Brave New River Trailer (2013)

Trailer for Brave New River.

From a raging torrent to a restricted rumble, the Rupert River’s drastic transformation is inextricably connected to the Cree people who have called it home for centuries. Since the 1970s, hydroelectric development in the James Bay territory has been a divisive topic in Quebec. Exploring the wild beauty of the landscape through the eyes of its inhabitants, director Nicolas Renaud renders an illuminating study of how decades of power struggles and ecological alterations have resulted in working relationships between the Cree and government, but not without dilemmas and conflict. Witnessing the contrasting imagery of a pre- and post-dam river environment, questions of modernity’s quest to control nature arise, while Renaud’s sensitive portraits and reflective observations provide a comprehensive understanding of identity, history and responsibility. Not since One More River has a film captured the complexity and beauty of nature’s gifts and the human issues of how it should be received.