Night Raiders Movie Storyline. Set in a dystopian version of North America in the year 2044, the film centres on Niska (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers), a Cree woman who joins a resistance movement to the military government in order to save her daughter. After a destructive war across North America, a military occupation seizes control of society.
One of their core tactics: taking children from their families and putting them into State Academies, or forced-education camps. Niska (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) is a Cree mother desperate to protect her daughter Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart). But events force mother and daughter to separate, leading Niska to join a group of Cree vigilantes to get her daughter back.
If this story echoes the real forced assimilation of Indigenous children that colonizing powers undertook in Canada, the US, Australia, and beyond, that’s no coincidence. Goulet is Cree-Métis from northern Saskatchewan. With Night Raiders, she transforms the ugly reality of residential schools into remarkable, cinematic world building.
The production design, cinematography, and visual effects all contribute to a full immersion in a powerful, fictional world. But Goulet’s vision, combined with powerful performances from Tailfeathers, Letexier-Hart, and Gail Maurice, bring this speculative future into dialogue with our past. Night Raiders is not just a singular Canadian film, but a new view of Canada for the whole world.
Night Raiders is a Canadian-New Zealand science fiction apocalyptic film written and directed by Danis Goulet. The film stars Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Alex Tarrant, Amanda Plummer and Violet Nelson. The film had its worldwide premiere at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021.
Film Review for Night Raiders
Danis Goulet. Remember that name. With several groundbreaking short films behind her, the director makes her feature debut with one of the most important Canadian films in recent memory. A searing thriller set in the near future, Night Raiders digs deep into Canada’s painful past to craft a compelling, propulsive piece of genre cinema.
After a destructive war across North America, a military occupation seizes control of society. One of their core tactics: taking children from their families and putting them into State Academies, or forced-education camps. Niska (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) is a Cree mother desperate to protect her daughter Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart). But events force mother and daughter to separate, leading Niska to join a group of Cree vigilantes to get her daughter back.
If this story echoes the real forced assimilation of Indigenous children that colonizing powers undertook in Canada, the US, Australia, and beyond, that’s no coincidence. Goulet is Cree-Métis from northern Saskatchewan. With Night Raiders, she transforms the ugly reality of residential schools into remarkable, cinematic world building.
The production design, cinematography, and visual effects all contribute to a full immersion in a powerful, fictional world. But Goulet’s vision, combined with powerful performances from Tailfeathers, Letexier-Hart, and Gail Maurice, bring this speculative future into dialogue with our past. Night Raiders is not just a singular Canadian film, but a new view of Canada for the whole world. have experienced harm, abuse, violence, and/or intergenerational trauma due to colonial practices.
Night Raiders (2022)
Directed by: Danis Goulet
Starring: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier, Alex Tarrant, Amanda Plummer, Violet Nelson, Pamela Matthews, Suzanne Cyr, Elena Khan, Birva Pandya, Eric Osborne, Subhash Santosh
Screenplay by: Danis Goulet
Production Design by: Zazu Myers
Cinematography by: Daniel Grant
Film Editing by: Jorge Weisz
Costume Design by: Kendra Terpenning
Set Decoration by: Danny Burke, Elizabeth Calderhead, David Maltese
Art Direction by: Chris Bretecher
Music by: Moniker Moniker
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release Date: November 19, 2021 (United States), March 2021 (Berlinale)
Views: 109
