Guillaume Baillargeon’s short has the power to touch a susceptible spot in the viewer’s heart. This documentary talks about cultural preservation through the divine intervention of young people capable of understanding how vital any aspect of a culture can be. Joey Saganash comes back to live in the small community where he grew up, not because life is not offering him enough possibilities, but because he understands how important it is to make your roots grow deeper and deeper.

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From the beginning, we have to say that ‘Our roots weave the land’ stands out through its imagery. The whole short can give the viewer a significant amount of inner peace only through the shots of the wild and untamed nature, while the simple day-to-day activities presented at some points are wholesome, offering the viewer a unique experience. We cannot emphasize enough how important it is that this short follows a path of exploration and raw humanity, as it is so rare to see this level of beauty nowadays.

 

One specific scene caught our eye in ‘Our Roots Weave the Land’, and that is the one with the cooking of the geese ritual. From a very young age, the girl is taught that life has many ways of being, and that sometimes there should be sacrifice to maintain life in other ways. Another important scene, or better yet, quote, comes when they talk about the little boy and how life will be for him. At one point, one of the men says that from the first step the little boy will take, the whole town vows to take care of him no matter what. This lesson goes as far as presenting an incredibly close community, one that finds a way to fight disunity with love and respect, the reason why we firmly believe that ‘Our Roots Weave the Land” is a lesson for the whole world.

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Written by Vlad A. G