Kayak to Klemtu
(Canada, 90 min.)
Dir. Zoe Hopkins; Writ. Zoe. Hopkins, Michael Sparaga,
Scooter Corkle
Starring: Ta’Kaiya Blaney, Lorne Cardinal, Sonja Bennett,
Evan Adams, Jared Ager-Foster
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| Courtesy Mongrel Media |
Many documentaries chronicle the impact of the oil trade on
BC’s oceans and coastal communities. Few dramas, however, invite audiences to
build relationships and emotional connections with inhabitants of the land who
struggle with this conflict. Oddly enough, writer/director Zoe Hopkins makes
her feature debut with Kayak to Klemtu,
which draws inspiration from the filmmaker’s effort to document stories from her
community of Bella Bella as residents testified to the impact of oil tanker traffic
in the Inside Passage. This serpentine waterway is far too congested—an
accident waiting to happen in one of the most beautiful landscapes in Canada.
Hopkins instead offers a hopeful and accessible story that shares with
audiences a deep connection to the land and waters worth preserving.
Kayak to Klemtu paddles down the Inside Passage as plucky 14-year-old Ella (Ta’Kaiya Blaney) decides to honour her beloved Uncle Bear (Evan Adams), who passed away shortly before he was to testify in a hearing comparable to the one that inspired the film. A bit too young and unfamiliar with the waters, Ella enlists the reluctant aid of her cousin Alex (Jared Ager-Foster), her aunt Cory (Sonja Bennett), and her goofy uncle Don (Lorne Cardinal) to share her journey to Klemtu, the island community from which Uncle Bear hails. Ella hopes to scatter Uncle Bear’s ashes throughout the waters he cherished and to pick up his fight by testifying on his behalf when they land in Klemtu.
Blaney proves an invaluable find with her impressive
performance as Ella. She carries much of the film with a performance that plays
well to her youthfulness and earnestness. Ella’s mix of innocence, irritation,
and inquisitiveness offers a relatable window into the character and the world
she discovers. Who, at some point growing up, has not experienced a profound
need to take stock of their roots and ancestors? Everyone takes this journey in
some form, be it with a kayak, VW van or a few minutes of soul searching, and
Blaney’s strong performance makes Ella an accessible guide for viewers of all
ages.
Surprisingly, the young stars of Kayak to Klemtu outshine their elders as Ager-Foster gets some of
the film’s strongest moments as Alex wrestles with the loss of his father and
the Indigenous roots of his family to which he feels strongly connected.
Cardinal and Bennett, on the other hand, often go for broad strokes of comedy
in a film that calls for restraint. Compared to the quietly compelling youths, Don and Cory can be as hammy as rambunctious kids are.
The film gives each character some quiet introspective moments to shine, however,
and these pauses are startlingly powerful, if occasionally out of place.
The simplicity of Kayak
to Klemtu feels like a departure for Hopkins after her breathtaking short Skyworld, a hauntingly captivating
portrait of the afterlife in the anthology film The Embargo Project, but one can see where the bravura coup
prepared her for her first feature. Kayak
to Klemtu is sincere in its unfussy naturalism. The film engages audiences
with a gently sentimental character study that conveys the responsibility we
have to uphold and preserve the land our ancestors left us.
Hopkins displays a deep respect for the BC wilderness as the
family paddles through the waters of the Inside Passage and visits the islands
en route to Klemtu. Her direction favours a natural and uncontrived view of the
land as the camera drinks up the beautiful sights offered along the coast:
trees, whales, and wildlife. Kayak to
Klemtu doesn’t offer much by way of landscape porn since Hopkins doesn’t
let her eye linger on the golden hues of sunlight rippling along the water nor
on the rugged rocks and cliffs that Ella passes by. Instead, the understated
direction draws an intimate relationship between Ella and her environment as
she discovers the roots of her family and identity.
The sparse use of title cards signals the various tribal
territories through which Ella’s kayak caravan passes and Kayak to Klemtu significantly highlights the multiplicity of tribes
with roots in this small space of the landscape. Hopkins’ eye for inclusivity
is admirable. The roots here go deep and Ella’s story is one among many.
Kayak to Klemtu opens in Toronto on Friday, May 25 at the Carlton.
