# The Road Forward

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***The Road Forward*** is a 2017 musical documentary film written and directed by [Marie Clements](/source/Marie_Clements) about key moments in the history of [Indigenous rights in Canada](/source/Aboriginal_peoples_in_Canada), from the 1930s to today. The film was produced by the [National Film Board of Canada](/source/National_Film_Board_of_Canada).

Clements has stated that the idea for the project came from browsing years of headlines in *Native Voice*, an Indigenous newspaper from British Columbia that she first heard of while doing research for the 2010 Cultural Olympics, during the [Vancouver Olympics](/source/2010_Winter_Olympics). Inspired by the headlines and stories, she began writing lyrics. She then worked with friends who were composers, to set music to her lyrics.[1][2][3]

In the film, members of the [Native Brotherhood](/source/Native_Brotherhood_of_British_Columbia) and Native Sisterhood discuss the beginnings of their organizations, in 1931 and 1933 respectively, and how *Native Voice* had helped unite [First Nations in British Columbia](/source/First_Nations_in_British_Columbia).[3]

*The Road Forward* was initially presented as a musical theatre show in 2015, at Vancouver's [Touchstone Theatre](/source/Touchstone_Theatre). The film features such Indigenous actors and musicians as Murray Porter, [Michelle St. John](/source/Michelle_St._John), [Cheri Maracle](/source/Cheri_Maracle) and [Evan Adams](/source/Evan_Adams), as well as songwriter [Wayne Lavallee](/source/Wayne_Lavallee), actor and singer [Cheri Maracle](/source/Cheri_Maracle), hip-hop artist Ronnie Dean Harris, and [Métis](/source/M%C3%A9tis_in_Canada) fiddler Jeremy James Lavallee.[2][4]

## Release

The film premiered on April 30, 2017, at the [Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival](/source/Hot_Docs_Canadian_International_Documentary_Festival) in Toronto.[1] It subsequently opened the [DOXA Documentary Film Festival](/source/DOXA_Documentary_Film_Festival) in Vancouver on May 4.[2]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-q_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-q_1-1) ["The Road Forward: an innovative documentary explores Indigenous activism through songs"](http://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/wednesday-april-26-2017-bob-mankoff-marie-clements-and-more-1.4082549/the-road-forward-an-innovative-documentary-explores-indigenous-activism-through-songs-1.4082561). *CBC Radio*. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2017-04-28.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-unreserved_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-unreserved_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-unreserved_2-2) ["Dene/Métis filmmaker inspired by 1930s Indigenous activists"](http://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/reclaiming-retelling-and-revisioning-indigenous-stories-1.4079554/dene-m%C3%A9tis-filmmaker-inspired-by-1930s-indigenous-activists-1.4079646). *CBC Radio*. 2017-04-23. Retrieved 2017-04-28.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gee_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gee_3-1) Gee, Dana (2017-04-26). ["DOXA: Festival has important role telling untold stories"](https://theprovince.com/entertainment/festivals/doxa+festival+important+role+telling+untold+stories/13329127/story.html). *Vancouver Province*. Retrieved 2017-04-28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Taylor, Kate (2017-04-20). ["The bold future of Indigenous documentary cinema"](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/the-bold-future-of-indigenous-documentary-cinema/article34758558/). *The Globe and Mail*. Retrieved 2017-04-28.

## External links

- [Official website](https://www.nfb.ca/film/road_forward/)

- [*The Road Forward*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6850078/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

This article related to a Canadian documentary film made from 2010 through 2019 is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Road Forward](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Forward) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Forward?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.