Film
We are not enemies.
* But we don't always agree.
Something is breaking open in the Nooksack watershed. Water rights are on the table. Lawsuits are looming. The river is running out of give. And yet—across kitchen tables, on muddy riverbanks, in barns and tribal halls—people who were supposed to be opponents are showing up, listening, and sometimes even laughing together.
This film doesn't pretend to have answers. It doesn't tie things up with a bow. Instead, it follows what happens when tribal fishers, family farmers, and neighbors decide to get uncomfortable together—choosing conversation over courtroom, relationship over retreat.
Stories That Don't Behave
Real stories rarely fit the script. We're documenting moments of trust and tension, old wounds and new beginnings. People who carry 170 years of broken treaty rights, and others who just want to keep the family farm afloat. The river's story, and the salmon's, too.
This isn't a highlight reel of consensus. It's a record of what happens when people risk honesty, bring their contradictions, and stay in the room when things get hot. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes it's awkward. Sometimes, it's the only way forward.
Why Make This Film?
Because the future of this place won't be decided by experts or outsiders. It will be shaped by the people who live here—if we're willing to listen, to remember, and to imagine something different together.
The camera is here to witness, not to judge. To hold up a mirror, not to hand down a verdict. This is the community's story—unfolding in real time, with real stakes.
Screenings and Conversations
When the film is ready, each screening will be more than just watching—it'll be a gathering. A chance to sit with neighbors and ask the hard questions: What would cooperation look like here? Who's missing from our conversations? What stories need to be shared?
These won't be lectures or panels with predetermined answers. They'll be spaces for communities to wrestle with their own water challenges, their own divisions, their own possibilities for working together.
Want In?
If you live here, you're already part of the story. If you don't, you're still welcome at the table. When the time comes, host a screening. Start a conversation. Or just show up and see what happens when people choose relationship over rivalry.