Part of Movies We Missed.
Tue, Jan 18 at 7:45pm: Introduction from Jana Harper, co-director of the Indigenous Studies Seminar at Vanderbilt University's Robert Penn Warren Center of the Humanities | BUY TICKETS
From July to September 1990, two Mohawk communities in Quebec were thrust into a resistance against the Sûreté du Québec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Canadian Armed Forces. Referred to in the media as the “Oka Crisis,” the three-month standoff captured the attention of the entire country as the communities protested the expansion of a golf course into a forest and burial ground.
Writer-director Tracey Deer’s astounding and timely debut feature, set in the summer of 1990, tells the story of a 12-year-old Mohawk girl named Beans, a bright and promising student trying to find her place in her community. Caught between youth and adulthood, between Indigenous identity and white settler culture, BEANS skillfully navigates the nuances of these frictions to deliver a compelling, important message on self-identity in a broad societal context — and Deer forges a creative path to explore the harrowing events that are rooted in her own experience as a teenager.
“An affecting personal spin on recent history.” ––Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter “A thoughtful, stirring reflection by someone who survived it all, quietly demanding acknowledgement not just of her land, but of her life.” ––Guy Lodge, Variety “To Deer’s credit, she does not back down from the cruelty that older, white people demonstrate toward the community, including children. (Archival footage of the real incident more than backs up Deer’s portrayal.)” ––Ronda Racha Penrice, The Wrap
