85:00 | 2010 | DRAMA

In 1967,  a young journalist arrives at a retirement home in The Pas, Manitoba, to interview Billy, a 94-year-old black man. Billy recounts for him the story of his eventful life: his migration as a young man from the U.S. to Manitoba; his struggles as a homesteader; the racism he endured; his love of a woman; and his gift of photography. Winnipeg actor Ernesto Griffith, who also co-wrote and co-produced, plays Billy. “The film is based on the true story of Billy Bieyoal, a lone African-American photographer who moved to northern Manitoba in 1907. There, Bieyoal encounters the comradeship as well as the bigoted violence the other settlers as he embarks on a passionate romance with a white woman. Shot in glorious 35mm by Claude Savard, this sensitive portrait of one man’s search for acceptance in the earliest days of Manitoba also promises to be a major contribution to our collective understanding of the African-Canadian experience” (Matthew Rankin)