A few years ago, as the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life, director R.T. Thorne found himself grappling with “existential fears.” With supply chains collapsing and panic-buying in full swing, the Calgary-born filmmaker began to question the stability of the world as he knew it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf a sickness that we can\u2019t even control knocks us off our rocker like that, are we really that safe? Are we really that firm in what we know?\u201d Thorne contemplated. These questions led him to consider, \u201cIf everything shut down, could I provide for my kids? Could I grow food? Do I even know how to protect them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These anxieties ultimately inspired Thorne\u2019s debut film, 40 Acres<\/em>, which premiered recently at the Toronto International Film Festival. The post-apocalyptic thriller follows Hailey Freeman, a former military leader played by Danielle Deadwyler, who leads her family in a future devastated by famine. As a brutal gang of cannibals threatens to overrun their farm, Hailey finds herself at odds with her son Emanuel, played by Toronto actor Kataem O\u2019Connor, as they disagree on the best way to survive in a collapsing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt its heart, it\u2019s a mother and son story,\u201d says Thorne. \u201cIt\u2019s a thriller that\u2019s about two different ideologies of how to move forward in a family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Hailey believes isolation is the key to their survival, Emanuel yearns for connection, a desire fueled by his encounter with a young woman from a nearby farm, played by Toronto-born Milcania Diaz-Rojas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thorne and co-writer Glenn Taylor weave this dystopian narrative with a broader metaphor about land ownership in North America. Hailey\u2019s character descends from Black farmers who settled in Canada after the American Civil War, while her partner, played by Michael Greyeyes, is Indigenous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wanted to make a story about a family I\u2019ve never seen on screen before. It\u2019s a blended Black and Indigenous family,\u201d says Thorne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Thorne, 40 Acres<\/em> tackles several timely political and economic issues, including racial inequality, food insecurity, and Indigenous land rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been in this space for almost a decade where socially there have been a lot of things that have been happening in the world that are causing a lot of people worry,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After eight years in development, Thorne describes the world premiere of his film at TIFF as a \u201cdream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve been coming to this festival for over 20 years as a film lover, just seeing amazing films that just rocked my world,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m honored to be able to come here and have my debut film at the festival that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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