• Beans: A Different Coming-of-Age Story

• • Art for Progress
  • Film
• 3 years ago
• Inspired by true events, Tracey Deer’s Beans is a powerful and impassioned coming-of-age story set  amid a recent violent chapter of Canadian history. The 1990 Oka Crisis was a land dispute between the Mohawk community and the mostly white government of Oka, Quebec, over plans for a sacred burial ground to be turned into a golf course.  An intense 78-day confrontation ensued, some of which is included in the film via archival footage. Deer, a Mohawk who was inspired by her own memories of the time, instills her film with scenes and emotions that are both tender and tough, which makes for a particularly engaging experience. At the start of the film, smart, sensitive 12-year-old Tekahentakwa, nicknamed Beans (beautifully portrayed by Kiawentiio) and her mom Lily (Rainbow Dickerson, also excellent) travel from their home on the Kahnawá:ke Mohawk Reserve to apply to a fancy school in town. (In an uncomfortable moment, the white administrator tries repeatedly and unsuccessfully to pronounce "Tekahentakwa.") Beans’ father is against the whole idea, but Lily is adamant that their daughter pursue an excellent education. The family is rounded out by young Ruby (Violah Beauvais), Beans’ frequent companion and a classic little sister sidekick. Dad becomes involved in the protests against the golf course supporters, which soon becomes a standoff: In retaliation for the Mohawks’ blockade of a bridge that connects the community with Montreal, local authorities cut off [...]
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