{{short description|2024 American documentary film}} {{Italic title}} {{use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Use American English|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox film | name = Fish War | image = | alt = | caption = | native_name = <!-- {{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}} --> | director = Charles Atkinson, Jeff Ostenson, and Skylar Wagner<ref name="Richards 2024">{{cite web |last=Richards |first=Matthew |title=Behind the Scenes of 'Fish War': Indigenous Rights and Resilience |website=News Radio 560 KPQ |date=2024-10-10 |url=https://kpq.com/fish-war-highlights-indigenous-struggle-for-fishing-rights/ |access-date=2024-10-11}}</ref><ref name="SIFF Fish War 2024">{{cite web |title=Fish War |website=SIFF |year=2024 |url=https://www.siff.net/festival/fish-war <!--archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240502002546/https://www.siff.net/festival/fish-war |archive-date=2024-05-02 |url-status=deviated-->}}</ref> | writer = | screenplay = | story = | based_on = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|creator of the original work|additional creator(s), if necessary}} --> | producer = Kari Neumeyer, Jeff Ostenson, Tiffany Royal<ref name="SIFF Fish War 2024"/> | starring = | narrator = | cinematography = Charles Atkinson<ref name="SIFF Fish War 2024"/> | editing = Skylar Wagner<ref name="SIFF Fish War 2024"/> | music = Black Belt Eagle Scout<ref name="SIFF Fish War 2024"/> | studio = <!-- or: | production_companies = --> | distributor = | released = {{Film date|2024|05|11|Seattle|ref1=<ref name="Drake 2024">{{cite web |last=Drake |first=Jessica |title='Fish War' documentary to screen at Seattle International Film Festival by Wenatchee producer, tribal media |website=The Wenatchee World |date=May 3, 2024 |url=https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/go/fish-war-documentary-to-screen-at-seattle-international-film-festival-by-wenatchee-producer-tribal-media/article_5260af02-07f8-11ef-bbd8-b3bc0682fcd1.html |access-date=2024-08-06}}</ref><ref name="EverOut 2024">{{cite web |title=FISH WAR: World Premiere at SIFF Cinema Uptown in Seattle, WA |website=EverOut Seattle |year=2024 |url=https://everout.com/seattle/events/fish-war-world-premiere/e175158/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729034610/https://everout.com/seattle/events/fish-war-world-premiere/e175158/ |archive-date=2024-07-29 |url-status=live |access-date=2024-08-06}}</ref>}} | runtime = 79 minutes<ref name="SIFF Fish War 2024"/> | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''Fish War''''' (stylized '''''FISH WAR''''') is a 2024 American documentary film about a series of civil disobedience protests by tribes in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, called the Fish Wars. The film was produced by Northwest Treaty Tribes Media and North Forty Productions,<ref name="Drake 2024"/><ref name="NTT Fish War premiere 2024">{{cite web |title=Indigenous civil rights documentary FISH WAR to premiere at SIFF |website=Northwest Treaty Tribes |date=2024-04-17 |url=https://nwtreatytribes.org/indigenous-civil-rights-documentary-fish-war-to-premiere-at-siff/ |access-date=2024-08-06}}</ref><ref name="North Forty 2024">{{cite web |title=North Forty – Handcrafted Films that Effect Change |website=North Forty |url=https://hellonorthforty.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621001024/https://hellonorthforty.com/ |archive-date=2024-06-21 |url-status=live |access-date=2024-08-06}}</ref> and had its world premiere on May 11, 2024 at the Seattle International Film Festival.<ref name="Drake 2024"/><ref name="EverOut 2024"/> The filmmakers used archival footage for most of the film.<ref name="Richards 2024"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=SFCS: Fish War |url=https://www.siff.net/cinema/in-theaters/seattle-film-critics-society-pnw-awards/fish-war |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=www.siff.net |language=en}}</ref>
== Background == {{See also|United States v. Washington}} In 1974, the ''Boldt decision'' ruled that American Indian tribes had the right to fish on land ceded to the United States government in treaties made in the 1850s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boldt |first=George |date=1974 |title=The Boldt Decision |url=https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/boldt_decision.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213093909/https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/boldt_decision.pdf |archive-date=February 13, 2024 |access-date=April 18, 2024 |website=Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife}}</ref> Prior to this ruling, Native Americans were arrested for fishing on their native lands outside of reservations. To protest this, tribe members conducted civil disobedience demonstrations (fish-ins) in which they continued to fish on their ancestral lands.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-01 |title=Timeline of Billy Frank Jr. |url=https://www.arts.wa.gov/timeline-billy-frank-jr/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=ArtsWA}}</ref>
== Reception == "''Fish War'' is a progress report of sorts, and the news isn’t cheery.", wrote Richard Arlin Walker in ''Salish Current.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Allen |first=Daniel |date=2006-01-03 |title=Standard life - Despite his best efforts Daniel Allen isn’t feeling particularly cheery this Christmas |url=https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.20.16.32.s48 |journal=Nursing Standard |volume=20 |issue=16 |pages=32–33 |doi=10.7748/ns.20.16.32.s48 |issn=0029-6570|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Writing for The SunBreak, Josh stated: "Assembling many of the people who fought so heroically, ''Fish War'' also contextualizes the implications of their victory in terms of civil rights, environmental stewardship, and building networks of cooperation. An important telling of PNW history, it’s also a refreshing and inspiring reminder that occasionally laws have consequences and words have meaning."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Josh |date=2024-05-14 |title=SIFF 2024 Notebook: Northwest Connections |url=https://thesunbreak.com/2024/05/13/siff-2024-northwest-connections/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=The SunBreak |language=en-US}}</ref>
The film was one of the five finalists nominated for the Seattle Film Critics Society PNW Awards<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seattle Film Critics Society PNW Award Nominees |url=https://www.siff.net/cinema/in-theaters/seattle-film-critics-society-pnw-awards-x38840 |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=www.siff.net |language=en}}</ref> but lost to ''Rainier: A Beer Odyssey.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neglia |first=Matt |date=2024-12-16 |title=The 2024 Seattle Film Critics Society (SFCS) Winners |url=https://nextbestpicture.com/the-2024-seattle-film-critics-society-sfcs-winners/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=Next Best Picture |language=en-US}}</ref>
== See also == * Indigenous land rights * Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast * ''United States v. Washington''
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{official website|https://www.fishwarmovie.com/}} *{{YouTube |id=mbKAomnoN2o |title=Trailer for ''Fish War''}} *{{IMDb title |id=tt32445669}}
Category:2024 documentary films Category:2024 films Category:American documentary films Category:Documentary films about Native Americans Category:Native American history of Washington (state)