One of the most familiar faces in Alberta news since the 1990s, Wiebo Ludwig, leader of a close-knit Christian community in northern Alberta, was the lead suspect in a 2008 string of pipeline bombings that echoed a campaign of sabotage he was accused of waging against the oil and gas industry. When a 16-year-old girl was fatally shot on Ludwig’s family farm in 1999, the unsolved tragedy thrust his fight with the industry further into the media spotlight.

The Ludwig family arrived in the heart of Canada’s oil patch 25 years ago out of a desire to live more closely in accordance with their Christian beliefs. They built their community in the wilderness, not knowing that it sat on top of one of the largest undeveloped fields of natural gas on the continent. After years of trying to deal with the industry, politicians, and the media, Ludwig and his family went to war. While the Ludwigs believe that those who don’t share their beliefs, including WIEBO’S WAR director David York, are living in terrible darkness, York’s documentary sheds light on their fascinatingly complex situation.