Little Bird | |
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Country of origin | Canada |
Original release | |
Network | |
Release | May 26, 2023 |
Little Bird is a Canadian drama television series, which premiered on Crave and APTN lumi on May 26, 2023. [1] Created by Jennifer Podemski and Hannah Moscovitch with the participation of Jeremy Podeswa as an executive producer, the series centres on a First Nations woman who was adopted into a Jewish family during the Sixties Scoop, as she attempts to reconnect with her birth family and heritage. [2]
The series stars Darla Contois as Esther Rosenblum/Bezhig Little Bird, alongside Ellyn Jade, Osawa Muskwa, Joshua Odjick, Imajyn Cardinal, Mathew Strongeagle, Eric Schweig, Lisa Edelstein, Braeden Clarke and Michelle Thrush in supporting roles, with episodes directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Zoe Hopkins. [3]
The series was created concurrently with, but separately from, the drama series Unsettled .
The series, the first original drama series to be commissioned by Crave since its rebranding from The Movie Network in 2018, is distributed by Crave, APTN, and APTN Lumi. [2]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [4] | Canada viewers (millions) | |
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1 | "Love is all Around" | Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers | Hannah Moscovitch | May 26, 2023 | N/A | |
This episode cuts back and forth between the day she was taken from her family in 1968 and her engagement party in 1985. 1968, Long Pine Reserve, Saskatchewan: Bezhig Little Bird lives with her parents and three siblings. While her father and eldest brother, Leo, are out hunting, her youngest sister Dora falls ill. She is with her brother Niizh when he accidentally breaks the windshield of a police car while playing with a slingshot. They are apprehended by the police and social service workers are brought to inspect their home. They find the living conditions inadequate, and the children are removed from their home and brought to an orphanage. 1985, Montreal: Bezhig, now known as Esther Rosenblum, is celebrating her engagement to her fiance, David. She was adopted by a Jewish family residing in Montreal, and is completing her first year of law school. During the party, she is praised by family members for her academic success, and makes a toast thanking her family and her fiance. She overhears her future mother-in-law making racist comments about her, and leaves the party early, comforted by her adoptive mother Golda. | ||||||
2 | "So Put Together" | Unknown | Unknown | June 2, 2023 | N/A | |
3 | "The Land that Takes You" | Unknown | Unknown | June 9, 2023 | N/A | |
4 | "Burning Down The House" | Unknown | Unknown | June 16, 2023 | N/A | |
5 | "I Want My Mom" | Unknown | Unknown | June 23, 2023 | N/A | |
6 | "Bineshi Kwe" | Unknown | Unknown | June 30, 2023 | N/A |
Coming Home: Wanna Icipus Kupi , a documentary film profiling the real-life stories of actual Sixties Scoop survivors, was released on June 30 concurrently with the final episode of the series. [5]
Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
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2024 | Best Drama Series | Jennifer Podemski, Hannah Moscovitch, Christina Fon, Ernest Webb, Catherine Bainbridge, Linda Ludwick, Kim Todd, Nicholas Hirst, Zoe Hopkins, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Jeremy Podeswa, Christian Vesper, Dante Di Loreto, Tanya Brunel, Jessica Dunn, Claire MacKinnon, Philippe Chabot, Lori Lozinski, Ellen Rutter | Won | [6] | |
Best Direction, Drama Series; episode: Love is all Around | Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers | Won | [6] | ||
Best Direction, Drama Series; episode Bineshi Kwe | Zoe Hopkins | Nominated | [7] | ||
Best Lead Performer, Drama Series | Darla Contois | Won | [6] | ||
Best Lead Performer, Drama Series | Ellyn Jade | Nominated | [7] | ||
Best Guest Performance, Drama Series | Imajyn Cardinal | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Performer, Drama Series | Braeden Clarke | Won | [6] | ||
Best Ensemble Performance, Drama | Darla Contois, Ellyn Jade, Osawa Muskwa, Lisa Edelstein, Michelle Thrush, Braeden Clarke, Imajyn Cardinal, Joshua Odjick | Won | [6] | ||
Best Achievement in Casting, Fiction | Lisa Parasyn, Carmen Kotyk | Won | [6] |
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