With snow and cold temperatures settling in across the country this week, we hope you are staying safe and warm. The winter edition of “What We’re Watching” features content that highlights the importance of the sovereignty of stories. This season’s selections explore responses to ongoing colonial violence, the vital role of comedy, and the intersection of filmmaking and Indigenous jurisdiction.
This post is part of our “What We’re Watching” blog series, which highlights great books, films, shows, and music by Indigenous writers and artists across the country. Check out our fall 2024 edition here.
Do you have any recommendations? Let us know.
DOCUMENTARY
Yintah | Directed by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell and Michael Toledano
Photo Credit: Amber Bracken
As colonial forces conspired to criminalize Wet’suwet’en jurisdiction, we as filmmakers worked to uphold it.
Yintah is a feature-length documentary that follows Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham as they exercise their right to sovereignty and stewardship in the face of multiple pipelines proposed across Wetʼsuwetʼen territory.
The documentary was filmed over more than a decade before its release in 2024. Directors Wickham, Michell and Toledano describe how the filmmaking process was directly informed by Wet’suwet’en laws and decision-making structures.
Yintah premiered at film festivals last March and was released on Netflix in the fall. Look out for upcoming screenings across the country on the film’s official website.
TV SERIES
North of North | Directed by Stacey Aglok MacDonald & Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
Photo Credit: Jasper Savage/Netflix
The only way out of a bad situation is through the bad situation and why not laugh along the way?
North of North is a new comedy series featuring Siaja (Anna Lambe), a young Inuk woman finding her way amidst a major life transition. The series is co-created by Inuit filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (working together as Red Marrow Media), also known for co-producing The Grizzlies (2018).
The series was filmed in Nunavut, where comedy and humour are a staple, according to the co-creators. Listen to an interview with Aglok MacDonald and Arnaquq-Baril on the importance of comedy and the decision to film the series entirely in the north.
Watch the trailer and catch Season 1 on CBC Gem, coming to Netflix later this spring.
POETRY
Teeth | Dallas Hunt
Cover Art: Michelle Sound
What sort of narratives might be possible for Indigenous writers if we weren't circumscribed by this desire to be legible or palatable to particular audiences?
Teeth (2024) is Dallas Hunt's second collection of poetry, exploring themes of grief, survival and colonial power structures, but also the persistence of Indigenous joy. Teeth follows Hunt's first poetry collection, Creeland (2021) and children’s book, Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock (2019). Hunt is a member of Wapsewsipi (Swan River) First Nation in Treaty 8.
Read more about Hunt's new collection and his reflections on writing here. Buy Teeth through Nightwood Editions and at your local bookstore.
For more reading and watching recommendations about Indigenous rights, check out First Peoples Law’s reading lists.
First Peoples Law is a law firm dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. We work closely with First Nations to defend their Aboriginal title, rights and Treaty rights, uphold their Indigenous laws and governance and ensure economic prosperity for their members.
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