''This Place'' is a Canadian drama film, directed by V. T. Nayani and released in 2022. The film stars

Devery Jacobs Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (born August 8, 1993), known professionally as Devery Jacobs, is an Indigenous Canadian ( Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk)) actress and writer. For her performance in ''Rhymes for Young Ghouls'' (2013), she garnered a Canadian S ...

and Priya Guns as Kawenniióhstha and Malai, two young

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

women who fall in love while both confronting family difficulties: Kawenniióhstha is searching for her estranged Iranian father, while Malai's father is seriously ill. The cast also includes Janïsa Weekes, Alex Joseph,

Brittany LeBorgne Brittany LeBorgne is a Mohawk actress from Canada. She is most noted for her role as Zoe in the television series '' Mohawk Girls'', for which she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series at the 4th Canadian ...

, Ali Momen, Muraly Srinarayanathas, Jahmal Padmore, Golshan Abdmoulaie, Abi Jeyaratnam, Mecha Clarke, Feaven Abera,

Ali Badshah Ali Badshah (full name Syed Ali Mehdi Rizvi Badshah) is a Canadian actor, writer, producer, and director. Badshah is the male lead in the Oscar-nominated feature film drama '' The Breadwinner''. He has written and starred in five televised comed ...

, and Darianne Breault. The film had its world premiere in the Discovery section at the

2022 Toronto International Film Festival The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, the 47th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, is scheduled to be held from September 8 to 18, 2022. Festival organizers have indicated that the 2022 festival will be staged primar ...

on September 9, 2022. It went into commercial release in July 2023.

Cast

as Kawenniióhstha Cross * Priya Guns as Malai Jeyapillai *

as Wari Cross * Ali Momen as Behrooz Asadi * Alex Joseph as Ahrun Jeyapillai * Janisa Weekes as Dr. Helen Campbell * Muraly Srinarayanathas as Jeyapillai Chinniah * Jahmal Padmore as Dwayne Francis * Darianne Breault as Donna Asadi

Critical response

Courtney Small of ''That Shelf'' wrote that "The notion of learning to forgive adds a fascinating layer to Nayani’s film. It allows the film to work as both an engaging romance, and a profound exploration of the intersection of family, community, and identity. Just as Kawenniióhstha and Malai are figuring out who they are both as individuals and a couple, they are also coming to terms with the difficult decisions their families were forced to make." Drew Gregory of ''Autostraddle'' wrote: "All of these threads of story are balanced deftly, always grounded in the people, the cultures, the places, and the time periods on display." Tomas Trussow of ''The Lonely Critic'' wrote: "The battle to preserve connections of all kinds becomes the shaping tenet of Nayani’s work, which is engrained in all facets of the film’s makeup ... allowing viewers to see how fully and freely these characters live out their roots in the moment."Tomas Trussow
"TIFF 2022 REPORT #7"
''The Lonely Film Critic'', September 26, 2022.

References

External links

* 2022 films 2022 drama films 2022 LGBT-related films Canadian drama films Canadian LGBT-related films Films shot in Ontario English-language Canadian films 2020s LGBT-related drama films First Nations films Films about Iranian Canadians Canadian Film Centre films 2022 directorial debut films 2020s Canadian films LGBT First Nations culture {{2020s-Canada-film-stub