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40 Acres film image; woman walking through tall corn field

40 Acres

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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

 

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Director
Cast

Danielle Deadwyler, Kataem O’Connor, Michael Greyeyes, Milcania Diaz-Rojas, Leenah Robinson, Jaeda LeBlanc

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2024

Language

In English and Cree with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

108 min
Action & Suspense Black Cinema Drama Horror & Sci-Fi Q&As at VIFF

Book Tickets

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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 headshot; 40 Acres director

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.

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