Snowboarder Liam Gill explores his N.W.T. roots in documentary now online

CBC News

· Posted: May 24, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 24

A abbreviated movie about Olympic snowboarder Liam Gill and his instrumentality to his family's homeland of Fort Simpson, N.W.T., is present streaming online.

Footage for the 17-minute documentary film Gill Crescent was collected aft Gill competed successful the 2022 Olympics successful Beijing and it shows his archetypal visit to Fort Simpson since helium was 2 years old. 

His grandma is from Fort Simpson and Gill is a subordinate of Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation. He was calved and raised in Calgary.

Since that first instrumentality sojourn to Fort Simpson successful 2022, Gill has been back to the N.W.T. multiple times. 

"Right aft the archetypal trip, I knew I was coming back," helium said. 

Gill Crescent was crafted from hours of footage gathered during Gill's 2022 sojourn and his aboriginal trips. It shows him moving astatine snowboarding clinics with younker successful Fort Simpson arsenic good arsenic successful Yellowknife and Fort Smith. 

Gill calls the movie "beautiful."

"I've gone up determination 4 years present and each clip I conscionable immoderate benignant of caller household — and it truly does conscionable consciousness similar a 2nd home," helium said.

Gill said helium has seen the younker he's worked with amended each clip he's visited and he's besides learned a batch from being successful the N.W.T.

"Growing up successful Calgary is, you know, created a large disconnect with my culture," helium said. 

"And implicit the past mates years, being, you know, taught from the younker oregon the elders, I've really taken it to like, satellite cups and contests — you know, I'll bash similar my ain small baccy feeding ceremony."

The documentary movie was produced by Alberta snowboarder Finn Westbury.

"The North is dissimilar anyplace else. It's incredibly special," Westbury said. 

Westbury said it was besides peculiar watching Gill make a narration with the younker helium worked with.

"There's this benignant of like, communal respect from some ways," Westbury said. 

"It's incredibly inspiring for me. You know, you tin spot firsthand that somebody's the relation model, and that's a precise chill happening to beryllium capable to witness."

Gill Crescent debuted astatine the Yellowknife International Film Festival successful November 2024 and is present streaming connected YouTube.