Feature documentary Nitassinan stands as both a love letter and a testimony of an Innu history that is still unfolding. Nitassinan means “our land” in Innu-aimun, a word that has also taken on growing political weight, as the territory faced mounting pressure from industrial resource development. This latest film by award-winning Innu poet and filmmaker Josephine Bacon evokes what life on the land was before colonialism, and what it remains: not only the place we come from, but a living part of who we are. It has nourished language, shaped thought, and guided footsteps. Nitassinan captures the distinct bond and relationship of belonging to the land that has guided countless generations of Innu past, and the fight to protect it for generations to come.

In this latest film, award-winning Innu poet and filmmaker Joséphine Bacon, subject of the CIFF Grand Jury Prize-winning Canadian documentary CALL ME HUMAN (CIFF 2020), joins forces with its director, Kim O’Bomsawin, to evoke life on the land before colonialism and the enduring relationship that remains. For the Innu, the land is more than the place they come from; it is a living part of who they are. It has nourished their language, shaped their worldview and guided generations of footsteps.

NITASSINAN offers an intimate portrait of this profound bond of belonging, while bearing witness to the ongoing struggle to protect the land and preserve it for generations to come.