Film Screening: Blood Quantum

It’s almost Halloween, which means it’s time for a scary movie!

Synopsis: The term “blood quantum” refers to a colonial blood measurement system that is used to determine an individual’s Indigenous status, and is criticized as a tool of control and erasure of Indigenous peoples. The words take on even more provocative implications as the title of Jeff Barnaby’s sophomore feature, which grimly depicts an apocalyptic scenario where in an isolated Mi’kmaq community discover they are the only humans immune to a zombie plague. As the citizens of surrounding cities flee to the Mi’kmaq reserve in search of refuge from the outbreak, the community must reckon with whether to let the outsiders in – and thus risk not just the extinction of their tribe but of humanity, period. The severe and scathing portrait of post-colonial Indigenous life and culture that Barnaby previously captured in the acclaimed Rhymes for Young Ghouls here deftly collides with the iconography and violent hyperbole typical of the zombie genre.

Run time: 96 minutes
Rating: 18A for explicit violence
Starring: Michael Greyeyes (Rutherford Falls), Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Night Raiders), Forrest Goodluck (Indian Horse, The Revenant), Kiowa Gordon (Through Black Spruce), Olivia Scriven (Degrassi: Next Class), Stonehorse Lone Goeman (Shipwrecked)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/GxWrPr3XQjc

Food and drink are welcome at the library – please bring your own snacks!