I got to see this in a special on-line screening, and after the show there was a nice interview with the director, Danis Goulet. She's Cree/Metis and is clearly building a reputation in production and direction. She came across as very articulate, smart, and personable -- someone you'd love to have as a friend or really just an acquaintance.
Night Raiders is a fairly straightforward adventure story, but of course it packs a message. It casts a light on the indigenous residential-school history -- one of the most shameful chapters of colonialism on this continent -- by throwing it forward into a near-future dystopian world. Some sort of wide-scale War has happened with much destruction of cities. Children of all races are rare and are all gathered up, to be put in schools that are essentially jails and training centers to turn them into soldiers who will continue 'The War'. The lead character Niska (Elle-Maija Tailfeathers) and her daughter Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart) live and hide far away from this out in the bush, but an accident forces them back into contact with the dangerous urban jungle, and we go from there. All of this is told very much from the indigenous characters' vantage point, and they correctly have most of the screen time. No spoilers -- I'll just say there is a dramatic surprise or two coming at the end, for which hints have been properly dropped earlier on.
I thought it was kind of refreshing to see a middle-aged woman as the main character in a semi-action feature (let alone an indigenous one) and Elle-Maija Tailfeathers is excellent. I'd be happy to see her again. The only cast member I knew from anywhere before is Amanda Plummer (Niska's old friend Roberta), who's almost unrecognizable. My only comment on the production is that it feels a bit episodic -- scene-to-scene jumps are not always stitched together too well. But that's minor. All worth seeing!
Night Raiders is a fairly straightforward adventure story, but of course it packs a message. It casts a light on the indigenous residential-school history -- one of the most shameful chapters of colonialism on this continent -- by throwing it forward into a near-future dystopian world. Some sort of wide-scale War has happened with much destruction of cities. Children of all races are rare and are all gathered up, to be put in schools that are essentially jails and training centers to turn them into soldiers who will continue 'The War'. The lead character Niska (Elle-Maija Tailfeathers) and her daughter Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart) live and hide far away from this out in the bush, but an accident forces them back into contact with the dangerous urban jungle, and we go from there. All of this is told very much from the indigenous characters' vantage point, and they correctly have most of the screen time. No spoilers -- I'll just say there is a dramatic surprise or two coming at the end, for which hints have been properly dropped earlier on.
I thought it was kind of refreshing to see a middle-aged woman as the main character in a semi-action feature (let alone an indigenous one) and Elle-Maija Tailfeathers is excellent. I'd be happy to see her again. The only cast member I knew from anywhere before is Amanda Plummer (Niska's old friend Roberta), who's almost unrecognizable. My only comment on the production is that it feels a bit episodic -- scene-to-scene jumps are not always stitched together too well. But that's minor. All worth seeing!