FESTIVAL PREMIERE
FEATURE | CANADA | 101 MINUTES | English, French, Other
Les Filles du Roi
Director: Corey Payette
A young Mohawk girl, Kateri, and her brother Jean-Baptiste, have their lives disrupted upon the arrival of Les Filles du Roi in 1665 ‘New France’, forge an unlikely relationship with young fille Marie-Jean Lespérance – whose dream of a new life is more complicated than she could have imagined.
CAST & CREDITS
Director
Corey Payette
Producer
Garrett VanDusen, Corey Payette, Julie McIsaac
Screenwriter
Corey Payette, Julie McIsaac
Editor
Christian Diaz Duran
Key Cast
Kaitlyn Yott, Julie McIsaac, Raes Calvert, Chelsea Rose
Directors Bio
Corey Payette is an interdisciplinary storyteller, writer, composer, producer, director in TV and film. He is a member of the Mattagami First Nations, with French Canadian and Irish ancestry, and lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl’ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.
Known for his deeply moving, large-scale original musical creations, Payette’s work challenges the public’s notion of what musicals can be, inserting Indigenous perspectives and narratives into mainstream spaces, igniting conversations that inspire social change. Payette’s work explores themes of colonization, Indigenous language revitalization, cultural healing, reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and the complexity of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences across music, theatre, and film. Payette’s deeply collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and community engaged creation process has been integral in shining a light on stories that have gone unheard for generations. In 2021, Payette received the inaugural BC Award for Reconciliation, created to honour those who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity, respect, and commitment to furthering Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in the province of British Columbia.
As a musical creator, Payette writes the music, lyrics, story, and directs his productions. His original musical “Children of God” has been performed across Canada since 2017, his second musical “Les Filles du Roi” (The King’s Daughters) written in English, French, and Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) with Julie McIsaac had its world premiere in 2018. In 2021, Payette directed a film adaptation currently in post-production to be released in 2023. In 2021, “Starwalker” began development under Warner Media / Access Canada writer’s program and is currently being adapted into a feature film.
As a director, most recently he made his feature film directing debut with “Stories that Transform Us” which premiered at Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) in 2021, “Guide My Way” a concert film and “Les Filles du Roi” his first musical feature film has been screened at over 12 International film festivals winning “Best Picture – Feature”, “Best Director”, “Best Original Score” at Flathead Lake International Cinemafest, “Best Music” at Hamilton Film Festival, and “Best Original Score” and “Best Production Design” at the Leo Awards in 2024.
Corey holds a B.F.A. in Music Composition from York University, and composed the film score to the documentary AMIN AMIR (OMNI TV). He is the past Grand Chief of the Board of Directors of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (IPAA) and past board member of Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society providing mental, physical, and spiritual relief to Indigenous peoples on the DTES (Vancouver, BC). He is the recipient of the John Hirsch Prize from the Canada Council, Fleck Fellowship from the Banff Centre, has won 3 Ovation Awards and 2 Jessie Awards for his writing and directing work.
Directors Statement
My Great Grandmother Mabel moved from Caughnawaga (Kahnawake) Mohawk Territory on the south shore of the St.Lawrence river, across from Montreal, to Northern Ontario in the early 1900s. She spoke English and French but Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) was her first language. She was discriminated against for being Indigenous and never taught Kanien’kéha to her children, and the language was lost in our family. In fact, she shared very little with them about their own language or culture. Now with the support of the Native American Travelling College in Akwesasne we not only received the teaching of the Kanien’kéha language but also some of the worldview that is embedded within this complex language. With only two generations between my great grandmother and I, I feel like this reclaiming of Indigenous language through Les Filles du Roi is part of a larger story that will resonate with many young Indigenous peoples who are on this same path.
We are using this musical film as a vehicle to tell the story through the perspective of generations of silenced Indigenous peoples whose stories have gone unheard by the mainstream. It challenges the history we’ve been told and asks us to reconsider the narrative. Stories are powerful, they shift how we see the world, and our history has been shaped through a predominantly white male perspective. Much of our work in Les Filles is about Indigenizing the narrative because these perspectives are missing.
In addition to the Indigenous perspective being missing, we found few perspectives of les filles who had come over. Our work has been about feminizing this history through the eyes of these women. It has been 358 years since the time our story is set, and in that time we have experienced the loss of matriarchy, which was the way of governance in the Kanien’kehá:ka nation at the time of our story. All women have felt the impacts of the loss of this Indigenous worldview. I hope it serves as a reminder of what was once present on this land and of what we could be.
I never met my Great Grandmother Mabel, but I know she would be proud that we are reclaiming Kanien’kéha in this way. We will speak our language again, language will bring songs again, songs will bring dances again, and even if we have to create the story anew, these stories will remind us of who we have always been.
Corey Payette
Director, Composer, and Co-Writer
Showtimes
November 8th – December 31st
AMC The Grove 14
189 The Grove Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking
At The Theatre
