Kuessipan

Myriam Verreault's 2019 Quebec film follows two childhood friends growing up in an Innu community. Mikuan wants to write and is thinking about leaving; Shaniss became a mother young and continues her life there. The distance between them opens slowly. The film is adapted from Naomi Fontaine's novel, with the screenplay co-written with the author. The cast is drawn from the community and some of the dialogue is in Innu. That is the film's most important decision; the community stops being an object looked at from outside. The narrative constructs neither a story of escape nor a defence of staying. Mikuan wanting to leave is not presented as betrayal, and Shaniss staying is not defeat. Instead the film shows how the difference between two lives slowly undoes a friendship. Who it's for: those who like Canadian cinema made with Indigenous communities and friendship drama. Who it's not for: viewers who want to avoid domestic violence on screen; the film does not shy from showing it.