‘Mother Earth, she’s a mother to all of us…’

East Fort Garry

Osborne Village

Katharina Stieffenhofer’s latest documentary film, Everything We Need is Here, is a love poem to the Earth — woven from themes of nature, connection, and resistance.

With stunning imagery and multi-layered stories, it explores trauma, resilience, and ecological justice in a meditation on how human well-being is inseparable from the health of the land. It is ultimately a hopeful story of healing — one woman’s recovery intertwined with a community’s determination to defend the forests that sustain them.

“We need intact nature, trees and forests, not just for our well-being, but for our survival,” said Stieffenhofer, an East Fort Garry resident. “If we connect with nature and with each other, we are more likely to protect everything we need that is already here. I am also hoping to deepen the understanding of the impacts of resource extraction on our Indigenous communities — 100 per cent of critical minerals in Northern Manitoba are located on Indigenous ancestral lands.”

The official premiere of Everything We Need is Here was held last month at the Park Theatre. The Feast for the Senses event featured food catered by chef Ben Kramer, an opening prayer drum song by Marcel Hardisty and Terrance Bruce, musical performances by Métis fiddler Gilles Crevier and his washboard-playing daughter Sara, and musical improvisation by Keri Latimer/ÓFukami accompanied by her theremin and her houseplant.

The stunning, 87-minute film shot entirely in Manitoba moved many in the packed venue to tears.

“The audience’s response to the film with an enthusiastic standing ovation felt very confirming and rewarding to me,” Stieffenhofer said. The documentary was also screened in March at the Beloit International Film Festival in Wisconsin.

For Stieffenhofer, who dedicated the project to all land protectors — especially Camp Morningstar and the Coalition to Save Lemay Forest — the guiding principle for the film came from environmental philosopher John Muir’s teachings on the interconnectedness of everything in the universe.

“Understanding the parallels and connection between human trauma and trauma to our environment, the earth…” she explained. “I see connections everywhere — trees, biodiversity, wildlife, everything is connected to everything.”

To quote Indigenous elder Terrance Bruce from the film: “Mother Earth, she’s a mother to all of us, no matter the colour of our skin… so we’ll have to find a way to get along.”

Stieffenhofer said if she had to choose one highlight of the premiere celebration, it would be the attendance by her friends and participants in the film from Camp Morningstar (an encampment which protested a sand mine in Hollow Water First Nation) and most notably, Marcel Hardisty and Lisa Raven Preteau, who travelled the 2.5 hours from Hollow Water.

“When Marcel, the spiritual leader of Camp Morningstar, performed the opening prayer drum song, and later… the closing song, all of the Indigenous audience members sang along. That’s when I wished we all knew the words and the songs, so that we all could sing these songs together,” Stieffenhofer said. “I hope that we will learn them in time. If we all could know the songs, how beautiful that would be. We need to learn each other’s songs.”

Everything We Need is Here is a necessary reminder to reconnect with nature, to appreciate and respect its miraculous beauty and wonder, feel gratitude, and find healing within it. Viewers of the film are left longing to spend more time outside. Taking a walk in the forest can provide space to find communion, peace, and solace.

“My documentary filmmaking is driven by my commitment to environmental and social justice,” Stieffenhofer said. “While the stories I follow in this film are intensely local, the themes of environmental protection, related physical and mental health and Indigenous land rights, are universal issues.

“My aim for this film is to create work that connects with the viewer on a visceral and intellectual level to invoke deeper understandings, caring about all living beings on this Earth, and to inspire positive action toward social change.”

Stieffenhofer believes that if people connect on a deeper level with nature and with each other, they will be more inclined to defend their environment and to stand up for their neighbours, near and far.

“On a local level, I hope that more people will join the call on our mayor and (city) council for policies to protect mature healthy trees on private and public properties.”

Everything We Need is Here is now available on Bell MTS Fibe TV1.

Stieffenhofer is planning her first community screening at the St. Norbert Community Centre. She welcomes requests to host film screenings for communities, schools and universities.

Visit: everythingweneedishere.com