August 23, 2018
EDGE OF THE KNIFE (Sǥaawaay Ḵ’uuna), the first feature film in the Haida language, will make its Western Canadian Premiere at VIFF 2018, which runs from September 27 to October 12, 2018.
Shot on stunning Haida Gwaii and scripted in two Haida dialects, Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s 19th-century epic is both a landmark work of cinema and a nod to the grand storytelling traditions that lure us to the big screen. Guilt-ridden after a tragic accident, Adiits’ii (Tyler York) retreats into the wilderness where he’s plagued by spirits and transformed into Gaagiixid, the Haida Wildman. As his loved ones set out to capture and cure him, a riveting tale of survival and forgiveness unfolds.
(from the VIFF website)
* * *
We acknowledge that the land on which we work is the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.