Canadian Premiere
1665. Louis XIV has seen fit to send a gift to the New World: surplus women to bring succor and support to French settlers in what is now Quebec. Among them is Marie-Jeanne (Julie McIsaac), who immediately falls foul of the matronly Madame Savoie (Claire Johnstone) by making nice with a native Mohawk trader, Jean-Baptiste (Raes Calvert), and his naive young sister Kateri (Kaitlyn Yott).
A full-blown micro-budget musical, adapted from their own stage production by Urban Ink’s Corey Payette with co-writer McIsaac, Les Filles du Roi shuttles expeditiously between French, English and Mohawk; between song and speech; and between a handful of real world locations and theatrical artifice. It probably shouldn’t work but what carries it is Payette’s knack for crafting rousing and melancholy melodies, sterling singing across the entire cast, and a utopian vision of cross-cultural reciprocity to counterbalance history’s harsher narrative.
October 5 & 8: Q&A with director Corey Payette & crew
Presented by
Series Media Partner
Kaitlyn Yott, Julie McIsaac, Raes Calvert, Chelsea Rose, Sean Sonier
Canada
2023
Northern Lights
In English, French and Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) with English subtitles
Depictions of Racism, Sexually Suggestive Scene, Violence, Coarse Language
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Corey Payette, Julie MsIsaac, Melissa Tsang
Producer
Garrett VanDusen
Screenwriter
Corey Payette, Julie McIsaac
Cinematography
Ian Mrozewski, Parham Banafsheh
Editor
Christian Díaz Durán
Production Design
Anna Shearing
Original Music
Corey Payette
Director
Photo by Luke Fontana
Corey Payette
Corey Payette is an interdisciplinary storyteller, writer, composer, producer, director in Film & Theatre. Since 2014 he has been the Artistic Director of Urban Ink, one of Canada’s most ambitious theatre companies. Payette wrote the music, lyrics and directed the acclaimed musicals Children of God, Les Filles du Roi, and Starwalker. He is a member of the Mattagami First Nations, with French-Canadian and Irish ancestries. Les Filles du Roi is his first feature film.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.
Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg's gripping war movie was hailed as an instant classic in 1998, and he won his second Academy Award in five years for Best Director. Matt Damon takes the title role, Tom Hanks is charged with bringing him home from the front.
Palimpsest: The Story of a Name
Drawing on home movies and diaries from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, Canadian filmmaker Mary Stephen (Eric Rohmer's editor for many years) investigates the origins of her surname. After all, she was born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents. Or were they... ?
Buffalo '66
Vincent Gallo's directorial debut is an eccentric, provocative comedy which laces a poignant love story with both a sombre, washed-out naturalism and surreal musical vignettes. This one is something different...
Run Lola Run
In the hyper intense world of pre-millennial Berlin, Lola has just 20 minutes to come up with a 100,000 Deutchmarks or her boyfriend cops it. He's asking the right woman: Lola won't stop til she's saved the day... It's Speed, in the multiverse...