Canadian musician Neil Young has created a media storm around his Canadian tour to help defend First Nation land against the unbridled expansion of the tar sands. Called 'Honor the Treaties', all profits of the four-city tour will benefit the legal defense for the people of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN).
In his calm, articulate rage, Young has used his influence and creative mind to take on the Canadian government, shaming Prime Minster Stephen Harper and his government for paving the way for tar sands destruction in the name of economic progress.
Petropolis - Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands (condensed) from Grimthorpe Film on Vimeo.
Several days before the tour kicked off, Neil Young’s managers contacted Peter Mettler, also an artist of influence and an internationally acclaimed filmmaker. They asked Mettler to create an excerpted version (above) of the film Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives of the Alberta Tar Sands, which is a documentary that Peter Mettler created for Greenpeace in 2009.
The plan was to show the edited version of the film during the intermission of Young’s concerts and the rocker loved it so much that he also intends to share it through his own personal media channels and website.
The intention of making Petropolis in the first place was to bear witness and show the destruction the tar sands are causing. If you can’t make the concert, I encourage you to watch the film and judge for yourself if the tar sands are a dream or a nightmare.
A big thank you to Peter Mettler, for the countless hours spent as a filmmaker enabling us all to see the truth of Tar Sands destruction, and to Neil Young for being a force to reckon with.
For full length version of Petropolis and more info please visit the following links:
iTunes
dvd mongrel
www.petermettler.com
www.petropolis-film.com
See photos of the concert at Massey Hall here.
Laura Severinac is a campaigns organizer with Greenpeace Canada and one of the producers of Petropolis.