FESTIVAL PREMIERE
Nitassinan
Director: Joséphine Bacon, Kim O'Bomsawin, Sarah Fortin
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
CAST & CREDITS
Director
Joséphine Bacon, Kim O'Bomsawin, Sarah Fortin
Writer
Joséphine Bacon, Carlos Ferrand, Émilie Porry, Catherine Proulx
Producer
Kim O'Bomsawin, Élodie Pollet
DIRECTORS BIO
Joséphine Bacon is an Innu poet from Pessamit, born in 1947. A filmmaker and lyricist, she is considered a leading author in Quebec. She worked as a translator and interpreter with elders, those who hold traditional knowledge, and wisely learned to listen to their words. She has written several poetry collections, including Bâtons à message · Tshissinuatshitakana (2009), for which she received the Prix des lecteurs du Marché de la poésie de Montréal in 2010 for her poem “Dessine-moi l’arbre”; Nous sommes tous des sauvages (2011, in collaboration with José Acquelin); and Un thé dans la toundra · Nipishapui nete mushuat (2013, finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Grand Prix du livre de Montréal). Her collection, Uiesh · Somewhere (2018), earned her the 2019 Booksellers’ Prize. With Kau Minuat · Once More, published in 2023, Joséphine Bacon reinvents her world. Far from Innu legends, the elder poet settles between the seasons and moves slowly forward in a meditation on the tree, time, and silence. In 2023, she received the prestigious Molson Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts for her invaluable contribution to literature.
Abenaki from Odanak, Kim O’Bomsawin completed a master’s degree in sociology before pursuing her career as a documentary filmmaker. Kim directed and scripted the feature-length documentary Je m’appelle humain (2020), a sensitive portrait of Innu poet Joséphine Bacon. She also directed the 4-part documentary series Telling Our Story, selected at TIFF in 2023. In 2024, she won the Best Canadian Documentary Award (VIFF) and the Magnus-Isacsson Award (RIDM) for her film Ninan Auassat: Nous, les enfants. Kim has been president of Nikan Productions, formerly Terre Innue, and Nikan Héritage (Productions Innu Assi) since 2020.
After studying film, Sarah Fortin directed several short fiction films (Deux enfants qui fument, 2004, Synthétiseur, 2008, Le fleuve à droite, 2010, and Manouk, 2014). Interested in documentary filmmaking from the start, she directed J’m’en va r’viendre in 2011, in addition to working on numerous television projects. In recent years, she tackled Nouveau-Québec, a feature film shot in Schefferville, in the northern part of the province, which was released in 2022. She is currently writing a new fiction film entitled Le beau temps.
