Production has wrapped in Ontario on writer/director Shelley Niro’s The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw.

Produced by Turtle Night Productions, Freddie Films and Circle Blue Entertainment, the feature follows a young Indigenous woman who reluctantly returns to her reserve to help her father care for her mother. When she comes home she encounters three spirits who encourage her to go on adventures.

Niro (The Shirt) is a producer on the film along with Floyd Kane (Undone) and Amos Adetuyi (Angelique’s Island). Kane currently serves as showrunner on the upcoming CBC drama Diggstown, while Adetuyi is attached to exec produce.

The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw was shot in Toronto; Sudbury, ON; Windy Lake, ON; and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation, ON.

LevelFILM holds the Canadian rights to the feature and is planning a 2019 theatrical release.

In August 2017, the feature was among 11 Indigenous films selected by Telefilm to share $4.7 million. The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw was also made with the participation of The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.

The film stars Morningstar Angeline (Longmire), Andrew Martin (Fire Song), Gail Maurice (Assini), Billy Merasty (Indian Horse), Gary Farmer (Deadman), Vance Banzo (Indian Horse), Ajuwak Kapasheit (Indian Horse) and Roseanne Supernault (Rhymes For Young Ghouls).

Image: Shutterstock