Local filmmakers to debut documentary at Anchorage International Film Festival

Dune and Aube Strickland, filmmakers from here in the Mat-Su Valley, are making final preparations for the Alaska premiere of their new documentary “Unearth” on December 7 at the BearTooth Theatre Pub in Anchorage, as part of the Anchorage International Film Festival.

The documentary tells the story of two sets of siblings-the Strickland brothers and the Salmon sisters-alarmed at the plans for the Pebble Mine, a proposed massive open-pit god and copper mine, near their homes.

The Salmon sisters, Native Alaskans, work on the regulatory front, pushing the federal EPA to block the project, and remaining hyper-vigilant to political pressures that could shift at any moment. The Strickland brothers, independent fishermen who know they could be just one mine accident away from losing their livelihood, probe closed-door meetings to expose the truth behind what the developer tells the public.

Executive produced by Erin Brockovich and directed by John Nolan Hunter, this eye-opening feature documentary unveils the systemic failures of the mining industry and exposes the delicate balance between the necessity for mined materials, critical to a sustainable future, and their unsustainable cost.

“’Unearth’ dives headlong into the controversy around the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, a classic David & Goliath story that pits community members and commercial fishermen on the one hand against a shadowy multinational corporation trying to build North America’s largest open pit mine,” says Dune, who says the brothers have worked on the project for over five years.

“When we first got started back in 2019, it looked like the Pebble Mine was going to go through, despite the fact that 80-90% of the people in Bristol Bay, as well as a majority of Alaskans, oppose the project. To us that seemed wrong, so we decided to make a documentary to bring the story of Bristol Bay’s struggle to a global audience.”

Dune says that he and his brother partnered up early on with Hunter Nolan and Eyal Levy – friends of Aube’s through college – and fast forward a few years, it has gone from an idea to a proper film that’s playing on the big screen, something Dune says feels “very surreal.”

“When we first got started on the film, we (naively) thought it would be a straightforward conservation vs development story, but as we dug deeper into the issue, it evolved into a much broader investigation into how the mining industry conducts business around the world.”

The brothers grew up here in the Mat-Su, and the seeds for exploring came naturally. “In Alaska especially it’s a fascinating issue to explore because there are such rich fishing as well as mining histories in the state, and both have been heavily mythologized over the years. Two of my favorite spots in the Valley are the Matanuska River where you can spot salmon spawning in the fall, and the ski trails around the old Independence Mine buildings in Hatcher Pass. The seeds of the conflict we explore in the film are all right here. What a spectacular place to grow up!”

Dune says that he hopes viewers leave the film with tools to have thoughtful and informed discussions about mining topics.

“With both clean water and mined materials in increasingly greater demand, we don’t expect this issue or ones like it to go away anytime soon,” says Dune, adding, “Since we all used mined materials in our everyday lives, I think we all bear some responsibility for helping solve the problems that stem from mining, even if we don’t live in the communities that are most impacted by mining activity.”

Over the next few months the Strickland brothers will be taking “Unearth” to festivals around the country. They also have a couple documentary projects in various stages of development, with eyes on continuing to tell more of Alaska’s stories. “We’re both also keen to make a narrative film, which will be a story rooted in Alaska too. The potato doesn’t fall far from the tree…”

The showing is this Saturday, December 7 at noon, and the filmmakers will be in attendance with a Q&A to follow.

General Admission tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting www.beartooththeatre.filmbot.com/movies/aiff-feature-documentary-unearth/