ROSIE

ROSIE is an unconventional love story. A drama with poignant and comedic moments, this film is about the resilience of a child and the beauty of love and acceptance. It’s about alienation, identity, and the revelation that we are all capable of love. It’s a story about fringe dwellers, society’s “throwaways”, struggling to survive against all odds. It’s about finding your chosen family, and seeking “treasures” in trash.

Rosie and the gang are misfits that love, cry, fall and rise back up. The characters are not all Indigenous, but they are just as marginalized as I am. As a queer, Cree/Métis woman, I have never fit into mainstream society - I speak with an accent, I look Indigenous, and I’m a lesbian. And while this film is fictional, it is very much inspired by many elements of my own story.

I was born and raised in a small Métis community in Northern Saskatchewan. When I moved to Saskatoon for university, I was isolated and alienated. I was also realizing I might be gay. I felt like an outcast, like I didn’t belong in this new world. Then I found my people in the underground queer scene. It was the 80’s and it was a glorious, magical life-changing moment. ROSIE represents this moment in time for me, a time where I found my place in the world... a colourful, outrageous, wild, gay world where I was finally free to get my freak on!

Despite the challenges I faced when I moved into the city, I am profoundly grateful to have been raised in my culture by my grandmother, Pelagie Maurice. This film is very much a tribute to her. I was raised speaking English and Michif – the language of the Métis people – a mixture of Cree and French. There are only 1,130 Michif speakers in the world and I am one of them; when I speak Michif I feel my ancestor’s memories coursing through the words into my blood and veins. My grandmother spoke fluent French, which is also part of the Métis heritage, so I made ROSIE a bilingual film to honour that history.

My lead characters are francophone and speak with very thick Québécois accents – this adds another element of alienation and isolation for Rosie. Rosie’s mother was taken from her Indigenous parents and adopted into a francophone family. I have two siblings that were taken from my mother at birth. I’ve never met them, but it’s not for lack of searching. Rosie can’t find her mother’s family because of lost records, but she adapts and forms a new chosen family. This is my way of honouring the fighters who were ripped from their mother’s arms, the survivors who are doing the best they can.

Lastly, I created the character of Jigger – a homeless Cree man that becomes Rosie’s friend – to link back to Rosie’s culture and to underscore the resilience of Indigenous people. Jigger is homeless, but not beaten. He is strong, wise, calm and a connection to Rosie’s Indigenous roots. He inspires Rosie.

What connects all of these characters is their ability to uncover beauty and magic, both in their circumstances and surroundings. When Rosie and her aunt are forced to sleep under the stars in an auto scrapyard for the night, Rosie sees it as an outdoor camping adventure. Her aunt collects people’s garbage and turns it into art.

Beneath all the grime, there is glitter.