Set in the fringes of 1980s Montréal, Rosie is an open-hearted love letter to misfits and an ode to found families. Orphaned and alone, Rosie (Keris Hope Hill), a precocious English-speaking Indigenous girl, is unceremoniously deposited at the doorstep of her Francophone Aunty Fred (Mélanie Bray) by child services. A foul-mouthed, underemployed outsider artist, Fred is facing eviction and not exactly in the market for added responsibility. However, she’s powerless to resist Rosie’s practically paranormal positivity as the girl sees the upside of sleeping in a scrapyard and warmly embraces Fred’s street-working non-binary best friends (Constant Bernard and Alex Trahan). Much like Fred creates art from other’s trash, this band of sequined outsiders finds beauty and magic amidst their trying circumstances.
Drawing from her lived experience as a queer Cree/Métis woman, Gail Maurice brings a singular sensibility to her first feature. Her film’s buoyant charm and humour only make its passionate appeal for acceptance all the more persuasive. We’d all do well to take a page from Rosie.
Q&A Oct 2 & Oct 4
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
Mélanie Bray, Keris Hope Hill, Constant Bernard, Alex Trahan, Josée Young, Jocelyne Zucco, Arlen Aguayo Stewart
Canada
2022
In English, French, and Cree with English subtitles
Coarse language
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Lucid
Art student Mia is struggling with a make-or-break assignment, a self-portrait. It's only when grandma lets slip that her mom used to hypnotize her as a child to blank out the bad bits that she realizes the severity of the challenge...
Space Cadet
VIFF Kids Club is our monthly family series with films, crafts and more! Doors at 11 am for activities, film at 12. Space Cadet is the enchanting Canadian animated tale of astronaut Celeste and her robot guardian, and their connection felt across the galaxy.
The Golden Spurtle
Each year the sleepy highland village of Carrbridge awakens with excitement as locals and competitors from around the globe vie for the honour of winning The Golden Spurtle in the World Porridge Making Championships.
Two Pianos
Once promising concert pianist Mathias (François Civil) returns to his native Lyon after a long absence. He's here to pay homage to his mentor, Elena (Charlotte Rampling). But a chance encounter with an old flame sends him spiraling.
The Kidannes Ethio-Jazz Ensemble + Broken Flowers Film Screening
The Kidannes Ethio-Jazz Ensemble will be performing a unique blend of traditional Ethiopian & Eritrean music, combined with a healthy dollop of Western Jazz, in advance of the Jim Jarmusch movie which popularized Ethiopian Jazz in the West.
Credits
Executive Producer
Mark Slone
Producer
Gail Maurice, Jamie Manning
Screenwriter
Gail Maurice
Cinematography
Celiana Cárdenas
Editor
Shaun Rykiss
Production Design
Joshua Turpin
Art Director
Somerville Black
Director
Gail Maurice
Gail Maurice is a Cree/Michif-speaking actor and an award-winning independent filmmaker. She is a recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation Indigenous Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Chalmers Arts Fellowship, and was selected for the 2020 Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative. Her films have screened at Sundance, the Smithsonian Institute, ImagineNATIVE, and have also aired on CBC, APTN, and Air Canada’s Enroute. Rosie, her feature debut, was supported by ImagineNATIVE’s inaugural screenwriting lab.