Help Us Bring This Story to Life: A Red Road to the West Bank

Call to support, Red Road to the West Bank, a new project from Amplifier Films.

In 2016, Kanien’kehá:ka filmmaker and land defender Clifton Ariwakehte Nicholas traveled to Palestine and witnessed firsthand the struggles of Palestinians resisting occupation. The military checkpoints, the land theft, the constant surveillance—it all felt disturbingly familiar. The patterns of colonial violence he saw echoed what his people have endured in Kanehsatà:ke and across Turtle Island.

A Red Road to the West Bank is a documentary that explores these deep parallels—the ongoing struggles of Indigenous peoples in North America and Palestine, two nations fighting against settler colonialism, displacement, and erasure.

About the Filmmakers

Clifton Ariwakehte Nicholas is a Kanien’kehá:ka activist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur from Kanehsatà:ke. A lifelong land defender, he was part of the 1990 resistance during the Oka Crisis, where he and his community stood against the Canadian military’s attempted expansion of a golf course onto Mohawk burial grounds. Since then, Clifton has remained on the frontlines of Indigenous resistance, from fighting pipelines to defending sovereignty.

As a filmmaker, Clifton’s independent documentaries expose the realities of colonial violence and Indigenous resistance. His film Elsipogtog: No Fracking Way! documents Mi’kmaq opposition to fracking, while Karistatsi Onienre: The Iron Snake reveals the dangers of the Énergie Est pipeline project. Beyond filmmaking, Clifton has also taken direct action in economic sovereignty, launching Quebec’s first Indigenous-owned cannabis shop in 2018—six months ahead of Canada’s marijuana legalization.

This project is co-directed by Franklin López, a Puerto Rican filmmaker known for his work documenting anti-colonial and anti-capitalist resistance. Franklin founded subMedia, a platform for radical films covering direct action, Indigenous sovereignty, and ecological struggles. After producing hundreds of films, he launched Amplifier Films, a new venture focused on long-form documentaries that challenge colonial and capitalist narratives.

Why We Need Your Support

This film is currently in development, and we need your help to build the foundation necessary for full production. Our goal is to raise $10,000, which will allow us to:

• Create key pitch materials to secure additional funding
• Begin early-stage editing
• Conduct further research and outreach
• Lay the groundwork for full-scale production

This is just the beginning. We want to expand this project—to conduct more interviews, bring Palestinian activists to Turtle Island, and connect struggles in a way that strengthens movements on both sides. But first, we need to get this film off the ground.

Every contribution helps us take another step toward bringing this urgent story to the world. If you can’t donate, sharing the campaign widely is just as important.

🔗 Donate & spread the word: amplifierfilms.ca/redroad