As part of National Canadian Film Day, the Patricia Theatre is offering a free presentation of Rosie on Thursday, April 20, at 7 pm.
Rosie is an adorably infectious coming-of-age story set in a Montreal melting pot.
Orphaned and alone, Rosie (Keris Hope Hill), a precocious English-speaking Indigenous girl, is unceremoniously deposited at the doorstep of her Francophone aunty Fred (Mélanie Bray) by child services. A foul-mouthed, underemployed outsider artist, Fred is facing eviction and not exactly in the market for added responsibility.
However, she’s powerless to resist Rosie’s practically paranormal positivity as the girl sees the upside of sleeping in a scrapyard and warmly embraces Fred’s street-working, non-binary best friends (Constant Bernard and Alex Trahan). There’s also a local panhandler (Brandon Oakes’ Jigger) and busker (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart’s Janine) as two examples of Indigenous people in Canada. This is an eye-opening education for all.
Director Gail Maurice is seeking to tell a tale from the heart that digs deep enough to provide characters too-often relegated into stereotypes a semblance of three-dimensionality.
Drawing from her lived experience as a queer Cree/Métis woman, Maurice brings a singular sensibility to her first feature. Her film’s buoyant charm and humour only make its passionate appeal for acceptance all the more persuasive. We’d all do well to take a page from Rosie.
Rosie is rated PG. Running time is one hour and 30 minutes.
Gary Shilling is executive director of qathet Film Society.
