SALAMANCA, N.Y. — As members of the Seneca Nation host their annual commemoration vowing to “Remember the Removal,” a group of documentary filmmakers are working to ensure the events that drove the Seneca people from the Kinzua, Pa., area are never forgotten.

Teams from Skipping Stone Pictures and Toward Castle Films have filmed more than 70 hours of footage since last fall as part of the creation of “Lake of Betrayal,” a documentary film for PBS that is expected to shown on national television next year.

The group was in the area Monday to gather interviews and footage and is expected to return Saturday when the Seneca Nation hosts its annual Remember the Removal events.

“We’ve filmed landscapes all along the Allegheny River and Reservoir, from Salamanca to the Kinzua Dam,” said Scott Sackett, the film’s producer. “This is where the story is. All the people are from here.”

The documentary will explore the backstory of the Kinzua Dam in Warren, Pa., and takes an extended look at the effects it has had on the Seneca people who were forced to relocate over the past five decades.

“‘Lake of Betrayal’ will examine the hidden agenda and political debts behind the United States government’s abrogation of the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 which had guaranteed the Seneca Nation free use and enjoyment of its lands,” said director Paul Lamont.

A seed for such a project was planted years ago, when Lamont in the late 1980s worked on “Honorable Nations,” a PBS documentary about Seneca land rights. The film only briefly touched on the Kinzua Dam, and both Lamont and Sackett felt it deserved more attention.

“Paul and I both had a sense that there was probably a documentary of national importance here, and the approaching 50th anniversary of the Kinzua Dam’s construction gave us an opportunity to look at the impact half a century later,” said Sackett.

The pair have also had significant help from Caleb Abrams, an enrolled Seneca who is finishing his undergraduate studies in sociology and filmmaking at the University of Syracuse. A Salamanca High School graduate, Abrams was involved in the broadcasting program there before attending Jamestown Community College and, now, the University of Syracuse.

Prior to his involvement in the “Lake of Betrayal” documentary, Abrams had already taken a keen interest in not only learning more about the Kinzua Dam and its effects on the Seneca Nation but documenting first-hand accounts from Nation members.

“Before they reached out to me (to help with “Lake of Betrayal”), I was doing a lot of interviews myself with elders and community members,” Abrams said. “I spent a lot of time on the Kinzua era because there is certainly an element of time that plays into this.”

When his schedule allows, Abrams has been joining the production team of “Lake of Betrayal” to help with everything from setting up interviews to finding good places to eat in the area, Sackett said.

“We hired him as a research assistant during the pre-production phase, and he helped identify people to interview, archives to research and locations to film,” Sackett said. “He’s now an associate producer. Even though he’s still in college, he’s been on location of almost all of the shoots in Allegany (Territory).”

To tell the story of the Kinzua Dam and the effects on the Seneca Nation, it takes first hand accounts from people who experienced it. The production team has interviewed about two dozen people on-camera — plus even more audio recordings during research and development — and listened to their stories, Sackett said.

Those people have included many area residents that once lived in Red House, Onoville, Coldspring, Corydon and other communities impacted by the Kinzua Dam. Interview subjects have included Tyler Heron, son of the late George Heron who was president of the Seneca Nation in the early 1960s; and Steve Gordon and Sue John Blacksnake, who families were uprooted.

“It’s emotional to listen to these people and hear their stories,” said Abrams. “A lot these people I’ve known for a lot of my life, and to hear them speak so honestly, passionately about this stuff — it’s been awesome hearing people open up and share their stories.”

He said the stories haven’t been all sad; a sense of nostalgia sinks in often as interviewees recall the happy childhoods they had in these communities.

Interviews have stretched beyond elders of the Seneca Nation. Sackett said there is a focus on finding perspectives from the Millennial Generation, which Abrams will help with, as well as nationally-recognized historians and subject area experts.

And although the story is focused on the stories of the Seneca people, interviews have also included the chief water management at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District.

“It’s the voices of those who live here who will tell the personal story of what happened during the Kinzua Dam era and what’s happening here today,” Sackett said. “That’s a key part of this film.”

Lamont stressed the importance of capturing the stories of those who can recall life before the dam was built.

“Seneca elders speak of Kinzua through a raw mixture of anger and tears,” he said, “but with each generation, the memory fades a little more as countless younger Seneca feel little or no connection to all those things that were lost.”

Keeping that memory is a key aspect of Abram’s role in the film making. In his early 20s, Abrams said it’s important for his age group to understand what happened to ensure it doesn’t happen again. That belief and mindset is what drives the Nation annually to host the Remember the Removal Day, too.

“I remember in the fall of 2011 I was at that year’s ‘Remember the Removal’ and I was thinking of a way I could translate it into a final project” for college, Abrams said. “What I was at school in Jamestown, I was surprised how, when I pitched the idea to my professor in a classroom setting, no one knew what I was talking about. Then I really wanted to do it to let people know what happened.”

Sackett said what happened in the 1950s and 1960s in Kinzua is happening around the world today.

“One one level, it’s the same story, but the global economy alters the dynamics,” he said. “This film may shed some light on the long term effects of government policy and economic development decisions now under consideration. We can look at the social, cultural and environmental impact and hopefully inspire more forward-thinking solutions about the use of natural resources and inclusive economic growth.”

Lamont and Sackett are working with the film’s production partners to develop a teacher guide, lesson plans and digital learning materials, which will be available on PBS LearningMedia.

“There are valuable lessons here,” Sackett added. “I’m highly optimistic about the millennials and post-millennials, the Y and Z generations. I’d like to think that a film such as this and all of PBS programming can help develop the minds of future leaders and an engaged, responsible citizenry.”

With interviews wrapping up, work on the film in the winter and spring will focus on film editing and composing with the hope of completing the documentary next summer.

“PBS will decide when it’s broadcast, but we’re hoping it will be shown next fall,” Sackett said. “We’re also planning to have it screened at select film festivals across the country.”