''Run Woman Run'' is a 2021 Canadian drama film, written and directed by

Zoe Leigh Hopkins Zoe Leigh Hopkins is a Canadian Heiltsuk/ Mohawk writer and film director who began her career in acting in 1991 and later pursued filmmaking. Biography The daughter of journalist Brian Maracle,Laura Neilson Bonikowsky"Brian Maracle" ''The Can ...

.Alex De Vore
"‘Run Woman Run’ Review"
'' Santa Fe Reporter'', October 13, 2021. It stars Dakota Ray Hebert as Beck, a single mother whose life has fallen apart; when she is diagnosed with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, however, she decides to pull her life back together by training to run a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

, during which she begins to see the ghost of

Tom Longboat Thomas Charles Longboat (4 July 18869 January 1949, Iroquois name: Cogwagee) was an Onondaga distance runner from the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario and, for much of his career, the dominant long-distance runner. He was known as t ...

( Asivak Koostachin) coaching and guiding her. The cast also includes Lorne Cardinal, Braeden Clarke,

Gary Farmer Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian First Nations ( Cayuga) actor and musician. He is best known for his Independent Spirit Award-nominated roles in '' Powwow Highway'' (1989), ''Dead Man'' (1995) and '' Smoke Signals'' (1998). ...

, Kevin Hill, Jayli Wolf, Damon Laforme,

Craig Lauzon Craig Lauzon is a Canadian actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his time as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce. His main caricatures on the Farce include George Stroumboulopoulos, John Baird, Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harp ...

Cody Lightning Cody Lightning (born August 8, 1986) is a Cree actor and filmmaker from Edmonton, Treaty 6, Alberta, Canada. He is the son of film director and actress Georgina Lightning and brother of actors Crystle Lightning and William Lightning. He was a Yo ...

, Denise McQueen, Derek Miller, Sladen Peltier and

Alex Rice Alexandrea Kawisenhawe Rice is a First Nations (Mohawk) actress. Rice is known for her performances in ''The Twilight Saga (film series), The Twilight Saga'' (2008–2012) and in a series of PBS films adapted from the mystery novels of Tony Hille ...

. The film premiered in April 2021 at the

Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California in February annually, since 1986. The festival screens over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. ...

. It was released theatrically in Canada by levelFILM on March 25, 2022.

Awards

At the 2021

American Indian Film Festival The American Indian Film Festival is an annual non-profit film festival in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the world's oldest venue dedicated solely to Native American/First Nations films and prepared the way for the 1979 formati ...

, the film won the award for Best Film and Hebert won the award for Best Actress.Vincent Schilling
"American Indian Film Festival: 126 films, 30 nominees, 6 winners"
''

Indian Country Today ''ICT'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a nonprofit, multimedia news platform that covers the Indigenous world, with a particular focus on American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations communities across North America. Fo ...

'', November 7, 2021. Hopkins was also nominated for Best Director, Koostachin for Best Actor, Cardinal for Best Supporting Actor and Wolf for Best Supporting Actress. The film won the Moon Jury Award at the 2021

imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Peoples ...

,Jeff Blagden
"Adaawk Takes Home ‘New Voice in Storytelling Award’, among 18 winners at imagineNATIVE Film Festival"

CFNR-FM CFNR-FM is a Canadian radio station based in Terrace, British Columbia, owned and operated by Northern Native Broadcasting (Terrace). The station operates at 92.1 FM from the station headquarters in Terrace. The programming reflects and is broadc ...

, October 25, 2021. and was named the winner of the Audience Choice award. At the 2022 Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, it won the awards for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay and Best Performance (Hebert). The film was shortlisted for Best Direction in a Feature Film at the 2022

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

awards.Etan Vlessing
"DGC Awards: ‘Nightmare Alley,’ ‘Crimes of the Future,’ ‘Night Raiders’ Lead Nominees"
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', September 23, 2022.

References

External links

* *
Run Woman Run
' at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

2021 films 2021 drama films Canadian drama films First Nations films Canadian Film Centre films Films directed by Zoe Leigh Hopkins 2020s English-language films 2020s Canadian films {{2020s-Canada-film-stub