The Mary C. Moore Library will be back with another movie at Lacombe City Cinemas on September 15 at 7 p.m. to screen the Canadian film ‘Beans’.
‘Beans’ follows an indigenous tween navigating girlhood, struggling to form her own identity during turbulent times.
This coming-of-age story is also set against the backdrop of the Oka Crisis, an event that rocked the city of Quebec for 78 days, in 1990, when the Mohawks and police officers engaged in an armed dispute about the expansion of a golf course on native grounds.
Director Tracey Deer, who lived through the Oka crisis, interwove her experiences of youth into the film, giving a firsthand account of the conflict.
“Canadians did not experience that summer as we did. The media painted us as terrorists. Our neighbors attacked us. Our basic human rights were violated and instead of offering protection, the provincial police and Canadian army aimed their weapons at us,” says Deer. “Sound familiar? Thirty years later, these same scenes are playing out across our television screens as people stand up for racial and social justice across North America. They too are being met with violence, instead of support.”
Beans differs from previous films in the coming of age genre because it’s an indigenous story told by an indigenous filmmaker.
In addition to its refreshing story of growing pains, the film takes a look at the 1990s land dispute that divided a city and ignited discrimination towards the Mohawk population, wisely commenting on how active racism is in today’s world.
“With this film, I want Canadians and audiences around the world to experience what it was like to be in the crosshairs of so much hate and anger, and the destructive impact it had on me and my people,” says Deer. “These kinds of experiences shatter innocence, confidence, and hope. Even though this film takes place in 1990 and shows how bad things were, these messages of intolerance, ignorance and indifference are still being heard loud and clear across this country today.”
“I made this film to inspire them to open their hearts and head back into their everyday lives as allies of Indigenous people. We need their friendship, support and action for society to change for the better,” says Deer.