Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, Michael Toledano
2024
YINTAH, meaning “land” in the Wet’suwet’en language, tells the story of an Indigenous nation’s fight for sovereignty as they resist the construction of multiple oil and fracked-gas pipelines across their territory. Over the period of a decade, the film follows Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat Freda Huson, Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, and their fellow land defenders as they reoccupy their traditional territory and galvanize their nation in a fight against several of the largest fossil fuel companies on earth. YINTAH is about an anti-colonial resurgence—a fierce and ongoing fight for Indigenous and human rights. The film reveals the hypocrisy of the Canadian government’s espousal of reconciliation, as Indigenous land is still being seized at gunpoint for the purpose of resource extraction. The Hereditary Chiefs’ claim to jurisdiction over the territory is supported by a 1997 Supreme Court of Canada decision. When a lower court effectively sidesteps this decision, granting pipeline companies access to Wet’suwet’en land, Wet’suwet’en leaders put their bodies on the line, building barricades to keep the companies out. Ultimately, YINTAH is the story of the Indigenous right to stewardship and sovereignty over their territories. Freda, Molly, and the land defenders are part of a centuries-long fight to protect their children, culture, and land from colonial violence. For the Wet’suwet’en, their very future is at stake.
CREDITS
Hot Docs Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Feature
Hot Docs Audience Award
Best International Documentary Feature Red Nation Film Festival
Impact Grand Prix award FIPADOCS
Human Rights Human Wrongs award at Human International Doc FF
Special Jury Mention for Elevate Award DOXA
Special Jury Mention for Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Director DOXA
Finalist Social Justice Award Lane Doc Fest
Nominee for Cinema for Peace Dove International Green Film Award
Nominee Best Feature Length Documentary Canadian Screen Awards
Nominee Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary Canadian Screen Awards
Nominee Best Documentary Toronto Film Critics Association
Nominee Best Original Music in a Feature Length Documentary Canadian Screen Awards
Nominee Best Sound Design in a Feature Length Documentary Canadian Screen Awards
❛ The gorgeous sweeping vistas documented by this film’s enrapturing cinematography gives way to hellish images of strewn, chewed up land marked by apparent and invisible broken barriers ... Yintah vigorously paints a resiliency that will never surrender. ❜
— Roger Ebert
❛ ... an assured, gripping communiqué of whose histories we inhabit on and off screen, and how to ensure their preservation. ❜
— Screen Slate
❛ Much like its subjects, Yintah is a film that knows its purpose, and serves it defiantly. ❜
— FIlm Comment
❛ Yintah had by far the sharpest viewpoint of any film I saw at the (True/False) festival. It’s a documentation and a witness to the hard work of moral clarity, of refusing to lose dignity for an easy way out, of the ongoing fight to preserve the land and traditions of the people who belong to it against bad odds. ❜
— Bright Wall/Dark Room
❛ A poignant, powerful film unlike almost anything else you’ll see. ❜
— The Grind
❛ an incendiary feat of filmmaking ... an urgent, eye-opening call to action. ❜
— POV
❛ The fight for the future of the earth could not be more dramatically captured. ❜
— The Tyee
❛ Yintah is a visceral, necessary, brilliantly executed film...a gripping and enduringly impactful experience deserving attention and recognition from all. ❜
— Film Fest Report
❛ While an incredibly difficult film for Canadian settlers to watch, this is still a very powerful look at the fight for First Nations sovereignty. ❜
— Sean Kelly On Movies
❛ Yintah is another stark condemnation of the failure of reconciliation. ❜
— Capital Daily