FESTIVAL PREMIERE
The River Remembers
Director: Jordan Riber
The River Remembers follows the intertwined struggles of the Indigenous people of the Elwha and Klamath Rivers as they lead the two largest dam removals in U.S. history. These rivers have always been lifelines, and their decline has mirrored the erasure of Native ways of life.
The film braids together intimate family stories and sweeping historical battles: parents teaching their children to fish, catastrophic salmon kills that galvanized action, and generations who refused to give up a century-long fight.
From the joy of witnessing water flow free on the Elwha to the hard-fought victory of the Undam the Klamath campaign, The River Remembers reveals a movement where ecological restoration and cultural survival are inseparable. More than a story of loss, it is a vision of resilience, healing, and the possibility of renewal for future generations.
CAST & CREDITS
Director
Jordan Riber
Writer
Noelani Auguston
Producer
Darrell Hillaire, Noelani Auguston, Jordan Riber
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
The River Remembers tells the parallel stories of the Elwha and the Klamath Rivers, and the Indigenous communities who fought for generations to bring them back to life. At its core, the film is about resilience: the resilience of salmon, of rivers, and of peoples who have always depended on them. It is not only a story about environmental restoration, but also about cultural renewal, justice and hope.
Growing up in a family that focused on filmmaking as a tool for social change, I came to understand how storytelling can help to shape how we imagine the future. That principal guided me through my fifteen years of work in Tanzania, and eventually led me to Children of the Setting Sun Productions, an Indigenous-led storytelling company located in Bellingham, Washington.
Though I hold the title of “director” for The River Remembers, this film is very much a product of Children of the Setting Sun Productions and the creative vision of the Indigenous producers, writers and participants in this project. My role has been to help weave those voices together into a cinematic form, guided always by humility, and respect.
My hope for this film is that audiences come away not only with a deeper understanding of the injustices Indigenous peoples have faced in America, but also with the conviction that restoration is possible through courage, generational wisdom and sacrifice. Because when rivers heal, we heal too.
DIRECTORS BIO
Jordan Riber is a producer and director of both fiction and non-fiction film. Jordan’s life has been split evenly between Zimbabwe, Tanzania and the United States. In Tanzania, he worked in collaboration with local filmmakers on numerous film and television projects, including three award-winning features (Bahasha, Fatuma and Tunu) and 26 episodes of the popular TV drama, Siri ya Mtungi. Since moving to the United States in 2019, Jordan has been collaborating with Children of the Setting Sun Productions on projects focused on Indigenous Communities in the Pacific Northwest.
