8 Questions with Susan Fleming, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and co-producer, co-writer, and the director of I AM THE MAGPIE RIVER
1. Thank you so much for sharing your story with our readers. Can you tell our audience a bit about yourself?
I am a Canadian Independent documentary filmmaker, which I know is a mouthful. I have been making documentary films and TV Series for over 30 years, with the last 20 years or so dedicated to making nature films. I feel so lucky to have been able to travel the world having amazing adventures that give me a ringside seat to the wonders of our planet and the creatures that call it home.
2. What is the significance of the Magie River? Both environmental and cultural?
Flowing steeply through glacier-carved valleys, the powerful white-water of the Magpie River summersaults through sheer granite walls and tumbles through pristine boreal forest that is home to caribou, lynx and osprey. It is one of the last great, free-flowing rivers in Northern Quebec.
National Geographic named The Magpie one of the best white-water rivers to paddle in the world, but it is more than just a paddling destination. This wild river is a true force of nature, and it is culturally significant to the Innu people who have long fought to protect it.
Chief Jean-Charles Piétecho of the Innu of Ekuanitshit, whose territory is home to the Magpie River (or as it is called in Innu, the Mutehekau Shipu), speaks eloquently in the doc about how the Innu people view the river as an ancestor. Each rock is a grandparent or an elder of the community to be protected. I was incredibly moved by the Innu people’s intimate relationship to their territory and this river in particular which is something we explore in the documentary.
3. What is Legal Personhood and why is granting this right to the Magpie River so important?
Corporations have legal personhood, as do ships and charities. Legal Personhood is a classification under the law that gives protections to these entities, so it is not such a big leap in thinking to grant legal personhood to things like rivers and forests. And yet, the Rights of nature are relatively new and a ground-breaking legal precedent.
By granting the Magpie River legal personhood, Canada joins an elite set of countries like Brazil, New Zealand and Ecuador that recognize that nature has rights outside of what it can do for us. The idea that Rivers and Forests could now have a voice in decision making that effects them through our court system is a true shift in how we think about and approach nature. It is really exciting and has the potential to be a complete game-changing legal precedent for the protection of the environment. As the amazing Maude Barlow says in the doc: “It is an idea whose time has come!”.
4. What drew you to making a documentary about this event?
This is my 35th year making documentaries in Canada and since I began the sections in my nature films that address how humans have impacted nature keeps getting bigger and bigger. And rarely is our impact on the natural world a good thing. It is nice to finally report on something we are doing right. Something that we humans are doing to show our respect for nature and to recognize that forests and rivers and all entities in the natural world have intrinsic value onto themselves not just based on what we can take or exploit from them.
Honestly, this new legal precedent and the whole idea of the Rights of Nature has me so excited. I think it is a real paradigm shift, and I am hoping people watch the film and think – of course, nature should have rights. Young people understand this idea and it makes sense to them. The rest of us just need to catch up!
5. What was your biggest takeaway from making this documentary?
There is this amazing quote from Margaret Mead – “Never Doubt That A Small Group Of Thoughtful Committed Citizens Can Change The World: Indeed It’s The Only Thing That Ever Has.” This is surely the case with the Magpie. I am so inspired by the years and years of efforts by people like Chief Jean-Charles Piétacho, Matthieu Bourdon, Yann Troutet and the lawyer Yenny Vega Cardénas to work together to gain legal personhood for this incredible river. Their years of effort show that change is possible and how a small group of people pulling together can make a monumental difference. I find that incredibly inspiring and empowering!
6. Does this documentary differ from any of your previous documentaries?
This nature film is very different from any film I have made in the past. I am used to making films about specific animals like “A Year in the Life of a Twig Eater” where we followed a newborn moose calf through her first year of life in the Rocky Mountains or “A Murder of Crows” about the intelligence of a familiar black bird that has way more going on in their bird brains than most people could imagine.
A film about the Rights of Nature as told through the story of one river and the people who fought so hard to protect it, is a little more abstract of a topic for me. We didn’t have something with fur or a face to guide us through the story but we did have this mighty winding river that had a strength and personality of its own. I’m really proud of the film we came up with and I hope the audience is as excited about this story as we are.
7. Do you think I AM THE MAGPIE RIVER will inspire more people to fight for the protection of rivers and forests?
The ripple effect of the Magpie River gaining legal personhood is being felt in Canada and around the world. It has spurred other Rights of Nature cases in Europe to go forward and there are at least 5 Rights of Nature cases in the courts or getting ready to go to court in Canada right now too. The Magpie has set the legal precedent and shown what is possible.
And I think it is worth noting that this is the first successful Right of Nature case in the world, brought forward through a joint effort between indigenous and non-indigenous folks. That is really powerful and I’m proud that this “first” happened in Canada. . I think this is the start of a real change in how we think about and protect nature and I hope this doc contributes to the conversation in a positive way.
8. The documentary I AM THE MAGPIE RIVER, airs this Thursday, February 1st. Where can our readers watch it?
The documentary can be seen on CBC’s The Nature of Things on Thursday, February 1st at 9 pm local time and on The Nature of Things on CBC GEM.
Please tune in!
