CINÉFEST BRINGS INDIGENOUS STORIES TO THE SCREEN

Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival is kicking off its 31^st season with tons of new flicks for you to check out September 14^th to 22^nd. Among the slew of films presented this year we were very excited to see THREE feature-length films by Indigenous filmmakers! We love seeing the diversity of storytellers featured over the festival. This is a great chance to see underrepresented minorities and most notably our Indigenous people tell their stories for themselves! Over the course of the week, Sudburians will have a chance to catch Blood Quantum, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, and Kuessipan – all directed and featuring performances from Indigenous filmmakers (not to mention two of these films are women-directed). We’re very happy to see such diversity in Cinéfest’s 2019 programming, we hope we’ll be seeing you at the theatre! Read on to learn more about some of the Indigenous films you can catch at the fest.

The festival runs from September 14^th to 22^nd at Silvercity Sudbury and offers a unique chance for you to see films from all sorts of different perspectives and from all over the world that otherwise might not make it to Sudbury screens. Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival runs from September 14^th – 22^nd at Silvercity Sudbury. For tickets and more information visit: www.cinefest.com

Blood Quantum

Thursday, September 19 9:30 PM, #GenXY

Directed by: Jeff Barnaby

The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague. Traylor (Greyeyes), the local tribal law enforcement, armed with nothing but a gun, a hangover, and a six-pack, must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees, and drunken reserve riffraff from the hordes of walking corpses infesting the streets of Red Crow. Blood Quantum is the second feature film directed by Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls) and is a story intertwined with the recollection of the history of Restouge and the Oka Crisis almost 30 years ago.

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

Friday, September 20 12:00 PM, Features Canada

Directed by: Kathleen Hepburn & Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers

When Áila (Tailfeathers) encounters Rosie (Nelson), a young Indigenous woman, barefoot and crying in the rain on the side of a busy street, she soon discovers that she has just escaped a violent assault at the hands of her boyfriend.  Áila decides to bring Rosie home with her and over the course of the evening, the two navigate the aftermath of this traumatic event. Inspired by a very real and transformative moment in co-director Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ life, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open weaves an intricately complex, while at the same time very simple story of a chance encounter between two Indigenous women with drastically different lived experience, who are navigating the aftermath of domestic abuse.

Kuessipan

Sunday, September 15th 2:00 PM, Features Canada

Directed by: Myriam Verreault

Two girls grow up as best friends in an Innu community. While Mikuan (Poupart) has a loving family, Shaniss (Grégoire) is picking up the pieces of her shattered childhood. As children, they promised each other to stick together no matter what. But as they’re about to turn 17, their friendship is shaken when Mikuan falls for a white boy, and starts dreaming of leaving the reserve that’s now too small for her dreams. Based on the acclaimed novel by Naomi Fontaine, who co-wrote the script with director Myriam Verreault.