On the Farm

On the Farm
Directed by Rachel Talalay
Produced by Rupert Harvey
Written by Dennis Foon
Starring Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Sara Canning
Sarah Strange
Music by Adam Lastiwka
Cinematography Michael C. Blundell
Edited by Lara Mazur
Release dates
July 23, 2016
Running time
90 minutes
Country Canada
Language English

On the Farm is a TV film starring Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Sara Canning, Patrick Gallagher, Kevin McNulty, Tantoo Cardinal, and Sarah Strange. It is a dramatic narrative adapted from journalist Stevie Cameron's 2010 book of the same name,[1] examining the years leading to serial killer Robert Pickton's arrest and the court proceedings before his conviction. It is released in Canada as Unclaimed.[2][3]

Plot

Main character Nikki Taylor (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers), a resident of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, struggles to get out of the cycle of addiction and sex-work to get back to her son. She notices the disappearance of an alarming number of women as she fights to get off the streets. She teams up with social worker, Elaine (Sarah Strange), and police officer Sinead McLeod (Sara Canning), to investigate. They face a slow-moving police department until the media takes notice and it becomes a national story.[2]

Cast

Production

Shot on location in Vancouver, Canada, in the Downtown Eastside.[2]

Awards

Winner of Best Television Movie, Best Screenwriting Television Movie, and Best Casting Television Movie at the 2016 Leo Awards.[4] A further seven LEO nominations were picked up for Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Picture Editing, Best Musical Score, Best Make-Up, Best Supporting Performance - Female (Sara Canning), and Best Lead Performance - Female (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers).[5]

Reception

The narrative has been noted for its refusal to put the serial killer as the main character.[1] Francois Marchand of The Vancouver Sun notes: "A more sensational retelling of the story would be about Pickton, but On The Farm is clearly not about the character portrayed briefly by actor Ben Cotton, who doesn’t have a single line of dialogue and is simply credited as 'The Farmer.'”[6]

The Globe and Mail television critic John Doyle states: "The Pickton character barely appears and the attention is, rightly, on the addicts and sex workers and the handful of cops who understood from the start that the matter of missing women deserved serious scrutiny."[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Furminger, Sabrina. "Beyond Pickton". Westender. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  2. 1 2 3 Talalay, Rachel (2016-10-10), On the Farm, retrieved 2016-07-24
  3. "On the Farm - Based on the book "On the Farm" by Stevie Cameron". onthefarm.info. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  4. "Leo Awards, Winners by Program". www.leoawards.com. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  5. "Leo Awards, Nominees by Program 2016". Leoawards.com. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  6. "On The Farm: A story of survival". Vancouver Sun. 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
  7. "John Doyle: Unclaimed is a dramatic TV movie about the Pickton murders". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-07-24.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.