EXCLUSIVE: Production has begun in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Tim Riedel’s psychological horror Ancestral Beasts, which features an Indigenous cast and started out as a proof of concept at this year’s Frontières programme at the Cannes market. Mongrel Media has boarded to handle Canadian distribution.
Joining previously announced Morgan Holmstrom, Darla Contois, and Asivak Koostachin are Gail Maurice from Aberdeen, Shannon Baker from Bones Of Crows, Josh Strait from The Ice Road, and Jess Salgueiro from Frasier. Production will take place in Winnipeg and Cook’s Creek, Manitoba, and Toronto.
Ancestral Beasts follows Elyse, a Red River Métis woman struggling with mental health issues after she escaped a toxic co-dependent relationship with her sister. After a breakdown at work, Elyse retreats to her ancestral home in search of peace when a sinister presence manifests, forcing her to confront intergenerational trauma and fight for the ones she loves.
Red River Métis Riedel’s film explores what happens if a severe mental health disorder takes on a physical form. The story draws on his experience as the son of an Indigenous woman who was taken from her family as a child and raised in an abusive foster care system. She was later diagnosed with borderline personality disorder as a result of the trauma she endured.
Riedel developed the screenplay in consultation with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, cultural advisors and Indigenous psychologists, and also workshopped the project in Berlin, and at this year’s Banff Media World Festival 2025 as a part of the Indigenous Screen Summit, and participated in Whistler Film Festival’s Indigenous Fellowship.
Ancestral Beasts is backed by Indigenous-led production company Michif Koonteur in collaboration with Kistikan Pictures. Riedel also serves as producer alongside Fawnda Neckoway. Executive producers are Tina Keeper, Phyllis Laing, and Edmon Rotea.
Mongrel Media will handle Canadian theatrical and digital distribution and Dubai-based sales Cercamon’s genre label Vorteks handles sales outside Canada.
Ancestral Beasts was made possible with the support of Telefilm Canada, Indigenous Screen Office, Crave, APTN, CBC Films, Mongrel Media, Canada Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council as well as private financing.
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