Kayak to Klemtu Interview: Zoe Hopkins
“I’m a feminist because I’m a woman. Boys have had enough screen time. We’re taking our space now, and I’m so proud to contribute to a new day, in whatever small way I can.”
On the surface, KAYAK TO KLEMTU is about a young girl searching for a connection to a land she has never visited in order to protect it. When you dive deeper you see a film that centres around grief, family, ancestry and environmentalism.
Growing up, I was not given much access to Indigenous film. In school, we were shown stereotypical views that didn’t showcase modern representations of Indigenous people.
Kayak to Klemtu shatters all those stereotypes and gives an honest depiction of an unconventional family struggling with the loss of a father, husband and uncle.
Ella (Ta’Kaiya Blaney) decides to honour her Uncle Bear’s legacy by taking the kayak trip they always planned. Throughout the trip, Ella explores what it means to come from this vast ancestry and why protecting the land helps to preserve their legacy.
Her journey to Klemtu offers a perspective on the culture she had never experienced and personalized her speech to protest oil tankers trafficking their waters.
KAYAK TO KLEMTU depicts the land and the Indigenous culture in a beautiful way. It shows that family doesn’t have to come from blood and that protecting our world should be a priority for everyone.
Zoe Hopkins debut film is a gorgeous tribute to British Columbia and her Indigenous heritage. Hopkins is a Heiltsuk/Mowkawk Canadian filmmaker born in Bella Bella on the coast of British Columbia. She holds a BAA in Film from Ryerson University and is an alumna of the Sundance
Institute’s Feature Film Program.
Zoe is also a member of the Embargo Collective; creators of the omnibus feature, The Embargo Project, and has many critically acclaimed short films.
If you need more convincing to see this film, KAYAK TO KLEMTU won the Audience Choice Award at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival and Powell River Film Festival and won Best Canadian First Feature Film at the Victoria Film Festival.
You can catch KAYAK TO KLEMTU at the Carlton in Toronto until Thursday, June 7th. You can watch the trailer below.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved with filmmaking.
Zoe Hopkins: I was born in Bella Bella, BC. I’m Heiltsuk on my mom’s side and Mohawk on my dad’s. I now live amongst my father’s people in Six Nations, Ontario. Both my parents took me to weird movie things growing up — animation festivals, world’s best advertising festivals, B-movie festivals, subtitled films, and the drive-in. When I was 15, I worked as a featured background on the film Black Robe, which at the time was the biggest Canadian budget film ever made. I got to take 2 months off school for that gig and spent that time falling in love with the process of making a film. I loved being on set. I still do. More acting gigs came up, and I made a go of that for a while until I decided I wanted to have a hand in creating better roles for people who look like me. I grew tired of the buckskin and braids roles that I was only ever offered, and I went to film school. I got a degree in film from Ryerson and made my first short, Prayer for a Good Day, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. I’m also a Sundance Institute Feature Film Program alum.
Tell us about KAYAK TO KLEMTU. Where did the idea come from?
ZH: I was gifted with a phone call from Daniel Bekerman, Producer, and Sheryl Kotzer, Executive Producer, who wondered if I might want to come on board to direct a feature set along the BC Coast with an environmental theme, and a family spin. I jumped at the chance and said YES. I took that story and made it into something close to my heart — an Indigenous heart, led by the beautiful Ta’Kaiya Blaney, who is a real-life environmental and youth activist.
There are a lot of complex issues in the film, from family to grief, identity, but the main thread of the film is environmentalism, specifically on indigenous land. Why is this issue important to you and why did you choose to make it the main thread of the film?
ZH: I was in Bella Bella to document the testimony of the Heiltsuk people (my people) who had been asked to prove that the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Project that would have seen bitumen being tankered through our waters was a bad idea. I cried behind the camera at every word put down. And I couldn’t believe the audacity of that project — to think that these rough-edged, narrow passages could for a second be a target for oil tanker traffic. It is one of the most pristine parts of the planet. I listened to our leaders, young and old, including our very own archaeologists, marine biologists, fishermen, chiefs, and language teachers, who collectively carry the knowledge of our ancestors regarding the proper stewardship of the land and the sea. Cut to a year later, and that pipeline project was shut down — in part due to the unity of the Coastal First Nations who stood strong against it. This film was born from that experience — where I bore witness to my people use words to fight for the sanctity of our territory — for the good of all.
Why did you choose to explore different versions of family, connection to a homeland and ancestry in the film?
ZH: Family in a place like Bella Bella is something to behold. It is a deep, wide, embracing feeling to be part of a Heiltsuk or coastal family. One can adopt someone to strengthen their family. I have a non-Native adopted brother who my mom adopted to be my big brother, because as a little girl I wished for a big brother, not understanding that this wasn’t possible (in a mainstream way). But lo and behold, when I was 20, she introduced me to the man she looked for my whole life. We had a traditional Heiltsuk adoption ceremony and he has been my brother for more than half my life. People like him, who go live in Bella Bella adopt the coast as their home.
I know many people who don’t have a history reaching back millennia on the coast as I do, but their love for the people, the place, the water, the creatures, is as deep as mine. I’ve seen it in how they have committed their lives to the coast. I wanted this film to show that the sanctity of the Great Bear Sea, the ocean, the forest, the medicines, the fish, and all the wildlife — the sanctity of these things is a human issue. Not just a First Nations issue. And that we are working together to save them.
Kayak to Klemtu shows off the stunning coast of British Columbia. How long did you and the cast film on the water and what was it like to get all the shots in the boats?
ZH: We filmed for 22 beautiful days. The bulk of these days involved water and boats. It was the hardest thing we’ve all done. We carried gear in and out of 22 different boats, and up countless rocky beaches, that I came to call ankle-breaker beaches because I was sure I would break my ankle! (I didn’t).
It was a physically demanding job for the entire crew, as well as for the cast, none of whom were expert kayakers. But we had uncannily gorgeous weather. It never rained once. Not even in the “Great Bear Rainforest”. We needed rain for a stormy scene, and we had to make it ourselves! No matter how hard each day was, we always got to ride back to base camp at sunset on the ocean. Our sunset cruise on the water reminded me every day that we had the best team to make this film, and that we were touching base with the reason for making it, just by opening our eyes to the beauty around us.
Can you tell us about some/all of the other amazing women who worked on this film?
ZH: I’m so thrilled that we achieved gender parity on both sides of the camera. Our lead, Ta’Kaiya Blaney, is a young environmental/Indigenous rights/youth activist who has spoken before the UN. She is a powerhouse. Look her up and you can’t help but feel inspired and wonder what you’ve been doing with your life.
Sheryl Kotzer, Executive Producer is a real friend of the environment. She travels to do good things in the world and lifts women like me up — offering this incredible opportunity. Sonja Bennett, who plays Cory, is the hardest working actor I’ve seen. She is studious and asked me so many awesome questions about her character. And aw man she made me laugh on every take of her pooping her pants gag in the film. Simone Smith was my editor. I hope she’s my forever editor. She’s incredibly talented.
Kerri Brown was our gaffer. Female gaffer! Marion Wilson-Brown, co-producer from Kitkatla, regularly fed our crew incredible ocean delicacies from her own kitchen, and got us in touch with most of our First Nations crew members. Robyn Weasel Bear was our scripty/camera assistant/art department assistant. She was a godsend. I can’t wait to see her have more opportunities in the camera department, which is her passion. Nataliya Fedulova was our Production Designer — she was a joy, and did so much with so little, even recreating a grave island — a traditional coastal First Nations graveyard, having never seen one before. All of these women were incredible collaborators. I couldn’t imagine the set without all of this amazing woman power.
Tell us about why you are a feminist and why it’s important to your filmmaking.
ZH: I’m a feminist because I’m a woman. Boys have had enough screen time. We’re taking our space now, and I’m so proud to contribute to a new day, in whatever small way I can.
Who are your favourite women working in the film industry?
ZH: Laura Milliken, Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Danis Goulet, Lisa Jackson, Tasha Hubbard, Chelsea Winstanley, Pauline Clague, Libby Hakaraia, Michelle Latimer, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Alanis Obamsawin, Ainsley Gardiner, Jennifer Podemski, Helen Haig-Brown, Tracy Rector, Renae Mihi, Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, Awanui Simich-Pene, Briar Grace-Smith, Katie Wolfe, Casey Kaa, Paula Jones, to name just a few of the powerhouse Indigenous Female Filmmakers in Canada, the US, Aotearoa, and Australia, who are all creating gorgeous films. Watch their work. Be stunned and amazed.
I watched Waru, an NZ film made by 8 Maori women filmmakers, and my jaw was open the whole time. Those girls kicked EVERYTHING up several notches. Seriously.
What’s the best advice about filmmaking you’ve ever received?
ZH: “Being a nursing mother is no reason not to carry on with your filmmaking. And being a filmmaker is no reason to quit nursing. Hell, I made my first feature with my son hanging off my tit!” — Merata Mita, the first Maori (woman) to make a feature film in New Zealand, on encouraging me to bring my 2-month-old son to the Sundance Film Festival. This advice forever changed the way I work, the way I parent, and the way I live. I’m endlessly grateful to Merata. I’m sad she didn’t live to see my first feature. But I know she is fiercely proud of me in the sky world.
What are you working on now/next?
ZH: The next feature is Running Home, produced by Big Soul’s Laura Milliken. This one is on land! We’re working to get it off the ground and hope to shoot next year in Six Nations. This one is a comedy and a self-love story with romantic threads about a woman reclaiming her spirit with the help of a ghost.
What was the best thing that happened to you this past week?
ZH: Today we got to announce the European premiere of Kayak to Klemtu, screening in competition at the Edinburgh Film Festival. I’m also gearing up for the theatrical release this weekend — May 25–27 in Toronto and hoping we get held over. When I was in film school at Ryerson, a prof on the first day asked our class of 50 film students which of us wanted to be a feature film director. All the hands shot up. Except for mine. I was sure that if everyone else wanted to be that, then I couldn’t possibly do that too. The prof went on to say that it was likely that only one of us would get the opportunity to direct a feature film. I don’t know if that came true. But I’m headed to the theatre this weekend to see my film on the marquee — it’s an absolute dream come true. One best thing this week is to be thankful to those who helped this come to be.
If you had one extra hour of free time a day, how would you use it?
ZH: What is free time?
Finally, recommend one #MUFFApproved** film for our blog readers!
ZH: Just one? Waru. But here are a few more just in case: Angry Inuk, Birth of a Family, Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance.
Keep up to date with Kayak to Klemtu: Facebook
*This post was originally featured on The MUFF Society.*
