Sovereign Soil

Friday, June 12 until Friday, July 24, 2020Other

Opens Friday June 12!

Set in the northern wilds surrounding the sub-Arctic town of Dawson City, Yukon, Sovereign Soil explores what it takes to grow local food north of 64 and celebrates the beauty of this ferocious, remote land and the wisdom of those who’ve chosen to call it home. At the far-flung edge of Canada’s boreal forest, a handful of unlikely farmers are growing everything from snow-covered Brussels sprouts to apples. These modern-day agrarians have carved out small patches of fertile soil in an otherwise unforgiving expanse of isolated wilderness to make a living and a life.

Over the course of a year, Dawson filmmaker David Curtis follows these resilient, unassuming farmers—including a German immigrant, a young family that taps birch trees for syrup, a First Nations youth, and a matriarch who can shoot and quarter a moose—exploring life, death, and time through the simple, rich day-to-day of people deeply tied to the wilds. Sovereign Soil is an ode to the beauty of this ferocious, remote land and the wisdom of those who call it home.

Recommended for general audiences.

“ Following the seasons over the course of a year, filmmaker David Curtis tracks a group of dedicated individuals’ pursuit of local sustenance. Highlighting modern agricultural techniques alongside revitalized traditional practices, Sovereign Soil  offers concrete solutions to some of our most pressing problems.”
- Alex Rogalski, Victoria Film Festival

"Sovereign Soil looks at life and death, seasonal cycles, notions of time, and how people are living custodially in relative equilibrium with nature. The result is a modern, multi-generational film whose life-affirming beauty, romance and emotional connection to both the land and the people will have many southern city dwellers reflecting on their own disconnect from nature, the food they eat, the people who produce it and the sovereign soil it comes from. Sovereign Soil feeds body and soul." - Doreen Nicoll, Rabble.ca

Yukon Film Society is pleased to present Sovereign Soil with support of Blue Ice Docs: Documentary Cinema Online.

 

Here's how you can stream this film

- Purchase your virtual ticket by clicking on 'Buy Tickets' (you may need to register an account first).
- The film costs $9.99 (CAD) to stream - you have 5 days to watch it.
- Half of your on-demand screening fee will come back to the Yukon Film Society.

YFS is pleased to host Facebook Live interviews with the creators and subjects of this film. Here is the FB Live In Conversation from June 18: