The Fairy Creek protests began in 2020 when a group of environmentalists established a road blockade in a last-ditch attempt to stop old-growth logging in the untouched Ada’itsx (Fairy Creek) valley on Vancouver Island, Canada – unceded Pacheedaht territory. What started as a single camp quickly grew into a grassroots movement, capturing the attention of concerned citizens, activists, and Indigenous land defenders in a shared effort to save some of Canada’s last remaining old-growth forests.

Produced by Understory Films, the award-winning documentary film FAIRY CREEK is a gripping dive into the frontlines of Canada’s largest act of civil disobedience. Using in-the-trenches cinema verité, the film follows a cast of blockaders, Indigenous land defenders, and loggers, to create a searing portrait of contemporary environmental activism. When police begin arresting people for standing in the way of forestry workers, thousands more protestors flock to the woods to participate in a dramatic and historic stand-off for old-growth forests. 

We are implementing a robust impact campaign that aims to educate the public on the effects of old growth logging and equip activist communities with broad stroke best practices for frontline activism.

We’re focusing on these impact goals because:

• Old growth coastal temperate rainforests in North America’s Pacific Northwest, like the forests found in the Fairy Creek valley, are said to be some of the most biodiverse and carbon-dense forests in the world. Yet, in just over a century, British Columbia’s timber industry has harvested 97 percent of the most productive and largest old growth trees, with only 2.7 percent of ancient forests remaining in the province.
• The Fairy Creek old growth movement was known internationally as a climate frontline, acting as a roadmap for direct actions across the globe.

Our impact strategy will involve organizing community screenings and panels, creating educational discussion kits, compiling and distributing resources for land defenders and activists, and advocating for permanent protection of old growth forests.

With your donation, we can bring this film into communities, classrooms, and board rooms to spark meaningful change and resilient climate activism.

“There’s hope, and [Fairy Creek] stands as a fine example to which we all should aspire and lend our support.” – Film Threat

Understory Films is a production company based in British Columbia, owned by Jen Muranetz (director/producer) and Sepehr Samimi (producer/director of photography). The project involves seasoned Canadian filmmakers, including Mark Achbar, Neal Livingston and Nettie Wild.

Jen Muranetz (she/her) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker living on unceded Coast Salish territories. She is a director, producer, editor and video journalist. Her films are character-driven and impact-focused, centered around environmental justice and human resilience. Her previous works have screened in festivals such as Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, DOK Leipzig, DOXA and Planet in Focus. She’s been selected for programs such as the Canadian Creative Accelerator, DOCNYC Voices of Canada Roundtables, Whistler Film Festival Doc Lab, and SMI’s Story to Action.

Sepehr Samimi (he/him) is an Iranian-Canadian documentary cinematographer and producer (BFA film production from SFU). He specializes in filming on the frontlines of urgent social and political movements across the world such as on: If [I Was] To Retain You, shot in Hong Kong during the umbrella movement, hit global climate movement film The Magnitude of All Things, and Constant Battles for Telus Originals, featuring the Woman Life Freedom movement from Iran. Sepehr is a member of Intl Cinematographers Guild (ICG669) and Canadian Cinematographers Society, and alumni of HotDocs Doc Accelerator program.

Donate today and take a step towards supporting frontline climate activism.

This film was created on the traditional, unceded and stolen lands of the Nuu-chah-nulth and Coast Salish Peoples, including the Pacheedaht, Ditidaht, lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. We acknowledge Indigenous communities as the original stewards of these territories, having cared for and defended these lands for time immemorial, long before contemporary climate frontlines.