CFC Features
RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS
Related Programs
Year
2013
Genre
Drama
Synopsis
Rhymes for Young Ghouls is set on the fictional Red Crow Mi'gMaq reservation in the year 1976. By government decree, every Indian child under the age of 18 must attend residential school. In the kingdom of the crow, that means imprisonment at St. Dymphna’s. That means being at the mercy of “Popper” (Krupa), the sadistic Indian agent who runs the school.
At 15, Aila (Jacobs) is the weed princess of Red Crow. Hustling with her uncle Burner (Oakes), she sells enough dope to pay Popper her “truancy tax”, keeping her out of St. D’s. But when Aila's drug money is stolen and her father Joseph (Gould) returns from prison, the precarious balance of Aila’s world is destroyed.
Her only options are to run or fight... and Mi’gMaq don’t run.
Cast
Devery Jacobs, Glen Gould and Mark Antony Krupa
writer(s)
Jeff Barnaby
producer(s)
John Christou and Aisling Chin-Yee
distributor(s)
Entertainment One
editor(s)
Jeff Barnaby and Mathieu Bélanger
Director
Jeff Barnaby
reviews
"A breakout hit at the Toronto International Film Festival"
- The Hollywood Reporter
“The arrival of genuine cinematic intelligence”
- The Globe and Mail
“An engaging and powerful depiction of survival”
- The Huffington Post
“A powerful and assured debut for Jeff Barnaby”
- Exclaim
"Devery Jacobs certainly controls the screen”
- indiewire
"An impressively accomplished debut, a startling, unsettling narrative, and a series of strong performances that should solidify this as a future touchstone in both Native and English Canadian cinema"
- Twitch
project website
Festivals:
- TIFF (World Premiere) – September 2013
- VIFF – September 2013
- Winner, Best Canadian First Feature
- TIFF Canada’s Top Ten – Jan 2014
- International Film Festival Rotterdam – Jan 2014
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission Alberta National Event, Edmonton – March 2014
- Atlantic Film Festival
- Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival
- Festival de Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal)
- imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto
Awards:
- Winner – Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award ($50 000 in services from Technicolor, selected by Norman Jewison) – Jan 2014
- Winner- Creative Promise Award for Narrative (2012 Tribeca All Access)
- Winner – Best Director of a Canadian Film (Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award) – Jan 2014
RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS Creative Team
Rhymes for Young Ghouls Production Stills
