Barefoot

Directed by Danis Goulet

Canada, 2012 (fiction, 11 minutes, colour, English)

Also known as "Désir d'enfant", "Wunsch Kind"

Film Description:
"In a tight-knit Cree community in northern Saskatchewan, sixteen-year-old Alyssa's plans to become a mom begin to unravel. Barefoot tells the story of Alyssa, a sixteen-year-old Cree girl from a small community in northern Saskatchewan who wants to be pregnant. But this story is not about teen pregnancy; it is about young love and hidden truths, where Aboriginal teen girls find their sense of place in the world and the futures they imagine for themselves."
-- Treeline Pictures (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by:	Danis Goulet
Produced by:	Christine Kleckner
Principal Cast:	Emily Roberts, Cole Ballantyne, Kassie Svendsen, Ida Tremblay, Crystallin Roberts, Denise Charles, Sarah C. Poole, Jonah Ratt, Jordy Phinney, Chantal Ballantyne, Tyrell Tremblay, Terrilynn Tremblay, Desiree Sewap, Cheyenne Sewap, Aleisha Charles, Ciara Carr, Raymond Delaune
Cinematography:	Daniel Grant
Film Editing:	Lawrence Jackman
Production Company:	Treeline Pictures

(sources)

Quotes by the Director

"I think an Aboriginal treatment of a young woman having a baby is definitely not as stigmatized as it would be in mainstream Canadian culture, where having a baby is bad because it's going to kill her future. That's the end of the story. I don't think it should be so black-and-white... Part of what got me thinking about that was seeing all my cousins who still live there [La Ronge, Saskatchewan], and are getting pregnant before they're 20, and how it seems to be treated differently ... how different cultural contexts mean that teen pregnancy is looked at in a different way."
-- Danis Goulet (source)

"I think many Aboriginal teen girls grow up fast and become independent at a younger age. [In Barefoot] I wanted to create a little window into this world that doesn't shy away from the complexity and nuance of their experiences."
-- Danis Goulet (source)

Quote about Barefoot

"[Danis] Goulet's treatment of the storyline is heartfelt, honest, at times funny, and occasionally gut wrenching. By casting local and amateur actors, Goulet is able to capture a tone that resists pandering to the cautionary tales of after-school specials on teenaged pregnancy and instead focuses on relaying the experience of a young female protagonist who is sympathetic and sure of herself rather than tragic or victimized. As a creative offering, Barefoot presents a unique vision of motherhood that is too often moralized and invalidated. The ﬁlm does so with great care, unfolding a storyline that is sophisticated and considered in its intent and choices. Even the ﬁlm's title, which presumably references the old ﬁgure of speech 'Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen,' makes us second-guess its inferred meaning. The phrase is transformed by the practices and values of a community where extended families live together and motherhood at a young age is commonplace."
-- Jenny Western (source)

Bibliography for Barefoot

Brief Sections of Books

Western, Jenny. "Mother Me." In Desire Change: Contemporary Feminist Art in Canada, edited by Heather Davis. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017. (pp. 187-189)

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites

Ball, David P. "Barefoot hits the film fest circuit." Interview with Danis Goulet. Windspeaker, October 2012.
Fuller, Cam. "Danis Goulet returns to TIFF with Barefoot." Regina Leader-Post, September 11, 2012.

Web Sites about Barefoot

"IMDb: Barefoot." Internet Movie Database, Inc. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2204550/reference.
"Barefoot: A Film by Danis Goulet." Treeline Pictures. http://www.barefoot-film.com/. [official site]