If there were parallels to be drawn between the life of a city dweller and that of British Columbia’s salmon, filmmaker Nettie Wild has paved the way for us to make the connection.
Her new documentary, Uninterrupted, is scheduled to premier June 28 at 10pm as a technically savvy cinematic feature projected across the Cambie Street Bridge. With it, Wild and her team hope to change the way those in the urban environment view a species most are only used to seeing as lunch or dinner.
“What I saw changed my life,” Wild says, of the first time she witnessed the mighty salmon migration off the banks of the Adams River. The river, which runs from BC’s Monashee Mountains southward into Shuswap Lake, is considered one of the most important sockeye salmon breeding areas in North America. “When you’re there, you see this huge heartbeat of nature just pumping its way up the river. We’re not talking hundreds of salmon, we’re talking millions.”
The decision to showcase the movie across the bridge was only natural given the intangible nature of the film. This simply wasn’t a film meant for the traditional, rectangular screen format. And the process through which Wild, an award-winning artistic director with several titles to her credit, and her team pieced the film together was no orthodox challenge. Working with up to six different cameras in the river at various times, including one that captures footage at a dizzying 2,200 frames per second, the filmmakers had to bolster their equipment to land the logistically complex shots of moving salmon in a running current.
You are working, says Wild, “with a cast of characters that pay you no attention what so ever […] if you try to buck Mother Nature, she’ll kick you in the head.”
The team also worked closely with several First Nations communities along the migration route, including Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band at Adams River, Katzie Nation at Pitt River, Hupacasath Nation at Sproat River and the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nation at the Cambie Bridge.
The result is a 25-minute film – seven years in the making – that blends documentary filmmaking, art and captivating camera work to tell a classic tale of the circle of life.
“When you push yourself as an artist to [capture] the familiar in an unfamiliar way, there’s a chance you’re going to surprise yourself,” Wild says. “And if you can surprise yourself, there’s a chance you can surprise your audience. We really want people under the bridge to have the same reaction we had shooting.
“Seeing is believing on this one,” she says.
• Uninterrupted runs at 10pm five nights a week until late September. For more information, visit interrupted.ca.
