EXCLUSVE: Amber Midthunder (Novocaine), Cara Jade Myers (Killers of the Flower Moon) and Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Peter Pan & Wendy) are leading cast in Tombs, a multi-generational drama about an Indigenous American family relocated to Los Angeles.
Filming is underway on the movie in Vancouver and the Okanagan region of British Columbia with Indigenous director Marie Clements (Bones of Crows) at the helm. Myriad is launching sales ahead of next month’s American Film Market.
Also starring are Isabel DeRoy-Olson (It: Welcome to Derry), Eric Johnson (Fifty Shades Freed), Darren Mann (1923), Gary Farmer (Reservation Dogs) and Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal).
The synopsis reads: “Tombs weaves together the triangular story points of three Oklahoma sisters and their mother who travel to Los Angeles as a part of a relocation program in the 1950s that gave Native Americans the opportunity to become “civilized” by getting jobs in urban centres. When they arrive, they begin to understand that like many east-to-west dreams, the reality is not the new beginning they sought. Abandoned by government policy and in acute poverty, they begin to search for their own, finding home in “the tombs” – the cemented riverways of LA. It is here a young mother is killed, and the lives of her children separate down three very different paths that emerge in 1970s Los Angeles – weaving together one telling, one flood.”
Pic is written, directed and produced by Clements, produced by Trish Dolman (Bones of Crows), Christine Haebler (Monkey Man) and Steven Thibault (Bombshell), with executive producers Photon Films & Media’s Mark Slone (Youngblood) and Myriad Pictures’ Kirk D’Amico (Bob Trevino Likes It).
Director of photography is Adam Madrzyk (A Breed Apart), and the film will be edited by Maxime Lahaie (Big Little Lies), composed by Wayne Lavallee (Sweet Summer Pow Wow) and production designed by Mark Freeborn (Breaking Bad).
The project was made possible with the support of Telefilm Canada, the Indigenous Screen Office, Creative BC, the Harold Greenberg Fund, Myriad Pictures, Photon Films, Film Incentive BC and the Government of Canada.
“Tombs brings together some of the finest Indigenous talent and non-Canadian actors who have brought their commitment and grace to telling this story and speaking the truth of our shared history,” said Clements. “Tombs began as a play I wrote some time ago and I’m honored to bring together this extraordinary cast and amazingly talented production team, to adapt it for the big screen.”
“We are proud to be working with Marie Clements and the Screen Siren producers on this mythic story that weaves the lives of three Indigenous sisters apart and then back together again in an emotionally powerful way,” commented Myriad President, Kirk D’Amico. “It is rare to see a script that has such a profound sense of the human spirit in it like Tombs does. We are excited to see how the film comes together with such a terrific cast and extraordinary crew.”
Midthunder is repped by CAA, Corner Booth Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen; Myers is represented by Elysian Heights and Meyer & Downs LLP; Wapanatâhk is repped by Peak Talent Management, Atlas Artists and Yorn, Levine; DeRoy-Olson is repped by Authentic Talent & Literary Management and RED Management; Johnson is repped by Gary Goddard Agency and Anonymous Content; Mann is repped by WME, Webster Talent, Principal Entertainment, and Bloch Law; Farmer is repped by Noble Caplan Abrams Talent Management and Progressive Artists; and Bellows is repped by Mainstay Entertainment, RED Management and The Characters Talent Agency.
