Directed by: Tracey Deer
Written by: Tracey Deer and Meredith Vuchnich
Cast: Kiawenti:io, Rainbow Dickerson, Violah Beauvais, Paulina Alexis, D'Pharaoh McKay Woon-A-Tai

Director’s notes

This project goes back a long way for me. I was Beans. I was twelve-years-old when I lived through an armed stand-off between my people and the Quebec and Canadian governments known as The Oka Crisis. The Mohawk Nation of Kanesatake and Kahnawà:ke stood up to a formidable bully - and won. That summer I knew I wanted to become a filmmaker and vowed to one day tell this story.

Director’s Biography

Mohawk filmmaker Tracey Deer led the acclaimed dramedy Mohawk Girls to five award-winning seasons as its co-creator, director, and co-showrunner. She received four consecutive Canadian Screen Award nominations for Best Direction in a Comedy Series for Mohawk Girls, and she has been honored at TIFF with the Birks Diamond Tribute Award. Tracey's debut narrative feature Beans, a coming-of-age story about a young Mohawk girl during the Oka Crisis that was inspired by her own experiences. She began production after returning from LA, where she was a writing co-EP on the Netflix/CBC series Anne with an E. Tracey chairs the Board of Directors of Women in View, a non-profit that promotes greater diversity and gender parity in Canadian media. She has mentored emerging talent as leader of the Director Training Program at the imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival, a guest at the National Screen Institute (NSI) New Indigenous Voices Program, and NSI’s new IndigiDocs training course.

 

Beans

2021

Twelve-year-old Beans is on the edge: torn between innocent childhood and reckless adolescence; forced to grow up fast and become the tough Mohawk warrior she needs to be during the Oka Crisis, the turbulent Indigenous uprising that tore Quebec and Canada apart for 78 tense days in the summer of 1990.

Awards & Achievements

  • TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter Award
  • Winner of Best Feature Film at the WGC Sceenwriting awards
  • DGC Discovery Award
  • Canadian Screen Awards:
    • Best Motion Picture, Winner
    • John Dunning Best First Feature Film award, Winner
    • Achievement in casting, Nomination
    • Achievement in sound mixing, Nomination
    • Achievement in cinematography, Nomination
  • Vancouver Film Critics Circle:
    • One to Watch: Kiawentiio
    • Best Supporting Actress: Rainbow Dickerson
  • Sandi Ross Award
    • Tracey Deer
  • Prix Collégial du Cinéma Québécois Nomination
  • DGC Best Production Design of a Feature Film
    • André Chamberland
  • CAFTCAD (Cdn Alliance for Film & TV Costume Arts & Design)
    • Best Costume, Nomination
  • Toronto Film Critics Association
    • Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, Winner
  • Prix Iris 2022
    • Best Film, Nomination
    • Best Direction, Nomination
    • Best Screenplay, Nomination
    • Best First Feature, Nomination
    • Emerging Talent, Nomination
      • Kiawentiio Tarbell
      • Rainbow Dickerson
    • Best Casting, Nomination
      • Maxime Giroux Casting
      • Rene Haynes Casting
    • Best Editing
    • Best Costumes
    • Best Hairdressing

Festivals

  • Berlinale, Generation Kplus, Germany:
    • Crystal Bear for Best Film
  • Toronto International Film Festival (World Premiere), Canada :
    • TIFF Emerging Talent Award
    • TIFF's Rising Star
    • TIFF's Canada's Top Ten
  • Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada :
    • Best Canadian Film
    • Most Popular Canadian Narrative
  • Yukon Available Light Festival, Canada
    • Best Canadian Feature
  • Kingston Film Fest, Canada
    • Audience Choice Award
  • Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, USA
    • Audience Choice Best Canadian Feature Fiction
  • Provincetown International Film Festival, USA
    • NY Women in Film & Télévision Award for Excellence in Narrative Filmmaking
  • Canadian Film Festival in Dieppe, France
    • Coup de Cœur du Jury
  • Cordillera International Film Festival, USA
    • Best Audience Awards
  • Filmfestival Freistadt, Austria
    • Youth Jury Prize & Special Mention in Competition
  • Nara International Film Festival, Japan
    • Youth Jury Best Film
  • Zlin Film Festival, Czech Republic
    • International Ecumenical Jury Award
  • Adelaide Youth Film Festival, Australia
    • Best Film & Best Film for 16+
  • Nuuk International Film Festival, Greenland, Denmark
    • Best Feature
  • LUCAS - International Festival for Young Film Lovers, Germany
    • Special Mention - MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award
  • Arctic Film Festival - Golden Raven, Russia
    • Grand Prix
  • Independent FilmFest Osnabrück, Germany
    • Film Award for Children's Rights
  • Canada China International Film Festival, Montreal, China
    • Best Film Award
  • Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway
    • Audience Award
  • Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, Quebec
    • Closing Film of the Festival
  • The Canadian Film Day (Journée du Cinéma Canadien), organized by Reel Canada, screened in Laos, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Nepal, Bhutan and India
  • Cinema of Ideas (Platform created by Independent Cinema Office), UK
  • Festival Films de Femmes de Créteil, France
    • Prix FranceTV: 'Des Images et des Elles' - Best Film of the First Film Section
  • Indianer Inuit: The North America Film, Stuttgart
    • Best Feature Film
  • Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, USA
    • William W. Warner Beautiful Swimmers Award
  • Sao Paulo Film Festival, Brazil
  • Los Cabos Film Festival, Mexico
  • Gold Coast Film Festival, Australia
  • Stockholm International Film Festival Junior, Sweden
  • Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival, Norway
  • Festival de Cine Canadiense de Madrid, Spain
  • Athena Film Festival, USA
  • Miami Film Festival, USA
  • New York International Children's FF, USA
  • Cinequest Film & VR Festival, USA
  • Seattle International Film Festival, USA
  • Hawai’I International Film Festival Spring Edition, USA
  • Ashland Independent Film Festival, USA
  • Columbus International Film and Animation Festival, USA
  • Milwaukee Film Festival, USA
  • Maryland Film Festival, USA
  • USA Film Festival, USA
  • Maine International Film Festival, USA
  • Hopkins Center for the Arts, Special Screening, Dartmouth, USA
  • Cine Las Americas Intl Film Festival, USA
  • Filmfest DC/Washington, DC International Film Festival, USA
  • NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, USA
  • Bentonville Film Festival, USA
  • BlackStar Film Festival, USA
  • Phoenix Film Festival, USA
  • Sante Fe Indian Market, USA
  • Nia Tero Drive in, USA
  • CSUFresno, USA
  • Lost Weekend Film Festival
  • Vail Film Festival, USA
  • Port Townsend FF, USA
  • Heartland International Film Festival
  • Vermont International Film Festival
  • Buffalo International Film Festival
  • Frankfort Film Festival
  • FilmColumbia Festival
  • Virginia Film Festival
  • Centre Film Festival
  • Chicago International Children's Film Festival
  • Pocahantas Reframed Film Festival, USA
  • Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, USA
  • University of the Arts
  • Glimmerglass Film Days: Rise
  • American Indian Film Festival
  • SIFF Virtual Cinema
  • NatiVisions Film Festival
  • Loft Film Fest
  • National Museum of the American Indian
  • Northwest Film Forum
  • Young Audiences Screening Days
  • Seoul Guro International Kids Festival (GUKIFF)
  • Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival (BIKY)
  • OFF CAMERA International Festival of Independent Cinema
  • Buster Copenhagen Film Festival
  • Muestra Cine Mujerez Zaragoza
  • Raindance Film Festival
  • Piccolo Grande Cinema
  • Festival International du Cinéma d'Auteur de Rabat
  • Bengaluru International Film Festival
  • Wapikoni Mobile Film Festival
  • Festival Panoramic
  • UPWIFT
  • Festival International de Films de Fribourg
  • 100% Manusia (Human) Film Festival

 

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