DNYUZ
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Television
    • Theater
    • Gaming
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
DNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Justin Ducharme’s Indigenous Sex Worker Drama ‘Seventeen’ Begins Production & Unveils Cast

May 30, 2025
in News
Justin Ducharme’s Indigenous Sex Worker Drama ‘Seventeen’ Begins Production & Unveils Cast
494
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

EXCLUSIVE: Justin Ducharme has begun production on debut feature Seventeen, revolving around the lives of three Indigenous sex workers in Vancouver.

The production has also unveiled its buzzy Indigenous cast featuring Nizhonniya Austin (The Curse), Taio Gelinas (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Beans), Kaniehtiio Horn (Seeds, Alice Darling, Reservation Dogs), Shannon Baker (Bones of Crows) and newcomer, singer, model, and human rights advocate Aalayna.

Set over the course of seventeen hours, the film follows three Indigenous sex workers whose lives intersect through chance, relation and the shared experience of familial and colonial displacement.

Writer, filmmaker and curator Ducharme, who hails from the Métis community of St. Ambroise on Treaty 1 Territory, has tapped into his own experiences for the screenplay.

“I’m very excited to be off the ground and working on Seventeen with such an amazing cast and crew. This project has been long in development with the support and inclusion of my community of Urban Indigenous kin and sex workers located here on these Unceded Coast Salish Territories,” said Ducharme.

The director is referring to territories inhabited by the indigenous Coast Salish peoples for thousands of years and claimed by the British Crown in the late 18th Century and early 19th Century without their permission, which includes land on which Vancouver is now built.

“Being an experiential sex worker myself, my storytelling has aimed to capture the power that occurs within the intersections of Indigenous sexual sovereignty and chosen family relations, Seventeen is an extension of these thoughts and I can’t wait to share it with audiences.” 

Ducharme previously made waves with short films Positions and The Dancer, which screened at festivals such as ImagineNATIVE, Asinabka, BFI Flare, Outfest Fusion, NFLA, Seattle Queer Film Fest and more.

He was the co-writer, director and producer of the queer Indigenous web series KIN, which premiered at ImagineNATIVE and was supported through their ImagineNATIVE Originals program.

Seventeen was developed with the support of the 2022 Sundance Institute’s Native Film Lab, TIFF’s 2022 Filmmaker Lab and the 2024 TIFF Every Story Accelerator.

The feature is produced by Your Boy Productions and Experimental Forest Films, with Ducharme also producing alongside Tyler Hagan (The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open) and Olivia Marie Golosky (pîķîwî) from Experimental Forest Films.

The director of photography is Tucker Anderson and Branton Olfert is the composer.

Rounding out the cast are Renae Morriseau (The X-Files, North of 60), Joel Oulette (Can I Get a Witness, Nancy Drew), Umar Farooq Khan (The Night Agent), Mathias Retamal (Firefly Lane) and Ray G. Thunderchild (Night Raiders).

Experimental Forest Films is an award-winning production company committed to socially relevant stories, the credits of which include TIFF titles Never Steady, Never Still, Seagrass, Until Branches Bend.

Its 2019 production The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open won the Toronto Film Critics Association Best Canadian Film Award (2020) and was picked up for distribution by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing. 

Seventeen is being filmed is made possible with the support of Telefilm Canada, Indigenous Screen Office, CMF, Vortex Media and Bell Media/CRAVE.

The post Justin Ducharme’s Indigenous Sex Worker Drama ‘Seventeen’ Begins Production & Unveils Cast appeared first on Deadline.

Tags: Seventeen
Share198Tweet124Share
US must join forces with Europe to pressure Putin, say EU foreign ministers
Europe

US must join forces with Europe to pressure Putin, say EU foreign ministers

by Politico
August 30, 2025

The United States must team up with Europe now to raise pressure on Vladimir Putin and force him to negotiate ...

Read more
Health

Inflammation may be a silent heart disease risk in healthy women, new study suggests

August 30, 2025
News

Can you make it as an Uber driver? A new game simulates work in the gig economy

August 30, 2025
Entertainment

‘You belong with me:’ Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement could inspire wedding boom

August 30, 2025
News

Republican Floats Melania Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

August 30, 2025
Map Shows States With The Most Data Centers As Electricity Bills Rise

Map Shows States With The Most Data Centers As Electricity Bills Rise

August 30, 2025
EU nations divided on sanctioning Israel for Gaza war as FMs meet

EU nations divided on sanctioning Israel for Gaza war as FMs meet

August 30, 2025
Warren Buffett is 95. Here’s a look at the legendary investor’s remarkable life as he prepares to step down as CEO.

Warren Buffett is 95. Here’s a look at the legendary investor’s remarkable life as he prepares to step down as CEO.

August 30, 2025

Copyright © 2025.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2025.