Yintah topped the documentary winners on the film side of this year’s Canadian Screen Awards over the weekend. The film directed by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, and Michael Toledano won two awards including Best Feature Length Documentary. Toledano also won for Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary. Yintah, a years in the making film, chronicled the fight of Witsuwit’en land protectors as they defend their land, surrounding environment, and cultural sovereignty from developers setting up shop to build a pipeline and RCMP offices occupying the land by force.
Wickham’s sister, Sleydo’ Molly, accepted the award on behalf of the team during the broadcast and acknowledged the significance of being part of a film developed through protocols to involve Indigenous people in the telling of their own stories. She also gave one of the few political moments of the night by connecting the ongoing Witsuwit’en resistance and efforts to protect their land to the plight of Palestinians fighting for their freedom. Several activists depicted in Yintah have been charged for their actions defending their land, including Sleydo’. The case has drawn the attention of Amnesty International and a B.C. court judge ruled that RCMP officers violated the land defenders’ Charter rights with conduct that included racist and anti-Indigenous statements. The feature-length version of Yintah is available to stream on Netflix.
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The doc side of the Canadian Screen Awards shared the wealth in the craft categories announced the day before. Wilfred Buck, Okurimono, and Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story won one award each for film editing, sound, and music, respectively. Earlier in the week, The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal swept the broadcast doc prizes.
On the dramatic side, the Canadian Screen Awards saw a huge upset in the top category where Donald Trump drama The Apprentice bested heavy favourite Universal Language for Best Motion Picture. Universal Language scored the biggest haul among the nominations and awards throughout the week, including Best Director for Matthew Rankin. But the threats of making Canada the 51st state likely tipped votes in The Apprentice’s favour. The film also won both dramatic acting prizes for Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong’s Oscar-nominated performances as Donald Trump and his mentor Roy Cohn, respectively. Cate Blanchett won the comedic leading performance prize for her turn in Guy Maddin’s Rumours, marking a night where Hollywood dominated the film slate. Graham Greene took the supporting prize for comedy in the horror film Seeds.
The documentary winners at the Canadian Screen Awards are:
Best Feature Length Documentary
Yintah – Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, Michael Toledano, Bob Moore, Sam Vinal, Doris Rosso, Daniel Cross, Mila Aung-Thwin
Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary
Michael Toledano – Yintah
Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary
David Schmidt – Wilfred Buck
Best Sound Design in a Feature Length Documentary
Marie-Pierre Grenier, Camille Demers-Lambert, Nataq Huault, Olivier Germain, Alexis Farand – Okurimono
Best Original Music in a Feature Length Documentary
Murray Lightburn – Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story
Best Short Documentary
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