A film that was shot in La Ronge last November makes its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival this evening.
“Barefoot” tells the story of a teenage girl who is surrounded by pregnant teens her own age.
Rather than follow traditional mainstream reaction to the situation, it explores things from an alternative value system.
The film’s director, Danis Goulet, says the film stays away from the usual stereotypes surrounding teen pregnancy:
“The film really tries not to take that position. I think that the stigmatization is a part of a mainstream Canadian value system. I think that in Aboriginal communties, it is a unique cultural context — and I’m certainly not trying to say it’s either-or or blank-and-white.”
Goulet is originally from La Ronge, and she says the community plays a large role in the film:
“Really, at the heart of this story is the place that it’s set in — and that is La Ronge. And, of course, I was born in La Ronge . . . and to go back to La Ronge after so many years and shoot a film there was really special, so I’m really proud to be able to share it with so many other people.”
Two hundred youth auditioned for the film, but just ten made the cut.
Goulet notes actors in the film come from Prince Albert, Hall Lake, Pelican Narrows and other regions of northern Saskatchewan.
She hopes people who see the film gain a deeper understanding of what Aboriginal teenagers have to cope with in life.