Rocks at Whiskey Trench
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Canada, 2000 (documentary, 105 minutes, colour, English)
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Also known as
"Pluie de pierres à Whiskey Trench"
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| Image: © National Film Board of Canada |
Film Description:
"On August 28, 1990, a convoy of 75 cars left the Mohawk community of
Kahnawake and crossed Montreal's Mercier Bridge—straight into an angry mob that pelted the vehicles with rocks. The targets of this violence were Mohawk women, children and elders leaving Kahnawake, in fear of a possible advance by the Canadian army. In Rocks at Whiskey Trench, Mohawks remember the terror as windows shattered around them. [...] A painstakingly researched social document, the film looks back at the events surrounding the August 28 attack, and delves into the history of Kahnawake and the consequences of the appropriation of land that have shrunk its territory by more than two-thirds over the last 300 years."
-- National Film Board of Canada
(source)
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| Film Credits (partial): |
| Written by: |
Alanis Obomsawin |
| Produced by: |
Alanis Obomsawin, Sally Bochner |
| Narrator: |
Alanis Obomsawin |
| Film Editing: |
Yurij Luhovy |
| Music: |
Claude Vendette, Francis Grandmont, Margaret Beauvais
Jocks |
| Production Company: |
National Film Board of Canada / Office national du film du Canada |
(sources)
Notes about Rocks at Whiskey Trench
- Shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2000.
(sources)
Quotes about Rocks at Whiskey Trench
"In the early days of the [Oka] Crisis, [Alanis] Obomsawin abandoned the project she was working on in order to take a film crew to Kanesatake. Obomsawin remained behind the barricades for the duration of the Crisis, providing the only First Nations-generated footage of this event. The insight she brings, as a Native person, to the Crisis is key to its chronicling and to mediating the experiences of the Mohawk people in the community. Her work fulfills an important archival and communicative function. From the footage she collected over those many weeks, [in addition to Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance] Obomsawin also made My Name is Kahentiiosta (1995), about a Mohawk woman's arrest and defiance after the Crisis; Spudwrench: Kahnawake Man (1997), the story of a Mohawk ironworker involved in the defense of Kanesatake during the Crisis; and Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000), in which she explores corollary events at another nearby Mohawk community, the reservation of Kahnawake. In all of these films, she deftly weaves Mohawk culture, the politics of community, the history of Native/non-native relations and the experience of trauma with a unique lens on setting, the land itself."
-- Elizabeth Claire Kalbfleisch
(source)
"Rocks at Whiskey Trench is a re-examination of the rock-throwing incident near the town of Chateauguay in August 1990 when, under fear of army attack, elderly women and men and children were driven out of the Kahnawake Reserve to supposed safety. Their 75-car convoy, after being help up by the police, was stoned by the residents of Chateauguay. It is a highly emotional event caught on tape, and Obomsawin replays the scene continuously as many of the participants on the receiving end of the stones remember their experiences."
-- Brian McIlroy
(source)
Quotes about Rocks at Whiskey Trench [in French]
"Les images sont saisissantes. On les a vues à l'époque aux nouvelles, mais elles prennent ici une dimension tout autre. Car le film s'attarde à peine sur la bande de rednecks made in Québec qui composent cette foule d'abrutis, où l'on voit des visages rayonnant de joie devant un tir bien placé sur une portière ou une vitre d'auto qui vole en éclats. L'attention de la réalisatrice se porte plutôt sur les visages qu'on ne voit pas dans ces images, ceux des victimes."
-- Bruno Bisson
(source)
"En 2008, au colloque Paroles et pratiques artistiques autochtones au Québec aujourd'hui tenu à l'UQAM, Alanis Obomsawin racontait qu'à partir des quelque deux cents heures de matériel tourné en 16 mm et en vidéo, un premier montage de douze heures fut réalisé, puis ce montage fut réduit aux quelque deux heures du documentaire Kanehsatake: 270 ans de résistance. Faisant état d'un besoin de transmettre l'expérience et le récit de cet événement politique aussi significatif que traumatisant, elle précisait qu'à la fin, «c'était comme arracher des dents parce que tout était tellement important ». Elle ajoutait qu'elle n'a pas pu se sentir libre avant d'avoir réalisé trois autres films sur le conflit car elle tenait absolument à ce que « l'histoire de ce qui se passait là », qui n'avait pas été relayée dans les grands médias, soit finalement comprise : « C'est pour ça que j'ai fini par faire trois autres films, parce que je ne me sentais pas libre ... jusqu'à ce que j'aie fait Rocks at Whiskey Trench. C'était toujours là ... on n'avait pas entendu parler des gens qui étaient dans les autos, et moi, je n'étais pas capable de vivre avec ça. Après que j'eus fait ce dernier film-là, je me suis sentie libre concernant ce sujet-là, mais c'était très long [...] »."
-- Isabelle St-Amand
(source)
Bibliography for Rocks at Whiskey Trench
Brief Sections of Books
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Lewis, Randolph. Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native Filmmaker. American Indian Lives. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006.
(pp. 114-116)
Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites
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Bisson, Bruno. "Pluie de pierres à Whiskey Trench : Regard lucide sur un épisode peu glorieux de notre histoire." Review of Rocks at Whiskey Trench. La Presse, October 7, 2000.
[in French]
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Hays, Matthew. "Alanis Obomsawin returns to Oka with Rocks at Whiskey Trench." Mirror (Montreal), September 28, 2000.
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Hays, Matthew. "Oka crisis: Worst moment revisited: Native filmmaker's documentary recalls 1990's fatal rock-throwing incident." Globe and Mail, June 21, 2000.
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Le Moal, Dan. "Rocks at Whiskey Trench mesmerizing viewing: Disturbing glimpse into Canadian psyche." Review of Rocks at Whiskey Trench. The First Perspective, August 2000.
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Tremblay, Odile. "L'autre côté de la médaille." Review of Rocks at Whiskey Trench. Le Devoir, October 7, 2000.
[in French]
Web Sites about Rocks at Whiskey Trench
