Made by land

This documentary short film, Made By Land, snapshots the culture and community of three canoe builders, using a variety of documentary forms in order to show their techniques, methodologies, and their engagement with a variety of communities. The focus always remains on their manual labor, but broadens to include larger social, historical, and political issues including environmentalism, the canoe as a tool of colonialism, and the debts one generation owes to another. 

Challenges during production included filming on location without a crew, maneuvering through the COVID pandemic, and rigorous editing to achieve a tight focus, with no voice-over narration. Instead of a classic “quest” dramatic story, the audience engagement is realised through the sequencing of the different scenes.