Justin Ducharme’s film takes us into Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where three Indigenous sex workers are having a rough day. Tamara (Nizhonniya Austin) belatedly realizes she has 10 hours to find her passport for a return to the US. She’s assisted in her efforts by good friend December (Aalayna), who is grieving her recently deceased father. Meanwhile, full-time student and part-time hustler Aiden (Taio Gélinas) loses most of his savings and has to rustle up cash as quickly as possible…
December, Tamara, and Aidan live in the shadow of colonialism, and their story is as political as it is intimate. Seventeen is a work about solidarity in the face of oppression, and it alternates between moments of anger and affirmations of care. What Ducharme shows is that survival is as much a matter of love as it is one of will. As an artist, he’s much like his three characters: as tough as life demands and as tender as it allows.
Oct 2, 4 & 11: Filmmaker Q&A
Presented by
Supported by
Media Partner
Justin Ducharme
Aalayna, Nizhonniya Austin, Taio Gelinas, Shannon Baker, Kaniehtiio Horn, Renae Morriseau
Canada
2026
In English and Cree with English subtitles
Sexually suggestive scenes; coarse language
Open to youth at International Village & the Rio
At Fifth Ave
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Eva Thomas
Producer
Justin Ducharme, Tyler Hagan, Olivia Marie Golosky
Screenwriter
Justin Ducharme
Cinematography
Tucker K Anderson
Editor
Lisa Pham Flowers
Production Design
Adriana Marchand
Original Music
Branton Olfert
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