Selected Films by Carswellfilm.ca

Aboriginal Leadership students throughout the corridor collaborated to choose the form and theme of the 24 Hour Drum. This year’s result was a Powwow with the theme Embrace Life as a statement of resilience and empowerment. Youth drummed, danced and feasted with their...

School District 48 - Sea to Sky is home of the Squamish and Lil'wat Nations. Language and culture are intertwined and the revitalization of our local languages is critical in allowing culture to thrive. The following video highlights the importance of language...

Five Months in Nepal and India. In 2001, Carswellfilm.ca flew to Katmandu, Nepal then spent five months exploring the diversity of culture in of Annapurna, Pokara, Assam, Calcutta, Rajastan Desert, Bombay, Kerala, Goa and many other areas. The adventure lasted five...

An interactive display designed for both Kananaskis Country and Lake Louise Information Centres. The basement of the Banff National Park Visitor Centre was closed for a month and converted into a whacky science lab. Actor Don Enright played the lead role of Dr. Morph...

Our Language, Our Culture  -  (7 min. 2018) Elders from both Squamish Nation and Lil'wat Nation share stories with the students of importance language. Language and culture are intertwined and the revitalization of our local languages is critical in allowing culture...

Yalis Rising  - Celebrating the T'lisalagi'lakw School  -  29 min. 2020 Produced by 'Namgis First Nation -  A film by Ed Carswell Conceived and built by the 'Namgis First Nation, the T'lisalagi'lakw Elementary School holds the deep spirit of Alert Bay, BC.  The...

Ecology Transforms Youth (35 min. 2019) Travel with several youth as they explore the rivers and estuaries of the Comox Valley. Created by Wendy Kotilla in 2004, the Youth and Ecological Restoration program has had over 330 participants. Young people work with local...

co-produced by Carswellfilm.ca, World Community & Cafe Etico Journey to several organic coffee farms in the jungle highlands of Nicaragua (the source of World Community Coffee and Cafe Etico).  Farmers discuss how their fair trade arrangements with the co-ops have...

In late August, First Nations people of the ‘Namgis, Mamalilikala, Lawit’sis and Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw began observing two Marine Harvest salmon farms on Swanson and Midsummer Islands in their traditional Broughton Archipelago territories. Their actions sound alarms...

As part of the 2017 24 Hour Drum event, students in Aboriginal Leadership interview Elders from both Squamish Nation and Lil'wat Nation. These teachings inspire the students to create their performances. They dance, sing, and share spoken word at Stawamus Elementary...

Drumbeats & Dreams  (27 min. 2016) Zena is graduating from Merritt Secondary but the journey was not easy. From the haunting past of residential schools, to the ongoing lack of shared understanding between cultures, Zena and her classmates have succeeded against...

This film follows a 3 month journey taken by an Aboriginal Youth Leadership group in BC’s Sea to Sky corridor. Left inspired and empowered by an UrbanInk slam poetry workshop, the youth created work around two chosen themes: Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and...

Whistler is a world renowned  tourist destination but also the shared territory of Squamish and Lil’wat Nation. This film opens the doors to Whistler Secondary School and a magical event - a flag raising ceremony to symbolize the history of our first peoples.

An extraordinary event in Courtenay, B.C.; Teacher Susan Leslie leads a school-wide project and ceremony to honour Indian residential school survivors. Leslie organizes storytelling circles, art and inquiry projects, and encourages students to create ceremonial...

This 5 min. film captures the K’omoks First Nation welcoming ceremony of the annual Tribal Canoe Journey. This event brings together First Nations from Bella Bella BC to Washington State.  For over 20 years, the Tribal Journeys have transformed thousands of youth. It...

18 African organizations partnered with Canada World Youth to deliver the Africa-Canada Eco-leadership Program. We meet youth who now consider themselves eco-leaders in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. Projects including beekeeping, farming,...

In Ghana, residents of the coastal City of Accra do not take their water for granted. Sometimes water supply simply cannot keep up with demand and people are forced to be very creative in their search for water. Water is now called the Blue Gold as world-wide...

Set in the West African countries of Ghana and Benin, Thirsty Planet (27 min.) reveals the surprising potential of solar ovens. With temperatures often near 40 degrees Celcius, these equatorial regions hold great promise for using the sun to cook food and pasteurize...