Film Series

What would you do if your land was threatened? Audience Award-winner at HotDocs Film Festival, YINTAH (125 min) is a documentary film about environmental racism and the power of Indigenous resistance and resilience. World Community is honoured to present this compelling film on Thursday, July 18 th at 7pm in the Stan Hagen Theatre, North Island College.

Spanning more than a decade, YINTAH (land) follows Tsakë ze Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham as their nation reoccupies and protects their ancestral lands from the Canadian government and several of the largest fossil fuel companies on earth. The Wet’suwet’en nation have lived on and governed their territories for thousands of years. In 1997, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs joined with Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs and won the landmark case of Delgamuukw-Gidsaywa v. British Columbia before the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court recognized that the Wet’suwet’en people have never given up title to 22,000 km2 of land in northern British Columbia.

Despite this ruling, the governments of Canada and BC continue to assert jurisdiction over this territory and have issued permits for projects such as pipelines without the consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. YINTAH documents recurring stand-offs by land defenders and the strong-arm tactics of the oil industry and its enforcers. The fault lines in this dispute cut to the very core of this country’s colonial past and present. The film also provides an eloquent reminder of the humbling natural beauty of the land itself.

“In over 30 years of programming documentaries, this is one of the most powerful films I’ve seen; it makes us question what ‘reconciliation’ means to our governments” comments Janet Fairbanks. “I highly recommend this film.”

Coarse language advisory. Admission is by donation. FMI: 250 650 1885