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Giant Mine made interactive
Web-documentary launching to tell stories of environmental disaster

Dana Bowen
Northern News Services
Friday, February 27, 2015

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A producer of long-awaited Giant Mine interactive web-documentary Shadows of a Giant says she aspires for the project to raise questions about "one of Canada's largest environmental disasters."

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An example of how web-documentary Shadows of a Giant illustrates what a producer calls "re-imaginings" of the future. In this one, Kevin O'Reilly shares his vision of what should happen to the Giant Mine area. He thinks there should be a research centre to inform people what happened and for scientists to find a permanent solution to clean up the arsenic. - photo courtesy of Lesley Johnson

"I really hope people think about the legacy of projects like Giant Mine in the community," said Lesley Johnson.

"I hope people think about the costs of the type of economy we have."

Created by Johnson and Saskatchewan filmmaker Clark Ferguson, the project follows the story of the life and remediation of the Giant Mine and Con Mine through first-hand accounts from people in the city.

The interactive website lets viewers choose what part of the story they want to see.

"The documentary happens in short video clips that you will access through a map of the region. As you progress through the story, you watch video clips that you can access and get more targeted information about the region or mediation," explained Johnson.

While a 2013 Yellowknife International Film Festival presented some footage for the interactive feature, the complete project is only now becoming available.

"It's all come to fruition and is launching March 4," said Johnson.

The project focuses on politicians, prospectors, mediation teams and people from the Dene community who talk about the history of the mine, their relation to it and solutions for the future.

"We talked to a lot of different people who all had very important things to say about Giant Mine," said Johnson.

Each interview subject discussed their vision for the area and what they hope will become of it.

Kevin O'Reilly of social justice group Alternatives North spoke of building a research centre that would keep people informed about what happened.

It would also serve as a centre for scientists, he said, to find a solution to cleaning up the arsenic that Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley once said is "enough to kill all life on Earth."

Each person's vision for the Giant Mine site is portrayed on-screen in what producers call "re-imaginings" where plans for the future are illustrated through visual interpretations.

Ferguson began working on the project in 2013 as part of a three-month residency program with Western Arctic Moving Pictures.

During his stay, meetings for the Giant Mine remediation were taking place and Ferguson immediately decided to pursue the story.

"What it came down to was ... every part of it I found very interesting with how it affected the community," said Ferguson. "There was no part of it I wasn't insanely interested in."

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