Mesnak

Mesnak is a Canadian drama film, directed by Yves Sioui Durand and released in 2011.[1]

Mesnak
Directed byYves Sioui Durand
Produced byRéginald Vollant
Ian Boyd
Written byLouis Hamelin
Robert Morin
Yves Sioui Durand
StarringVictor Andrés Trelles Turgeon
Ève Ringuette
Kathia Rock
Marco Collin
Music byBertrand Chénier
CinematographyStefan Ivanov
Edited byLouise Côté
Production
company
Kunakan Productions
Les Films de l'Isle
Release date
Running time
96 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench
Innu-aimun

The first feature film written and directed by an indigenous filmmaker from Quebec,[2] the film stars Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon as Dave, a young man of Innu origin who was adopted by parents who raised him with no connection to his First Nations heritage. He receives an unexpected invitation to return home to his birthplace, only to learn that he was invited because his birth mother Gertrude (Kathia Rock) is about to marry Claude (Marco Collin), the corrupt band chief who is taking kickbacks from a forestry company to support a logging development on the band's land.[3] Meanwhile, he befriends Osalic (Ève Ringuette), a young woman in the community who is being victimized by sexual abuse, and tries to help her achieve her dream of escaping the community for a better life.[4]

The film was partially inspired by William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.[5] Its cast also includes musician Florent Vollant in a small role as a homeless man; some of Vollant's music is used in the film's soundtrack.[6]

The film premiered in October 2011 at the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival,[7] before opening commercially in early 2012.

Ringuette received a Prix Jutra nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 15th Jutra Awards in 2013.[8] The film won three awards at the 2012 American Indian Film Festival, for Best Film, Best Actor (Trelles Turgeon) and Best Actress (Ringuette).[9]

References
  1. Charles-Henri Ramond, "Mesnak – Film de Yves Sioui Durand". Films du Québec, January 17, 2012.
  2. "Le premier film innu de langue française Mesnak". Le Téléjournal, February 16, 2012.
  3. Brendan Kelly, "Director's good intentions go awry; Aboriginal film; Heavy-handed approach to issue of corruption". Montreal Gazette, February 17, 2012.
  4. Guillaume Fournier, "Mesnak : Lutte et résistance". Voir, February 16, 2012.
  5. Norman Wilner, "Mesnak". Now, October 20, 2011.
  6. Anna Hoefnagels and Beverley Diamond, Aboriginal Music in Contemporary: Echoes and Exchanges. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780773587137. Chapter 21, "Aboriginal Popular Music in Quebec: Influences, Issues, and Rewards".
  7. Justin Skinner, "First Nations film festival Oct. 19 to 23". City Centre Mirror, October 19, 2011.
  8. "Jutra : Laurence anyways et Rebelle en tête des nominations". Ici Radio-Canada, January 31, 2013.
  9. "Mesnak remporte trois prix à San Francisco". TVA Nouvelles, November 20, 2012.


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