Screening times:
Friday, July 5, 6:30 PM - SOLD OUT - Artist Q&A!
Saturday, July 6, 6:30 PM - SOLD OUT
Thursday, July 11, 6:30 PM - Additional screening added!
Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, and Michael Toledano | Documentary | Canada | 2024 | 125m | English and Witsuwit'en with English subtitles
Yintah, which means "land" in the Wet'suwet'en language, is an activist documentary that tells the story of an Indigenous nation asserting sovereignty.
The Wet’suwet’en nation have lived on and governed their territories for thousands of years. They have never signed treaties or sold their land to Canada. In 1997, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs joined with Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs and won the landmark Delgamuukw-Gidsaywa Supreme Court of Canada case. The court recognized that the Wet’suwet’en people have never given up title to 22,000 km2 (8500mi2) of land in northern British Columbia.
Despite these rulings, the governments of Canada and British Columbia continue to assert jurisdiction over this territory and have issued permits for resource projects without the consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. Wet’suwet’en people upholding decisions made in accordance with Wet’suwet’en law have been criminalized by the Canadian state, and have repeatedly been arrested for occupying and controlling access to their house territories.
Through the experience of Wet’suwet’en people, and remarkable access from the filmmakers, we witness their struggle to protect the land across a decade and repeated encounters with law enforcement and resource management companies. The winner of the Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs 2024, the film offers an essential look at recent Canadian history.
Yintah centres its narrative on two characters:
Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat Freda Huson is a wing chief of the Unist’ot’en people of the Wet’suwet’en C’ilhts’ëkhyu clan. In 2011, she reoccupied her family’s ancestral territory in defiance of enormous fossil fuel development, and in doing so became a recognized leader in the international fight for Indigenous sovereignty.
Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham is a wing chief of the Cas Yikh people of the Gidimt’en clan. For ten years, she has lived on unceded Cas Yikh territory with her family, in a cabin built strategically to protect an idyllic lake from mining. After supporting the Unist’ot’en for years, Molly was thrust into the national spotlight as the appointed spokesperson of the Gidimt’en Checkpoint. As her clan retook control of their traditional lands, she confronted the police on her doorstep, becoming a recognized icon of the Wet'suwet'en resistance.
"Yintah conveys a vital message about the reality of devastation caused by Canadian colonialism, which has never subdued its voracious instincts." - Mehdi Balamissa, Film Fest Report
"Though the odds are seemingly forever stacked against these inhabitants, 'Yintah' vigorously paints a resiliency that will never surrender." - Robert Daniels, rogerebert.com
"Yintah ... deleivers an incendiary feat of filmmaking with its portrait of Witsuwit’en land defenders protecting their territory from invasive development." - Pat Mullen, POV Magazine
Rogers Audience Award for best Canadian film - Hot Docs
Tickets $8.75 ($8 cash at the door if available).
