Boreal Wolf Film Productions and Winter Hawk Studios have announced that the documentary feature film TEA CREEK from director Ryan Dickie (In the Land of Dreamers) will be available to audiences across Canada starting October 11th, 2024. It was also just announced that the film has been selected for the 25th anniversary of Planet in Focus Film Festival (PiF) in Toronto in October, which will be the films Ontario debut. PiF is a festival that celebrates film as a catalyst for public awareness, discussion and engagement on a broad range of environmental issues and is the perfect fit for TEA CREEK.

Filmed at Tea Creek Farm in Kitwanga, BC, TEA CREEK is a documentary feature film set against the backdrop of colonization and the climate crisis. In 3 short years, Indigenous Food Sovereignty Activist Jacob Beaton transformed his family farm into Tea Creek; an Indigenous Food Sovereignty training center with a mission to revive the abundance that once defined Turtle Island. Following Tea Creek through the growing season, the film explores the rich history of Indigenous agriculture, the ongoing impacts of colonization and intimately portrays a passionate leader who’s vision for change is creating space for healing and abundance.

“Growing up in a small community in the north, I have a deep understanding of the fragility of our food networks, and how our traditional food systems as Indigenous people have been reshaped over time,” says TEA CREEK writer/director Ryan Dickie. “There is a sense of urgency for Indigenous people and within our communities to find solutions which will help our people achieve food sovereignty today, and for our future generations. The work that is being done at Tea Creek farm is not only a template for what can be done, but is also saving lives.”

The film world premiered in Vancouver with two sold out screenings at DOXA in May and has upcoming community screenings in Hazelton and Terrace, BC and it was just announced today that TEA CREEK will screen as a part of the 2024 lineup at the Planet in Focus Film Festival in Toronto and it will also play for audiences at the Windsor International Film Festival and another festival in Saskatchewan to be announced.

The film also included a mentorship program on the other side of the camera too; the TEA CREEK film mentorship program supported two local emerging Indigenous creatives, Andrew Stewart and Ravyn Good, to plan and create their own short documentary which will air on CBC’s Creator Network. The short film The Potato Project focuses on Tea Creek’s production of Indigenous potato varieties and explores how these are helping to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis. The film was just released as a companion piece to the longer documentary and can be screened here. The mentorship program was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

TEA CREEK, which features both English and Gitsenimx languages, is directed and written by Ryan Dickie, written, produced, edited and cinematography by Ben Cox, executive producer Caroline Cox (Food For the Rest of Us), the film was composed by Justin Delorme (The Knowing), Rylan Friday is associate producer and mentorship program coordinator and the production executive from CBC is Sheila Peacock.

The film was made possible with the generous support of CBC, CBC Docs, The Indigenous Screen Office, The Canada Council for the Arts, Creative BC, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund, and Rogers Documentary Fund.

The film starts streaming on CBC Gem October 11th and will be broadcast on CBC TV next year.