Experiencing Interruptions?

The Klabona Keepers

The Klabona Keepers is an intimate portrait of the dynamic Indigenous community that succeeded in protecting the remote Sacred Headwaters, known as the Klabona. Spanning 15 years of matriarch-led resistance, the film follows a small group of determined elders as they heal from the wounds of colonization to push back against law enforcement, the government, and some of the largest multinational companies in the world.

  • Tamo Campos
    Director
  • Jasper Snow-Rosen
    Director
  • Rhoda Quock
    Director
  • Rhoda Quock
    Producer
  • Tamo Campos
    Writer
  • Rhoda Quock
    Writer
  • Bertha Louie
    Writer
  • Rita Louie
    Writer
  • Mary Quock
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 31, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Human Rights Watch Film Festival In Partnership with Hot Docs
    Toronto
    Canada
    May 26, 2022
    Ontario Premiere.
    Opening Night Film
  • Vancouver International Film Festival
    YVR
    Canada
    October 3, 2022
    BC Premiere
    Inspire Audience Choice Award and honourable mentionp for Best BC Film
  • Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival
    Sudbury
    Canada
    September 26, 2022
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Tamo Campos, Jasper Snow-Rosen, Rhoda Quock

TAMO CAMPOS
Tamo Campos is an Asian-Latino filmmaker, impact producer, community organizer and extreme sports athlete. His passion for environmental justice stems from personal roots to climate impacted communities in South America. His films include The Klabona Keepers (2022), Ru-Tsu(2020), The Radicals (2018), A Last Stand For Lelu (2016), Northern Grease (2013) & over fifty shorts. Tamo embeds himself in the community wherever he goes, and is dedicated to combining social impact with his adventures in sport, activism, and filmmaking. His previous projects have had a strong outreach focus that collaborated deeply with participants within his films. His work has focused on Indigenous land defence, Indigenous health models, climate justice and anti-racism. He is also the co-founder of the nonprofit collective Beyond Boarding, a board member of Rediscovery International, and is currently working on a Masters with York University with a focus on Canadian Impact Producing. Campos is also currently an Impact Fellow for StoryMoneyImpact, a Canadian organization growing the field of Impact Producing.

RHODA QUOCK
My name is Rhoda Quock. I’m from the Wolf Clan. My parents are Jenny Quock and Robert Quock. I live in Iskut, in Tahltan Territory. I was born on April 29, 1971 in Terrace, B.C. and was raised in Iskut. I’m the youngest of six siblings. We were taught to go out on the land to camp every summer. My husband is Peter Jakesta. We have four kids and two grandsons. I’m a spokesperson and organizer for the Klabona Keepers. I am also the producer of The Klabona Keepers Film (2022).

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Director Statement

FILMMAKERS STATEMENT

This documentary was made by two non-Indigenous filmmakers, Tamo Campos and Jasper Snow-Rosen, who happened to stop at the Iskut gas station in 2013. What was meant to be a pit-stop turned into a conversation, then an invitation and finally being asked by the community to film their actions this summer. The Klabana Keepers were in the midst of mounting active blockades against Fortune Minerals in the Klappan area. The two filmmakers used their cameras and gear to upload footage of the blockades,allowing the community to gain crucial media attention by shining a spotlight on what was happening. Their quick dip into Iskut turned into seven weeks on the blockade, and their lives turned upside down by the courageous stand of the Iskut elders. Inspired by the strength and purpose of the Klabana Keepers, the two friends began to come to the region for months every year to connect with the community, whether filming blockades, supporting youth outdoor trips, or simply nurturing friendships.

In 2015, they began working on a feature film in collaboration with Rhoda Quock, the spokesperson of the Klabona Keepers and the Klabona elders. Created in a spirit of constant collaboration and with direction from the elders, The Klabona Keepers is a love letter to the community that changed their lives. Its ambition is to capture the beauty, resilience, and intricacies of a long fight in hopes of inspiring a better future. The community changed these filmmakers’ lives, revealing a unique lens into a worldview where health and healing depend on the land. The filmmakers volunteered to make the documentary as a gift to the elders; it is meant to share the story of their powerful motivation with the next generation now growing up in Iskut, and beyond.

This film's IP is owned by elders Mary Quock, Rita Louie and Bertha Louie with all proceeds from the film going towards a fund for youth programming in the Klabona Sacred Headwaters.