Indigenous drama Wildhood is more than a two-spirit love story

Wildhood, a film about a young Mi'kmaw man whose journey to find his mother is intertwined with a sexual awakening, faced years of rejection before making it to the silver screen. 

Director Bretten Hannam began writing a version of the script more than a decade ago, consulting with industry players who praised the story, but always had a caveat: Do the characters really have to be two-spirit? Do they really have to be Indigenous?

But with a new wave of filmmakers now exploring a spectrum of Indigenous identities onscreen, Hannam was able to tell the story he envisioned — and turn his 2019 short into a feature.

The film, which opens in Canadian theatres Friday, is part of the limited canon of two-spirit stories just emerging in mainstream Indigenous cinema. 

Two-spirit is a pan-Indigenous term used by certain communities to describe a connection between sexuality, gender and spirituality.

The term two-spirit isn't what makes a person's identity, "it's your experience, it's your emotions, it's your spiritual connection to community," said John Sylliboy, a two-spirited Mi'kmaw individual who acted in and served as a consultant on the film. 

In Wildhood, the troubled Mi'kmaw misfit Link (Phillip Lewitski) and his half-brother Trevor run away from their abusive father. Link has discovered that the mother he'd believed to be dead is in fact still alive somewhere on Mi'kma'ki territory in Nova Scotia, having found a hidden stack of unopened letters addressed to him from her.

Hungry and miserable, the pair meet Pasmay (Joshua Odjick), a two-spirited Mi'kmaw dancer who helps Link reconnect with himself and his Indigenous roots as they embark on a journey to track down Link's long-lost parent. 

WATCH | The trailer for Bretten Hannam's Wildhood, now in theatres:

The film, in fact, does not directly mention the term two-spirit — the concept is instead embedded into Wildhood's visual language.

In one memorable scene where the trio are sleeping outdoors in a field, Pasmay awakes at dawn, Link watching him with interest as he performs a ceremonial dance in the morning light. Pasmay then encourages Link to join him, teaching him the dance. 

In that instance, the two young Mi'kmaq are brought together by their connection to the land, their spirituality and their attraction to each other.

"There's a lot of nuanced moments in the film connecting the land to the journey," said Calgary-born actor Phillip Lewitski, who plays Link. "It's a lot of different shots connecting us to the land, and I think there were just a lot of layers to Link's discovery."

While travelling with Travis and Pasmay, Link meets several elders who help lead him to his mother — and who open his eyes up to different expressions of sexuality among his community.