qathet film society presents
3 Ears Indigenous Film Festival

The Spirit Who Swims

The Spirit Who Swims

Friday September 26 – 7 pm

Directed by: Bev Sellars and Garry Tutte
Genre: Documentary
Not Rated – 56 m
Released: 2024

The Spirit Who Swims is a love manifesto to Salmon foregrounding its spiritual and material importance to Indigenous peoples along the Fraser River. This film centers on the Indigenous practice of ‘life as a ceremony’. We journey alongside the Salmon in the Fraser River during their annual migration, meeting individuals from Indigenous communities along the way. Each shares their personal bonds with the Spirit Who Swims and what they feel are the consequences if the Spirit were to disappear.

There are two economies that live along the waterways; the monetary economy driven by capitalism and profit, and the Indigenous economy driven by a symbiotic relationship with what swims in the rivers and grows and walks on the land. The Spirit Who Swims highlights this ‘clash of cultures’ by focusing on the spiritual significance the Salmon has for Indigenous peoples along the Fraser River.

Through stunning aerials and vivid underwater cinema, we join the Spirit Who Swims as they travel over 1000 kilometers on their annual migration route from the ocean to their spawning grounds in the lake and streams of the mountains. Along the way, we encounter Indigenous people in four unique, riverside communities, and learn of their deep connection to the Salmon and the struggles endured by each. 

The Spirit Who Swims is more than just a documentary, it is a record of the challenges facing First Nation communities along the Fraser River. It is an Indigenous-rooted manifesto for restoring balance to our natural world.