Kuessipan

Best friends Mikuan and Shaniss are forced to accept that life will separate them in this intimate, touching and powerful drama about Canada’s indigenous people.

They have promised to stick together no matter what, but as they get older their world expands and shatters the boundaries around the little society that was their everything. For Mikuan, life is full of possibilities, but for Shaniss dreams inhabit a sphere that is far more cramped. They belong to the Innu people, who have lived on the east coast of Canada for centuries, but who now lead a fading existence in the margins. Questions about race and class will unavoidably permeate the lives of Mikuan and Shaniss. The documentary filmmaker Myriam Verreault’s feature film debut, based on the Naomi Fontaine’s critically acclaimed novel, is an authentic and tender growing-up story about friendship, family ties and belonging.

• Johan Blomqvist