name was nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up (2019) officially released in India in English?
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