Two hundred years after the first Civil War, the descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada struggle to keep famine at bay. Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler) and her husband Galen (Michael Greyeyes) have raised their kids to live off the land and protect their home. Their safety and comfort are interrupted when a bloodthirsty band of cannibals discovers their sanctuary.
R.T. Thorne’s extensive resume in TV and music videos comes through in his exciting debut feature about a family in peril. The Black and Indigenous cast shines with Deadwyler and Greyeyes turning in powerful performances as parents desperate to protect their family, and Kataem O’Connor as Emanuel, the eldest son, who flirts with disaster when he discovers a young woman on the other side of the fence. Building to a sensational climax, 40 Acres is a welcome piece of representational genre filmmaking and a gripping thriller in its own right.
Sept 30 & Oct 2: Q&A with director R.T. Thorne
Supported by
Media Partner
Danielle Deadwyler, Kataem O’Connor, Michael Greyeyes, Milcania Diaz-Rojas, Leenah Robinson, Jaeda LeBlanc
Canada
2024
In English and Cree with English subtitles
At International Village
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Taj Critchlow, R.T. Thorne, Danielle Deadwyler, Sudz Sutherland, John Lang, Mark Gingras, Andrew Frank
Producer
Jennifer Holness
Screenwriter
R.T. Thorne, Glenn Taylor
Cinematography
Jeremy Benning
Editor
Dev Singh, Sandy Pereira
Production Design
Peter Cosco
Original Music
Todor Kobakov
R.T. Thorne
Toronto-based R.T. Thorne is a versatile triple threat: he is a director, producer, and screenwriter, focused on telling stories that break new ground representing the unrepresented. Known for his bold visual style, R.T. has directed for NBC, The CW, WBTV, Netflix, Disney, and Hulu. His episodic work has taken him to three continents, earning three Canadian Screen Award nominations, and a DGC nomination. R.T. is the Chair of the National BIPOC Members Committee for the Directors Guild of Canada.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Turner & Constable
Filmed as a supplement to a blockbuster exhibition at Tate Britain happening right now, this doc in the popular Exhibition on Screen series allows us to view these competitive, complementary English landscape artists side by side.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.
One Battle After Another
PT Anderson's breathless satire is the best political action movie of 2025, a defiantly anti-MAGA rallying cry featuring a six pack of crackerjack performances. They'll still be talking about this one 50 years from now.
The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes
A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.
The President's Cake
Nine year old Lamia and her friend Saeed venture into the city to scrounge ingredients for a cake to celebrate Sadaam Hussein's birthday — a quest fraught with real peril in precarious times. Winner, Camera d'Or, Cannes.
Sentimental Value
A once-revered director crashes back into his family’s lives, eager to recruit his daughter for a film role. When she declines, he finds a new muse in an eager but unpolished Hollywood star, sending his botched reconciliation spiraling into chaos.