This film traces the fight in Minnesota against the expansion of pipelines carrying highly toxic tar sands oil through Native lands and essential waterways in North America. Front line communities-Native peoples and communities of color-suffer the most immediate and severe consequences of the climate crisis, including impacts on physical and mental health as well as territorial desecration and displacement. This feature-length documentary follows indigenous leaders and white allies who are using direct action to protect the sacred and demand justice. Legal experts discuss the record of disparate treatment in the justice system and the legal strategy of the necessity defense, which makes a moral case for acts of civil disobedience, while medical and scientific experts address the health effects of fossil fuels and dangers of pipeline and refinery infrastructure.

Originally released by Collective Eye Films, 2020. Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on October 27, 2021.