Bootlegger

In order to finish her thesis, Mani, a master’s student in Law, leaves Montréal and goes back to her family in a remote reserve, where her past continues to have painful consequences. While she is struggling with that past and in spite of everything still hopes to be accepted by her community, Mani becomes involved in a debate about a referendum that would make it possible to sell alcohol freely. Alcohol estranges and divides the members of the local community. Some fear for the young and remember the problems from the past. As a Law student, Mani believes that alcohol should be regulated and taxed. But with this opinion she diametrically opposes herself to forty-five-year-old Laura. She has been smuggling illegal alcohol into the reserve for years, with the approval and support of some and her partner Raymond. The latter is still angry with Mani, whom he holds responsible for his daughter’s death long ago. The ambivalence of the characters, their confusion and emotional tension are the guiding principles throughout this visually telling debut, an exploration of the right to self-determination in indigenous communities.