Water: it is the lifeblood of every living thing. It is the very essence of who we are. Imagine then, living in a region where clean drinking water is not readily available.
Boil Alert is a new film executive produced by Nêhiyaw performing artist Michelle Thrush, whose subject is fellow artist and activist, Layla Staats. The film chronicles its protagonist’s dual journey of discovering the Indigenous relationship to water, as well as her own identity struggles.
Growing up in Brantford, Ontario leaves Layla feeling at odds with her identity. A tangled web of influences, coupled with her feeling estranged in her own skin, begins to lead Layla down a dark road, until she finds strength in embracing her Mohawk roots. Her journey of self-discovery finds her on a mission to uncover why Canada has systematically betrayed its own, by not making clean drinking water available to Indigenous populations across the country.
Boil Alert is screening at the 2023 CUFF.Docs Documentary Film Festival running from November 22 – 26, 2023. Michelle Thrush and Layla Staats joined CKUA’s Tony King on Thoroughfare ahead of the film’s Alberta premiere.
This arts and culture programming is brought to you in part by the Edmonton Community Foundation. For over thirty years, Edmonton’s philanthropic community has funded projects with ECF’s support.
