Yintah | Encounters SA International Doc Film Festival
A Wet'suwet'en supporter and a private security contractor look on as Likhts'amisyu hereditary chief Dsta'hyl disables heavy machinery at a Coastal GasLink pipeline worksite. Photo Credit: Micheal Toledano. Copyright YINTAH FILM LTD.

Yintah

10 PG

A focus on the impact on the lives of the Wet’suwet’en people who live on unceded territory, as they oppose the construction of multiple pipelines.

Awards

Stockholm Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Bronze Horse: Best Documentary

DOXA Documentary Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Colin Low Award for Canadian Documentary: Best Canadian Director – Special Jury Mention

Canadian Screen Awards (2025) – Nominated: Best Sound Design in a Feature Length Documentary

Canadian Screen Awards (2025) – Nominated: Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary

Canadian Screen Awards (2025) – Nominated: Best Original Music in a Feature Length Documentary

Red Nation Film Festival (2024) – Winner: Red Nation Film Award of Excellence: Best International Documentary Feature

Human International Documentary Film Festival (2025) – Winner: Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Award: International Competition

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (2024) – Nominated: Rogers Award: Best Canadian Documentary

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (2024) – Winner: Rogers Audience Choice Award

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (2024) – Nominated: Land Sky Sea Award – Special Mention

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (2024) – Winner: Audience Award: Top 20 Audience Favorites

Sheffield International Documentary Festival (2024) – Nominated: Grand Jury Award: International First Feature

Cinema for Peace Awards (2025) – Nominated: Cinema for Peace Dove for Justice

The Hague Movies that Matter Festival (2025) – Nominated: Activist Documentary Award

DOXA Documentary Film Festival (2024) – Winner: Elevate Award – Special Mention

10 PG
Feature
International

African Premiere

Award Winning

Director(s):

Michael Toledano, Jennifer Wickham & Brenda Michell

Country:

Canada

Year:

2024

Duration:

100 min

Language(s):

English

RATING:

10 PG

Official Poster_Yintah Poster
Film Poster

The sprawling Wet’suwet’en territory in the western part of Canada is inhabited by five different clans. It is ‘unceded’ territory, never having been signed away by the Indigenous people who lived there before the Europeans colonised North America. Yintah follows Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, the leaders of two clans from the territory, as they struggle to prevent the Canadian government and fossil-fuel companies from building a pipeline across it. The two women spearhead the resistance bravely and with moving tenacity, but the standoff gradually becomes increasingly tense and violent. Yintah, which means ‘territory’, follows Freda and Molly over a 10-year period as they lead the defence of their land, their forests, and their water. Although scarred by a long history of institutional racism and abuse, they tirelessly confront oil workers, government representatives and the police. It’s an uneven battle, but they and the rest of Wet’suwet’en are not planning on giving up. Made with intimate access to its two leads and the communities they serve, Yintah is a raw, urgent and breathtakingly beautiful experience.

Film Stills
Yintah Director, Michell Brenda
Yintah Director, Wickham Jennifer
Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, a Wet’suwet’en wing chief, photographed during the Coyote Camp blockade. Photo Credit: © Micheal Toledano
Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham and Gitxsan supporter Wilpspoocxw Lax Gibuu Shaylynne Sampson look out the cabin window as police move in on Coyote Camp. Photo Credit: © Amber Bracken
A Wet’suwet’en supporter and a private security contractor look on as Likhts’amisyu hereditary chief Dsta’hyl disables heavy machinery at a Coastal GasLink pipeline worksite. Photo Credit: Micheal Toledano. Copyright YINTAH FILM LTD.
Wedzin Kwah river, the headwaters of Wet’suwet’en territory. Photo Credit: © Micheal Toledano
Yintah Director, Toledano Michael
Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat Freda Huson, stands in ceremony while police arrive to enforce Coastal GasLink’s injunction at Unist’ot’en Healing Centre. Photo Credit: © Amber Bracken
Gate of entry to unceded Unist’ot’en territory near Houston, British Columbia. Photo Credit: © Amber Bracken
Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat Freda Huson, and her sister Brenda Michell drum in ceremony as police enforce Coastal GasLink’s injunction at Unist’ot’en Healing Centre. Photo Credit: © Amber Bracken
Sleydo’ Molly Wickham occupies a Coastal GasLink drill site. Photo Credit: Micheal Toledano. Copyright Yintah Film LTD.
Sabina Dennis holds ground at the Gidimt’en Checkpoint barricade while police enforce Coastal Gaslink’s injunction. Photo Credit: © Amber Bracken
Sabina Dennis holds ground at the Gidimt’en Checkpoint barricade while police enforce Coastal Gaslink’s injunction. Photo Credit: © Amber Bracken
Trailer
Previous Festivals

DOXA Doc FF (2024)

Hot Docs Canadian Int’l Doc FF (2024)

Human Int’l Doc FF (2025)

Red Nation FF (2024)

Sheffield Int’l Doc FF (2024)

Stockholm Film Festival (2024)

The Hague Movies that Matter Festival (2025)