''Jordan River Anderson, the Messenger'' is a 2019 Canadian
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
directed by
Alanis Obomsawin
Alanis Obomsawin, (born August 31, 1932) is an Abenaki people, Abenaki American Canadian, American-Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised prima ...
. The film profiles Jordan River Anderson, a young boy from the
Norway House Cree Nation in
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
whose permanent lifelong hospitalization with a rare genetic disorder caused a political fight between the provincial and federal governments over the cost of his medical care, resulting in the establishment of the new
Jordan's Principle
Jordan's Principle is a child-first and needs-based principle used in public policy and administration in Canada to ensure that First Nations children living on and off reserve have equitable access to all government funded public services. It ...
around equity of access to health and social services for
First Nations
First nations are indigenous settlers or bands.
First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to:
Indigenous groups
*List of Indigenous peoples
*First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
children.
The film premiered at the
2019 Toronto International Film Festival
The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...
.
[Barry Hertz]
"TIFF 2019: Toronto festival’s Canadian lineup a mix of familiar faces, exciting rookies and a starring role for David Cronenberg"
''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', July 31, 2019. At the
2019 Vancouver International Film Festival
The 38th Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) took place from September 26 to October 11, 2019. The opening film was Atom Egoyan's ''Guest of Honour'', and the closing film was Nicolas Bedos's ''La Belle Époque''.
Awards
The festival awa ...
, the film won the award for Best Canadian Documentary. , of the critical reviews compiled on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...
are positive, with an average rating of .
References
External links
*
2019 films
English-language Canadian films
2019 documentary films
Canadian documentary films
Documentary films about children
Documentary films about Indigenous rights in Canada
Documentary films about Canadian politics
Documentary films about health care
Documentary films about special education
Films set in Manitoba
Films set in Ontario
Films directed by Alanis Obomsawin
2010s English-language films
2010s Canadian films
English-language documentary films
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