Mark Sirju

Café Daughter

In a small Saskatchewan town in the 1960s, Yvette Wong, a young girl of Chinese and Cree heritage, struggles with her Indigenous identity amidst family tragedy in this coming-of-age film directed by Mohawk artist and filmmaker Shelley Niro. Yvette’s mother, Katherine, discourages her from embracing her Cree identity, so she explores it in secret. As she learns more about herself and her Indigenous heritage, Yvette finds a friend in Maggie Wolf, who embraces being part Mi’kmaq and encourages Yvette to be proud of being Cree. When her classmates learn about her Cree ancestry, Yvette encounters the realities of being Indigenous, facing prejudice with pride and holding fast to her dream of becoming a doctor. Café Daughter is inspired by true events and based on Kenneth T. Williams’ play of the same name.

Doubles

In small-town Trinidad, Dhani is a dissatisfied man in his early 20s. He hangs out at bars with his high rolling friends, but he doesn’t belong. Dhani always leaves the party early so that he can work the nightshift with his feisty mother, Sumintra selling “Doubles” (the famous Trinidadian street-food). The two share the same dream of opening their very own brick-and- mortar restaurant. After getting humiliated by a girl and Sumintra getting robbed at knife point, Dhani has lost his patience. His land-developing friend, Philip, offers hundreds of thousands of dollars for their land. But, it’s Ragbir, Dhani's estranged father, a successful chef in Toronto, who owns the property. Against Sumintra’s wishes, Dhani decides to go to Toronto to confront Ragbir and get the land signed over to them.

The Hoof Lady

Two vigilante hit-women, adorned with horns and hooves for feet, attack sexual predators for a living. But when Hoof Lady (Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs), one of the hit-women, is set to kill her own attacker, she's conflicted with the ethics of the job.