''Monkey Beach'' is a 2020 Canadian drama film, directed by

Loretta Todd Loretta Sarah Todd is a Canadian Indigenous film director. Her first dramatic feature, ''Monkey Beach,'' is based on the iconic novel by Eden Robinson, recently launched to a strong audience and critical response, screening at TIFF Industry Select ...

."Loretta Sarah Todd's 'Monkey Beach' to open Vancouver film festival"
''

Tri-City News The ''Tri-City News'' is a weekly community newspaper based in Port Coquitlam and published by Glacier Media, and serving the Tri-Cities region of British Columbia's Lower Mainland since 1985. The ''Tri-City News'' has more than 100,000 print rea ...

'', September 3, 2020. Her debut narrative feature, the film is an adaptation of

Eden Robinson Eden Victoria Lena Robinson (born 19 January 1968) is an Indigenous Canadian author. She is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations.Monkey Beach ''Monkey Beach'' is a supernatural mystery novel written by the indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson. It was published by Vintage Canada in 2000, being Eden's first novel. It was the recipient of the 2001 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, which ...

''. The film stars Grace Dove as Lisamarie, a young Haisla woman in

Kitamaat Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban distric ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

coming to terms with the mysterious disappearance of her brother Jimmy (

Joel Oulette Joel Oulette is a Canadian actor, most noted for his lead role as Jared in the television drama series ''Trickster''.Aruna Dutt"How this young Canadian star went straight from high school to 'making history' on TV" CBC News, October 14, 2020. A mem ...

). The film's cast also includes

Adam Beach Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in ''Smoke Signals'', Frank Fencepost in ''Dance Me Outside'', Tommy on ''Walker, Texas Ranger'', Kickin' Wing in ''Joe Dirt'', U.S. Marine C ...

Nathaniel Arcand Nathaniel Arcand (born November 13, 1971) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his first major role in the Canadian drama series ''North of 60'', in which for three seasons he played William MacNeil, smart-mouthed and cocky, a troubled, misunders ...

Glen Gould Glen Gould (born June 6, 1971) is an Indigenous Canadian actor, director and producer of Miꞌkmaq and Italian descent. Between 2016 and 2020, he played the role of detective Jerry Commanda on the television series '' Cardinal''. Career Goul ...

, Tina Lameman and

Ta'Kaiya Blaney Ta'Kaiya Skoden Stoodis Kayden Gwanden Blaney (born 2001) is a singer, award-winning actress, speaker, and environmental activist from the Tla A'min Nation in British Columbia, Canada. She is an ambassador for the Native Children’s Survival In ...

. The film premiered at the

2020 Vancouver International Film Festival The 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival, the 39th event in the history of the Vancouver International Film Festival, was held from September 24 to October 7, 2020. On September 3, organizers announced a lineup of 180 films; due to the COVID- ...

Critical response

For ''

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, ...

'', Craig Takeuchi wrote that "Although the overall effort may be uneven at times and takes some time to find its way, there’s enough to appreciate here to carry things along, including a scene-stealing Adam Beach as the mischievous Uncle Mick, Lisa’s struggle to reconcile traditional values with the current world, and—needless to say—the evocative setting that pervades the proceedings." For the Hollywood North Magazine, Shaun Lang wrote, "If my plot summary sounds vague, it’s merely in the service of not spoiling one of the shiniest jewels in the recent wave of Canadian Indigenous Cinema. If The Grizzlies was the Inuit answer to the sports drama, then Monkey Beach is the Haisla response to the Superhero genre. That’s about the closest I can come to categorizing what is truly a spiritually-healing experience whether you’re Haisla or otherwise."

Awards

The film swept the feature film awards at the 2020

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 ...

, winning for Best Picture, Best Director (Todd), Best Actor (Beach), Best Actress (Dove), Best Supporting Actor (Arcand) and Best Supporting Actress (Lameman). At the

Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2020 The 21st Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards honoured the films selected by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle as the best of 2020.Etan Vlessing"Vancouver Film Critics Circle: 'Mank' Leads With Five Nominations" ''The Hollywood Reporter'', February ...

, Beach was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film and Lameman was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film.Jorge Ignacio Castillo
"POSSESSOR AND CHAINED DOMINATE THE VFCC NOMINATIONS FOR BEST IN CANADIAN FILM"

Vancouver Film Critics Circle The Vancouver Film Critics Circle (VFCC) was founded in 2000 by David Spaner and Ian Caddell, in order to help promote Canadian films and the British Columbia Film and Television Industry. Its membership includes print, radio, on-line, and telev ...

, February 3, 2021. Todd,

Johnny Darrell Johnny Darrell (July 23, 1940 – October 7, 1997) was an American country music artist. Darrell was born in Hopewell, Alabama but grew up in Marietta, Georgia. After a stint in the army, he moved to Nashville and began managing a Holiday Inn ...

and Andrew Duncan received a

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) p ...

nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay 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.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 8967870 2020 films Canadian drama films Canadian coming-of-age drama films First Nations films Films based on Canadian novels 2020s Canadian films