The Great Salish Heist
Saturday May 4 at 8:00pm (Canada , 95 minutes)
A down-on-his-luck First Nations Archeologist seeking redemption teams up with a group of misfits from the Rez to break into a museum and reclaim sacred artifacts that rightfully belong to their people.
When First Nations objects are removed from their burial sites, bad things happen. No one knows this better than STEVE JOE (late 40’s), traditional archeologist for the Moquahat people. He used to be revered within his community, but his life rapidly went downhill after his son died in a car accident and his wife TANYA (late 30’s) left him. He believes that his misfortune, and the bad luck of his community, is a result of the displacement of sacred artifacts. The only way to stop the suffering is to return the sacred objects to the people they were taken from. But there’s a problem. The artifacts are stored in a museum with one of the country’s most sophisticated security systems.
Steve, along with a rag-tag group of rebels from the Rez, hatches a plan to break into the museum and reclaim their stolen artifacts. After all, is it really stealing to take back what’s rightfully yours?
Darrell Dennis
Darrell Dennis is an award-winning First Nations director, actor, writer and comedian. A two-time alumnus of Sundance Institute programs, he is the first-ever Native comedian to be hired as a cast member in any of the Second City companies. Darrell was the writer/director and regular on the APTN comedy variety series The Guilt Free Zone. His first feature as director The Great Salish Heist premieres in 2024, and his second Sweet Summer Pow Wow is in post-production.
Harold C. Joe, Producer
Harold is a cultural worker, archeology consultant, and filmmaker. He does this to preserve and teach about the values and traditions of his ancestral Cowichan culture. A Capilano Film School graduate, Harold’s documentary Dust n’ Bones was produced for Telus, APTN, and FNX, and has been sold to broadcasters throughout the world. Harold’s feature documentary Tzouhalem, exploring the life of legendary Cowichan Chief Tzouhalem was an official selection of eight film festivals in Canada and the US, receiving its World Premiere at the American Indian Film Festival, and its Canadian Premiere at the Whistler Film Festival. A Cedar Is Life received its World Premiere at the Red Nation International Film Festival and its Canadian Premiere at the Victoria Film Festival. A comedy heist feature The Great Salish Heist inspired by Harold’s work with ancestral remains and scared artifacts featuring, Graham Greene, Tricia Helfer, and Ashley Callingbull premieres in 2024. His next scripted feature, the Telefilm/ Crave TV supported coming-of-age romance Sweet Summer Pow Wow is in post-production.
Leslie Bland, Producer
Leslie has produced and directed over 150 professional projects in film, television, and live theatre, including work featured on Bell Media, CBC, Discovery Networks, Amazon, Knowledge Network, FNX, Télé Quebec, Maori TV, NITV Australia, TV 5 Monde, Bytedance China. His credits include the award-winning feature Gone South: How Canada Invented Hollywood featuring Howie Mandel, Neve Campbell, and David Foster; the sitcom series Ollie and Emma; the doc series The Wine Guys: Grape Escapes; three feature docs Dust n' Bones, Tzouhalem, and A Cedar Is Life. A comedy heist feature The Great Salish Heist with Graham Greene and Tricia Helfer premieres in 2024, and another romcom feature Sweet Summer Pow Wow will be out soon.
CREDITS
Director Darrell Dennis
Screenwriter Darrell Dennis
Story by Harold C. Joe
Sophie Underwood
Producers Leslie Bland
Harold C. Joe Executive Producers Darrell Dennis
Rebessa DiPasquale
Katya Gardner
Harel Goldstein
Ken Gord
Jake Labow
Charles Morris Jr
Barbara Osberg
Rick Romano
Emery Wright
Director of Photography Joseph Boutilier
Editor Daniel Krieger
Production Designer Aija Alle-Kopas
Carlie Voisin
Music by Alexander Brendan Ferguson
VFX Josh Terry-Brand
Joseph Boutilier
Casting Director Jacqui Kaese
Principle Cast Darrell Dennis
Graham Greene
Andrea Menard
Craig Lauzon
Malcolm Sparrow-Crawford
Taylor Kinequon
Tricia Helfer
Ashley Callingbull