Rosie opens film fest
The life of a foster kid is often no picnic.
Unexpectedly becoming a foster parent isn't something most of us would wish for either.
Much as such fates sound like the stuff of a grim narrative, writer-director Gail Maurice manages to turn it all into something much lighter and sweeter in this story about a six-year-old Indigenous girl named Rosie (Keris Hope Hill) who enters the foster system when her mother dies. Her mom's French-canadian foster sister, Auntie Fred (Melanie Bray) is the less-thanthrilled new parent, at loose ends herself and about to be evicted as the film begins.
Before long you're almost ready to believe that sleeping outdoors
in an old auto scrapyard or on rooftops can be fun, or that the street people of Montreal are all a compassionate bunch.
At least it takes place in the summertime.
Fred's two best pals Flo (Constant Bernard) and Mo (Alex Trahan) are wacky characters of ambiguous sexuality who dress in drag to pick up ... well, it's not exactly certain (this is a family
flick understand).
Flo and Mo bring their own anxiety-ridden subplots to the story and a lot of bright colour, too, but it's really the perky, plucky, resourceful and oh-socute Rosie/hill who keeps this picture afloat as much as anyone.
Fred is the most serious person here, working with recycled garbage to create visual art when she's not job hunting. As her character arch coasts from denial to acceptance, we're reminded that some folks find their own family.
While the script is light on self-examination and often geared to visual comedy, it's hard not to like the core cast in this low-key indictment of the foster system, and 1980s Montreal is a character in itself.
If the ending is a bit too perfectly tied in a bow, it's still amusing getting there.
Note: The Thursday screening will include a Q&A with Gail Maurice and Melanie Bray.