Cafe Daughter
Shelley Niro
Canada, 2023, 97 min.
This film is family friendly.
Nine-year-old Chinese-Cree Yvette struggles to find her place in a 1960s Saskatchewan small town after her mother’s death. Her Cree mother had urged her to hide her Native ancestry to avoid discrimination. Despite keeping this secret, Yvette still faces racism—coupled with sexism—in her community and at school. She befriends a girl of Mi’kmaq descent who encourages her to take pride in her Native roots. When her Cree bloodline is revealed, Yvette confronts the discrimination of her teachers and classmates and finds the strength to pursue her dream of medical school.
Category: Feature, Festival Alum.
Themes: Discrimination, Indigenous, Family.