qathet film society presents
3 Ears Indigenous Film Festival
Blood Lines
Blood Lines
Saturday September 26 – 7pm
Directed by: Gail Maurice
Featuring: Tamara Podemski, David Webster, Stephanie Aubertin
Genre: Drama / Romance / LGBTQ+
Languages: English, Michif
Rated PG – 1hr 29min
Released: 2025
Blood Lines is a 2025 Canadian romantic drama film, directed by Gail Maurice. The film stars Dana Solomon as Beatrice, a Métis storyteller and store clerk whose life is upended when she is encouraged to reconcile with her estranged mother Leonore (Maurice) after many years of no contact, at the same time as being drawn into a romance with Chani (Derica Lafrance), a woman who arrives in their community looking for her biological family, leading to a shocking discovery.
The film is a lesbian romance wrapped up in a celebration of Métis culture—with dialogue in the Michif language, which has only about 1,130 speakers in the world, including Maurice—and centers around an upcoming Métis Days festival.
Blood Lines’ storyline contains numerous underlying themes revolving around the concept of bloodlines. Without spoiling anything, the title has multiple meanings: one more obvious than the other. The overarching story matched the title’s importance and what it means to help those in one’s ancestry and family tree.
Gail Maurice is a one-woman force in the latest film. She wrote, directed, and produced the movie. And on top of all of that, found time to be of one of the film’s co-stars. She truly does it all. Which is understandable, when you learn that this film is an extremely personal text for Maurice. During a Q&A after one of the film’s world premiere screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival, Maurice described just how much of her is in this film. The additional context makes an already remarkable film resonate that much more. Blood Lines is a deeply emotional story about identity, family, and community.
There are moments of pure joy and great humor – mostly provided by the ever-lovely “Granny Gang”. To inject some great vibes into the film, Maurice deploys a group of four older Métis women (including her mother) as both comedic relief and sources of great wisdom.
One of the most charming elements of Blood Lines is how much the maternal love and strength of this Indigenous Métis population is on display. On top of being female led in the direction, production, and starring roles of the movie, the film is almost entirely void of male figures. However, it never feels like a forced point of contention or distinction to be made. The film just inherently exists that way.