A documentary that celebrates salvaging at the Yellowknife dump is being shown across the continent.<\/p>\n
New York-based filmmaker Amy Elliott always wanted to make a film about a dump, but finding one with open access for salvagers was difficult in the United States.<\/p>\n
\"Everything's closed because of liability,\" Elliott said. \"This was by far and away the largest dump that was open to the public for salvaging, so it was my only option.\"<\/p>\n
Elliott first traveled to Yellowknife in March 2009 and said that, right away, she knew she'd found a story.<\/p>\n
\"I mean, the stuff that people were getting out of the dump, the people I met, I knew this was something I wanted to invest in and come back for.\"<\/p>\n
She spent the next six years making annual journeys north and getting to know a colourful cast of characters.<\/p>\n
Salvage, her feature-length documentary, premiered last March at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music and film festival in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n
It chronicles many great dump finds while documenting a battle with city hall over its move to a new \"tiered-cell\" system that limits access to the dump.<\/p>\n
Salvage paints a portrait of Yellowknife as a scrappy mining town at the end of the road, where many people (particularly people of an older generation) value the goods that make it this far.<\/p>\n
It also probes a bigger story: what are we doing with all this stuff?<\/p>\n
Elliott first learned about the dump after coming across Walt Humphries's column, \"Tales from the Dump,\" in the Yellowknifer newspaper.<\/p>\n
\"I think we should be proud of our dump,\" said Humphries, who ended up with a starring role in the documentary. \"The more people see how dumps work, the more likely they are to change their hometown dump, because I believe all dumps should be open to salvage.\"<\/p>\n
Humphries appears alongside other local salvagers, like Dwayne Wohlgemuth, who comes across a trove of vacuum-packed noodles.<\/p>\n
Velma Sterenberg, a retired geologist, also appears in the film, alongside former N.W.T. commissioner Tony Whitford, who salvages wood to make birdhouses.<\/p>\n
\"I grew up like Tony,\" Sterenberg said, \"straightening nails for my dad because those nails had to be used again because we couldn't afford to go to the store for more.\"<\/p>\n
Sterenberg is routinely horrified by perfectly good things she finds people have thrown away.<\/p>\n
\"The dump is my 'Ykea,'\" she said, using the local vernacular a riff on the furniture chain Ikea. \"If I need something and I have a pretty good idea I can find it at the dump, I will go to the dump before I go to the hardware store.\"<\/p>\n
In the documentary, Sterenberg is shown surrounded by teddy bears she hadcollected from the dump.<\/p>\n
\"I'm humbled and I'm honoured,\" Sterenberg said of appearing in the film. \"If what I have to say makes any kind of a difference, even in a small way, then I can feel better about being a human being on this planet.\"<\/p>\n
The City of Yellowknife is also pleased with the documentary.<\/p>\n
\"Salvage brings to light the complexities and relevance of waste management in a fun, intimate and honest way,\" said Chris Vaughn, who manages the solid waste facility, in an email.<\/p>\n
\"It showcases what the city has always known about its residents; that we are a group of resourceful and eclectic northerners that believe in the golden rule of making the best, and the most, of what we have.\"<\/p>\n
Elliott said she began her project with more of a philosophical tilt than an environmental purpose. Her previous documentaries examined \"World's Largest\" monuments in small towns and competitive jigsaw puzzling in Minnesota (title: Wicker Kittens).<\/p>\n
But that view changed after she spent some time on \"the working face\" of a real-live dump.<\/p>\n
\"The amount of plastic and the amount of e-waste so much cheap junk that ended up in the dump that I didn't realize there was so much of,\" Elliott said. \"We really are in an unbelievable apex of consumerism and consumption.\"<\/p>\n
Salvaging, Elliott thinks, is one way to let people in on the dirty secret of where the garbage goes. Plus, she said, it's fun.<\/p>\n
\"It's like a wonderland for kids, and for adults, obviously.\"<\/p>\n
The documentary is not yet available to stream online, though it should be by spring.<\/p>\n
For now, it's slated for about 10 more film festivals in the next several months.<\/p>\n
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Treasure hunting in the trash: Yellowknife salvagers cheer dump documentary - CBC.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A documentary that celebrates salvaging at the Yellowknife dump is being shown across the continent. New York-based filmmaker Amy Elliott always wanted to make a film about a dump, but finding one with open access for salvagers was difficult in the United States. \"Everything's closed because of liability,\" Elliott said Continue reading