Vancouver-based prodco DelValle Films has announced that principal photography on its first film, Protectors of the Land, will begin on Sept. 5 in the B.C. cities of Vancouver, Squamish and Langley.

Lauro Chartrand-DelValle will serve as director, writer and executive producer of the thriller, set to wrap Sept. 22, with executive producer Sharlène Royer. Producers are Willie Aames (Eight is Enough, Gunsmoke) and Jaye Gazeley (Rabid, Free Fire). Canadian distribution is being handled by Equinoxe Films’ Michael Mosca.

The budget for the film is $3.7 million, with financing from private equity, as well as provincial and federal tax credits.

The cast is led by Tim Rozon (Wynonna Earp), Tanaya Beatty (Yellowstone, Through Black Spruce) and Nathaniel Arcand (Killers of the Flower Moon) and also features Graham Greene (Wind River, Dances with Wolves).

The film is a revenge thriller about a white man (Rozon) who becomes embroiled in a violent drug war in their Alaskan town, eventually leading to the murder of his Indigenous wife (Beatty), which prompts him to team with her brother (Arcand) to find justice.

The production of Protectors of the Land features a training program, titled the Indigenous Action Artist Mentorship Program, which was started by Chartrand-DelValle along with colleague Bruce Crawford and includes opportunities for Indigenous members of the community to get practical on-set skills and experience in filmmaking. The program plans to have an Indigenous mentoree in each department on set for this project.

Pictured (L-R): Tim Rozon, Tanaya Beatty, Graham Greene, Nathaniel Arcand