TAA-Supported Projects Headed To TIFF 2013

Through the Tribeca All Access® partnership with the Canadian Film Centre, two projects that have been supported by both organizations will have their world premieres at next month's (running Sept. 5-15).

Screening in the Canadian features section of the fest—the lineup was unveiled yesterday—Jeff Barnaby's Rhymes for Young Ghouls will be in the Discovery category while Peter Stebbings' Empire of Dirt will be playing in the Contemporary World Cinema.

Descriptions of both projects are below.

Rhymes for Young Ghouls Jeff Barnaby Kids on the Red Crow reservation are doomed. If you can't pay your "truancy tax," that's you up at the residential school, beat up and abused. At 15, Aila is the weed princess of Red Crow. After being thrown into the school’s dungeon, she decides to fight back.

Empire of Dirt Peter Stebbings Like many Native families, Lena Mahikan grew up in the cycle of abuse. Her father, a residential school survivor, was an alcoholic until he killed himself when Lena was 10. Her mother, only 14 years her senior, turned to the slots. By the time Lena was 15, she was pregnant and, before giving birth, was kicked to the curb by her mom. The cycle continues and Lena is now watching helplessly as her own daughter, Peeka, spirals out of control, landing herself in the hospital following a drug overdose. As a final attempt at survival, Lena decides to return home and face her own mother and a past she’s desperate to escape.