The Revelstoke Museum is premiering a new film exploring the displacement of people from the damming of the Columbia River.
The film “Washed Away - Stories of Displacement on the Columbia River” was created in collaboration with the Revelstoke Museum and Archives and award-winning filmmaker and photographer Agathe Bernard.
The short film explores what was lost under the waters of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam, which caused the displacement of approximately 2000 people to make way for the reservoir that opened at Castlegar in 1969. The film also touches on the Sinixt, who were displaced from their traditional territory at the time of exploration and settlement in the valley, and on the displacement of salmon and other species due to dam construction.
READ MORE: Revelstoke Museum raising funds to create Washed Away film
Museum curator Cathy English became aware that many people knew about the flats south of Revelstoke, but did not know the history of land use in the region, or the stories of the people who once lived there.
The film continues the story that was begun in Stories Beneath the Surface, an exhibit at the museum that opened on Oct. 18, 2018.
Stories Beneath the Surface tells the stories of the communities that existed in the valley south of Revelstoke: the Ukrainian settlement of Mount Cartier, the once-thriving Arrowhead, and others.
READ MORE: Stories Beneath the Surface exhibition now open at Revelstoke Museum
“Washed Away” will premiere at Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre on Friday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at Revelstoke Museum and Archives. As well as the screening of the film, there will be other opportunities to learn the story of the valley in engaging and surprising ways.
Ticket price is $20 per person. Contact the museum at 250-837-3067 or office@revelstokmuseum.ca for more information.
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