Tricksters, those shape-shifters also known by names like Nanabush, Glooscap, and Wisakedjak, are figures from Indigenous culture that connect people of the Earth with the supernatural world. Her debut feature doc Alias (2013) profiled diverse voices in Toronto’s hip-hop scene, which has obvious influence on Trickster, where urban beats propel the story of teen protagonist Jared (Joel Ouellette) as he comes of age in Kitimat, BC, amid a battle between his (literal) witch of a mother (Crystal Lightning) and his mysterious father (Kalani Queypo), who returns from the dead to pass on the legacy of the trickster to his son. The animated short Choke (2011) announced Latimer as a talent to watch with its portrait of drug addiction and the lateral violence of residential schools, with haunting stop-motion animation fueled by the vocals of David Lynch on the soundtrack. Latimer’s works, diverse as they are, define themselves with a clear activist voice and a desire to push formal terrain while exploring urgent issues, most often affecting Indigenous communities. But they’re also natural progressions in Latimer’s career as she’s stood out among her generation of filmmakers. (Latimer directs all six episodes of Trickster, two of which screen at TIFF, and is currently adapting a second season.) Both projects are arguably the most high profile and eagerly anticipated Canadian work at the festival. The Algonquin/Métis filmmaker has two projects among TIFF’s scaled-down 50 film line-up: the feature documentary Inconvenient Indian, inspired by the book by Thomas King, and the CBC series Trickster, which adapts the book Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson. Call Michelle Latimer the talent to watch at TIFF 2020.
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