'You don't really know how to respond, and I mean, Tina had a friendship with Joseph so we waited to see what her response to all of this would be.' When the Boyden story became national news, 'everybody was stunned bunnies, you know?' says Samuels. Samuels, who had worked with Keeper on North of 60, had already written multiple drafts of the story, altering it somewhat to modernize it as well as bring the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women to the forefront. I have a lot of contempt for the effort that was put into that story… I really feel that one of the things it's about is, again, this destruction of Indigenous people that is part of this effort of colonization, which is really to destroy Indigenous people.' I talked to Joseph on a regular basis and I believe him. It was a non-issue,' she said. 'We had a conversation for sure as producers. Like what does this boil down to, and this idea of identity politics is not something we wanted to engage in and we are very clear about that. 'I optioned it because he was an Indigenous writer and I believe he's an Indigenous writer so I didn't even regard that.

Her commitment, to both the story and Boyden, was unwavering. Keeper, a friend of Boyden's, had purchased the rights to Through Black Spruce in 2012, and was well underway in her adaptation of his work when the story broke. I optioned because was an Indigenous writer and I believe he's an Indigenous writer so I didn't even regard that. Specifically, who should be telling them? To make matters even more complicated, Boyden, the source author, became the focus of a 2016 APTN investigation that questioned the very authenticity of his Indigenous roots. And much like last year's TIFF film, Indian Horse, or more recently, Quebec director Robert Lepage's play Kanata, both Indigenous stories being told by non-Indigenous directors, it opens the door to a conversation around the idea of appropriation.

Through Black Spruce is a distinctly Indigenous story, but it's being directed by a non-Indigenous filmmaker in McKellar. While the film is largely focused on the crisis of a missing Indigenous woman, identity is also a key issue, both onscreen and off. Keeper, who is also Cree, produced the film after optioning the rights to the story, which is based on the 2008 novel by Joseph Boyden. The film was largely shot in Moosonee, Ont., and Toronto, with a veteran cast and crew led by director by Don McKellar, screenwriter Barbara Samuels ( North of 60), and appearances by actors Graham Greene, Tantoo Cardinal and Tina Keeper. Through Black Spruce tells the story of a Cree family coping with a missing young woman, as told through the perspective of her sister, Annie Bird (Tanaya Beatty) and her uncle, Will Bird (Brandon Oakes).

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden