"Through Black Spruce" Premieres at 2018 Toronto International Film Festival

Directed by Don McKellar, Through Black Spruce will have its World Premiere as a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is produced by Tina Keeper, Robert Lantos and Barbara Samuels. Screenplay is by Barbara Samuels, adapted from the Giller Prize winning novel by Joseph Boyden.

"I am very proud of our film," says producer Tina Keeper, "I'm thankful to the incredibly talented team of colleagues, artists, the people of Moosonee and the Moose Cree of Treaty No.9, who were part of its creation. It's a story about identity and survival, family and love."

Director Don McKellar says, "This film was a labor of love for the entire cast and crew and right now we are all looking forward to the natural conclusion of our journey - a screening at TIFF, before the world's best and most discerning film festival audience."

The Through Black Spruce cast is led by Tanaya Beatty (Hochelaga, Hostiles) in the starring role of Annie, who goes searching for her missing sister. Brandon Oakes (Blood Quantum, Diggstown) takes on the role of Will Bird. Kiowa Gordon (The Twilight Saga) plays her lover, the photographer Jesse. The stellar supporting cast includes Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves), Tantoo Cardinal (Wind River), Wesley French (Shadow Hunters), Roseanne Supernault (Blackstone), with Tina Keeper in the role of Lisette, Annie and Suzanne's mother.

Through Black Spruce explores the way a young Cree woman's disappearance triggers events in two worlds: in Moosonee, the remote Northern Ontario community she fled years ago, and Toronto, where she modelled before vanishing. When her twin sister heads south to retrace her sibling's steps, her uncle is left to deal with the repercussions at home ... and comes up against the ghosts of his past. The two worlds collide in the fallout from the missing woman's troubled life.

Through Black Spruce is a Serendipity Point Films/Distant Horizon production. Anant Singh, Mark Musselman, Phyllis Laing and Ari Lantos are executive producers. Steve Solomos is co-producer.

Through Black Spruce will be shown on Saturday, September 8 at the Winter Garden Theater at 8:45pm and on Tuesday, September 11 at the Scotiabank Theater at 9:45pm. Tickets are available online through the Toronto International Film Festival website.