2009 AFI Dallas Film Festival - Upstream Battle

(Germany, 2008, 98 mins)
HDCam
Directed By: Ben Kempas
Producers: Joachim Schroeder, Magdalena Hutter
Cinematographer: Ben Kempas
Editors: Ben Kempas, Raimund Barthelmes
Music: Sebastian Fischer
Featuring: Merv George, Wendy George, Richard Myers, Jeff Mitchell, Ron Reed, Toby Freeeman, Lynn Long

The Pacific salmon’s survival has never been more important to Northern California’s Native American tribes that live on the Klamath River than now. Upstream Battle follows the tribes as they fight to remove the four hydroelectric damns that sit on the Klamath and have cut off the salmon’s path to their original feeding ground.

The battle begins in Scotland, where tribal leaders protest against the dams owner. The story soon travels back to the US, following the tribal leaders and their passion to save the river and fish that were born there. This David and Goliath story continues with the tribes’ legal advances against the dam owners, involving even the farmers at the beginning of the river and the fisherman at its mouth on the Pacific coast.

Director Ben Kampas brings us close to the families and communities whose survival and culture depend on the salmon and the river that have for generations brought life to them. Their quest may seem like an upstream battle, but is one worth of the hardest fight of their lives.

Information from the festival's website