Blood River

• Written and Directed by Kent Monkman
• Produced by Gisèle Gordon
• 2000, 23 minutes, colour, 16mm (available on Beta SP)
• Distributed by Vtape

Synopsis

Feeling at odds with her white suburban environment, Rose, a hip Aboriginal law student, can barely tolerate her well-meaning, but clueless adoptive mother, Claire. Through Rose’s vivid hallucinatory nightmares, we see an Aboriginal youth trying to survive on the streets of a big city. As he is pimped, bullied and bashed, Rose experiences his terror and isolation. When she finally stumbles on the secret behind her brother Clayton, it’s hard to bridge the gap between the harsh reality of his life and her sugar-coated existence. Maybe she has been too quick to dismiss what she does have.