drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
-Canadian filmmaker
Tracey Deer
Tracey Penelope ''Tekahentakwa'' Deer (born February 28, 1978, Mohawk nation, Mohawk) is a screenwriter, film director and newspaper publisher based in Kahnawake, Quebec. Deer has written and directed several award-winning documentaries for Rezol ...
. It explores the 1990
Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis (french: links=no, Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 days until Septe ...
at
Kanesatake
Kanesatake (''Kanehsatà:ke'' in Mohawk) is a Mohawk (''Kanien'kéha:ka'' in Mohawk) settlement on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains in southwestern Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Ottawa and Saint Lawrence rivers and about west of ...
The Georgia Straight
''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', July 30, 2020. where it was second runner up for the
People's Choice Award
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...
. It was also featured at the 2021
New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...
, among others.
The film won the
Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series ...
for
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
9th Canadian Screen Awards
The 9th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held in the week of May 17 to 20, 2021, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020.Barry Hertz, "How one Canadian arts institution is rebuilding amid the p ...
in 2021, along with the John Dunning Best First Feature Film Award. It was nominated for the
Prix Iris
The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.Best Screenplay at the
24th Quebec Cinema Awards
The 24th Quebec Cinema Awards were held on June 5, 2022, to honour achievements in the Cinema of Quebec in 2021. The ceremony was hosted by actress Geneviève Schmidt.
Actress Hélène Florent won both Best Actress for ''Drunken Birds (Les Oisea ...
in 2022.
Plot
Tekehentahkhwa, who goes by the nickname "Beans", is a bright preteen who lives in
Kahnawake
The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Queb ...
, a Mohawk reserve. She is encouraged by her mother, Lily, to try to apply for a prestigious school in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, something her father opposes.
After seeing their cousin Karahwen'hawi on TV protesting the expansion of a golf course into Kahnesatake territory upriver, the entire family drives to the area to support the protestors. The Mohawk land is surrounded by the town of
Oka, Quebec
Oka is a small village on the northern bank of the Ottawa River (''Rivière des Outaouais'' in French), northwest of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located in the Laurentians valley on Lake of Two Mountains, where the Ottawa has its confluence with t ...
, which was seeking to expand its golf course into a historic Mohawk cemetery. Beans and her little sister are quickly caught up in a police raid, which strengthens her parents' resolve to stay and help during the protest. Tensions grow fast. Barricades are built and the Kahnesatake territory is isolated. Food runs short and women and children are given the possibility to evacuate. Outside, protesters throw rocks at the evacuating cars.
In the meantime, Beans befriends April, an older girl she seeks to emulate in smoking, cursing, and friendships with boys. April teaches Beans to toughen up, in a hard way.
Cast
*
Kiawentiio
Kiawenti:io Tarbell (, born 28 April 2006), known mononymously as Kiawentiio, is a Canadian actress from Akwesasne, a reserve located along the Ontario–Quebec– New York border. She is best known for her role as Ka'kwet, a Mi'kmaq girl, in th ...
The semi-autobiographical story is based on historic events that Deer lived through as a child. While she includes harsh events, she has said she wanted to avoid having the film be traumatic for viewers. It is recommended for viewers of 14+ in age. Filming took place in
Kahnawake
The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Queb ...
and
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
in 2019.
Deer began writing the script in 2012, in collaboration with
Meredith Vuchnich
Meredith Vuchnich is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. She is most noted as cowriter with Tracey Deer of the 2020 film ''Beans''. They won the WGC Screenwriting Award for Best Feature Film in 2021Musthafa Azeez"Schitt’s Creek and Tri ...
. It was a long, seven-year process, partly because revisiting the Oka Crisis brought up difficult memories. She sought therapy to help her deal with them.
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''Beans'' opens a compelling window into the indigenous coming-of-age experience -- and serves as an affecting debut for Kiawentiio."
The film was named to TIFF's year-end
Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema" ...