Many of us understand what’s at stake if the dreaded Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline becomes a reality. Thankfully, there are people like Norm Hann, Raph Bruhwiler, Nicolas Teichrob and Anthony Bonello to show everyone exactly what that is. This crew has been hard at work for the past several months in a valiant effort to bring the mind-blowing biodiversity of B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest to the screen for all of us to share so we can collectively help stop the behemoth.

Norm Hann embodies the spirit of British Columbia’s waters. He lives in Squamish, is a sponsored Canadian paddleboard athlete with Boardworks Surf Canada and Quiksilver, a Paddle Canada SUP Instructor Trainer and a coastal expedition leader. He spends time surfing, racing, exploring remote locations on his SUP, and sharing the SUP stoke in Canada. Raph is a Tofino surf icon who (together with his surf-mad family) has probably caught more waves than any Canadian alive. Teichrob, a longtime Mountain Life contributor and epic-ski-filmmaker has poured his heart and creative eyes behind this project, just like Anthony Bonello from b4apres, steadfastly weaving his film expertise and vision into each and every frame.

The logistics behind this film (to be released in April 2013) are astounding, but behind all the paddle strokes, waves caught and photos taken, it’s the people’s livelihoods that live within the world’s largest remaining temperate rainforest that bring full impact to this story.

Through the stories of an aboriginal high school class building their own stand-up paddleboards as a form of protest, the efforts of expedition stand-up paddler Norm Hann, and the powerful surfing of iconic west coast native Raph Bruhwiler, the diversity of people, landscape and wildlife that would be affected by an oil spill will be articulated. STAND will take you to the core of the issue and unfurl the soul of B.C.’s west coast one paddle stroke at a time.

They are currently raising funds through the popular crowd-sourcing platform IndieGoGo, in order to complete post-production and bring this story into the mainstream consciousness. You can become a champion of the Great Bear and help protect our precious coastlines by donating to the project and in return receive some great rewards.

CLICK HERE to help support the film and the movement.