SYNOPSIS

14-year-old Ella is determined to travel the length of the Inside Passage, along the shores of the Great Bear Rainforest by kayak in order to testify against a proposed pipeline that would see oil tanker traffic through her beloved homeland waters. She's prepared to handle all of the challenges the wildlife, the weather, the water, and her gear have to offer up. The most challenging of all is that she has to bring her dysfunctional family with her. Her neurotic aunt, her cranky uncle, her wayward cousin, and the memory of her late uncle all come along for the ride to make it a fun and amazing adventure. From Tla'Amin to Klemtu, BC, this family navigates their blend of cultures and desires, while their spirits honour the coast as a place for each of us to call home and protect.

THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE

Friday, May 25, 2018

Original Languages: English

Genre: Canadian, Drama, Adventure, Family

Running Time: 90 min.

Year: 2018

Also released in Germany, dubbed in German

CAST

Ta'Kaiya Blaney, Sonja Bennett, Lorne Cardinal, Evan Adams, Jared Ager-Foster, Sarah Kelley

CREW

Writer/Director: Zoe Hopkins

Producer: Daniel Bekerman

Executive Producer: Sheryl Kotzer

Executive Producers: Alex Ordanis, Chris Yurkovich, Ethan Lazar

Co-Producers: Marion Wilson-Brown, Daniel Code

Director of Photography: Vince Arvidson

Composer: Oleksa Lozowchuk

Editor: Simone Smith

Distributed in Canada by: Mongrel Media

imDb: Kayak to Klemtu

Awards

Best Director - American Indian Film Festival - Winner
Best Actor, Lorne Cardinal - American Indian Film Festival - Winner
Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Motion Picture, Ta'kaiya Blaney - Leo Awards - Winner
Best Supporting Performance by a Female in a Motion Picture, Sonja Bennett - Leo Awards - Winner
Best Screenwriting in a Motion Picture - Leo Awards - Nominee
Best Direction in a Motion Picture - Leo Awards - Nominee
Best Canadian First Feature - Victoria International Film Festival - Winner
Audience Award - imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival - Winner
Best Actress, Sonja Bennett - UBCP/Actra Awards - Nominee
Best Emerging Performer, Ta’Kaiya Blaney - UBCP/Actra Awards - Nominee
Official Selection - Edinburgh Film Festival

The Coastal Tour

Before the movie launched in theatres it was important to the filmmaker to tour it in all the coastal communities where it was filmed - including Zoe’s birthplace of Bella Bella. Check out the tour in this short video below. It was an adventure all by itself.

Reel Canada Support

Want to screen this film at your school or an event, or watch it on National Canadian Film Day? Check the Reel Canada Website.

In the past they have screened this film for 10s of thousands of students and new Canadians through their various programs. Giaxsixa, Reel Canada!

Impossible to Contain

After the completion of principal photography, a disaster occurred in Heiltsuk Territory - a tug boat pushing an American fuel barge ran aground, leaking a devastating amount of diesel into one of the most significant traditional food gathering area of the Heiltsuk Nation. Because we had just made a film about a young girl trying to defend her people’s waters - this exact territory - against this exact type of disaster, we felt as filmmakers we needed to return to document. Thus was born a 360 video where you can experience in virtual reality the impact of this spill on the community of Bella Bella, and the impact on a family.

Made with the support of CBC Short Docs, the Heiltsuk Nation, and the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department

Writer/Director: Zoe Hopkins
Producers: Daniel Bekerman, Sheryl Kotzer
VR Producer: Nyla Innuksuk
Executive in Charge of Production for CBC: Lesley Birchard
Director of Photography: Nicholas Ewart
Sound Recordist: Oscar Vargas
Sound Designer: Scott Brachmayer