Shot in the Haisla Territory near Kitimat, Monkey Beach, based on the novel by author Eden Robinson, touches on the past and modern day struggles of a community.
The book centres on the journey of Lisa Marie, played by Grace Dove, who returns to her remote community from the big city and encounters ghosts and spirits from the past.
With an all Indigenous cast, Monkey Beach is about to light up big screens across the country.
“It’s a beautiful journey because I think as a young person she is struggling between two worlds which I think a lot of us do relate with,” Dove says.
Dove is no stranger to the silver screen. The actor’s resume has a long list of various roles but says this film is a dream come true.
“To work with my mentors people that I look up to like Adam Beach, like Nathaniel Arcand, Stefany Mathias it’s such a full circle,” she says.
The making of Monkey Beach has taken director Loretta Todd 15 years to put together.
“It’s been quite a journey making Monkey Beach and getting it to the screen started with optioning it of course from Eden Robinson,” she says. “So much love and respect for her for trusting it with for all these years because her writing was like my filmmaking.
“It really is an Indigenous women’s story and everyone of them are all strong and role models and giving back to their communities.”
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Elder Harriet Prince and her friends said they were moved by the movie.
“I really enjoyed it,” she says. “It really hit home especially with the residential school it was so nice to see the actors I knew 90 per cent of them.”
Dove says something magical happened during filming.
“There is this beautiful sunset and the mountains and I could just feel the power in the people and the land,” she says. “And that plays such a big part of the story as well and I got to see a whale that came right up to my boat and I felt like people pay big money for that and there I was experiencing that first hand.”
