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Women of the West

Love, death, and the wheel of fortune. Set at the turn of the century across Canada, the US and Mexico, this is the story of Sara. The Victorian romantic is thrust on an unexpected journey when she is suddenly widowed from the love of her life; in striving to provide for her family, she must carve an unconventional path for herself amidst the turbulent landscape of the expanding West. This is a story of resilience and defying destiny.

  • Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle
    Director
    Desert Haiku, The Drum Will Never Stop, Grey Matter, Helix, Wonder Chamber no 1
  • Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle
    Writer
    Desert Haiku, The Drum Will Never Stop, Grey Matter, Helix, Wonder Chamber no 1
  • Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle
    Producer
    Desert Haiku, The Drum Will Never Stop, Grey Matter, Helix, Wonder Chamber no 1
  • Eleanore Jackson
    Key Cast
    "Sara"
  • Cory McFadden
    Key Cast
    "Jack"
  • Genevieve Paquette
    Key Cast
    "The Fortune Teller"
  • Naomi Aldrich
    Key Cast
    "Grace"
  • Mika Mentza Snow
    Key Cast
    "Tannys"
  • Meghan Beth Riley
    Key Cast
    "The Opera Singer"
  • Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle
    Cinematographer
    Desert Haiku, The Drum Will Never Stop, Grey Matter, Helix, Wonder Chamber no 1
  • Project Type:
    Short, Television
  • Genres:
    drama, period, historical
  • Runtime:
    24 minutes 21 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 25, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    9,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Reel East Texas
    Kilgore, Texas
    United States
    November 16, 2019
    Texas premiere
    Winner of Best Actress and Best Cinematography
  • Ocean Coast Film Festival
    Lavra
    Portugal
    October 20, 2019
    European premiere
  • American Indian Latino Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    May 19, 2019
    East coast premiere
    Award finalist
  • Queen Palm International Film Festival
    Palm Springs, CA
    United States
    April 10, 2019
    Coronet laurels
  • Rome Film Awards
    Rome
    Italy
    November 29, 2019
    Italian premiere
  • Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes
    Cannes
    France
    November 23, 2019
    French premiere
  • L'Age d'Or International Arthouse Film Festival
    Kolkata
    India
    South Asian premiere
    Winner Best Women's film, Winner Best Score, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
  • Las Vegas International Film Competition
    Las Vegas
    United States
    July 25, 2019
  • Northeast Mountain Film Festival
    Dillard
    United States
    June 14, 2019
    Award finalist
Director Biography - Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle

Montreal film director and artist Marie-Michele can often be found in seascapes, deserts and urban jungles between the Maritimes, California, New Mexico and Japan.

She catches the light working across the cinematic platform using dance, surrealist narratives, film-poems, immersive dreamscapes and branded content, collaborating with indigenous hiphop artists, Japanese spiritual singers and other creatives around the world. Recent accomplishments include solo shows in Montreal and Tokyo, screenings at the International Symposium of Electronic Arts, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and film festivals from Indonesia to Germany, Australia to Italy, Brazil, England and the US, as well as the prize for ‘Best Cinematography’ for her short ‘Helix’ in Buenos Aires.

Aiming to contribute meaning and beauty to our highly interconnected world, Marie-Michele's work deals with the ideas of magic, the sublime, light and morphic resonance. She currently has 4 short films in the festival circuit, and is currently in production with both a web series (a Canadian period western) and a feature-length fiction film.

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Director Statement

What does it mean to be a Woman of the West ? Born at the crossroads of French, English and Native American cultures, I believe that the western world in which I was raised is not as much a place, as it is a state of mind. To be ‘of the West’ evokes an intrepid spirit; one that does not falter when challenges arise, rejoicing where others will retreat. It is a spirit born of necessity, bred by creativity, resilience, hope and unending faith. Faith in oneself, in community, in love, in family.
We are here to celebrate the lives of women whose paths will remind us of the incredible interconnectivity of all things.
In a land where the vastness of the deserts is only met in grandeur by the immensity of its oceans, where mountains marry forests and streams ow through the course of our four seasons,
we will follow the stories of botanists, opera singers, costumers, fortune tellers, wives and daughters, mothers and sisters, pioneers in the frontiers of their minds moreso than the land. is is not a western, this is a celebration of what it’s like to be a woman in a unique time and place, where space and privilege has afforded us the choice to be who we were born to be. Though tragedy misses no one, these will be tales of victory through our own darkness, tales of second chances, turning poison into medicine,
finding courage, strength, and above all love.