By Sam Laskaris, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, Windspeaker.com

Hayley Morin has already received an accolade and praise for her latest film.

And now the filmmaker from Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta will get some more attention for her latest work titled 鈥榠鈥檒l tell you when i鈥檓 ready鈥� will be shown on Sept. 11, the opening night of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival.

The film is about jaye simpson, an Indigiqueer writer, poet, activist and drag queen. It includes scenes of Simpson talking about losing her mother as well as experiences in the Canadian child care system.

The film had its world premiere this past March overseas at London鈥檚 LGBTQIA2S+ festival titled BFI Flare.

It was also screened at Toronto鈥檚 Inside Out Festival, held in late May and early June where Morin was awarded the Emerging Canadian Artist award at that festival.

鈥淚t was really shocking,鈥� she said of her award. 鈥淚鈥檝e been producing indie documentaries for about seven years now. You do a lot of projects and there are some projects where I go into and think this is going to be a really big commercial hit. Or this is going to be really successful among these audiences.鈥�

Such wasn鈥檛 the case with the film about simpson.

鈥淲ith jaye鈥檚 project, it really felt like a passion project from the beginning,鈥� Morin said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really know who the audience was going to be. I didn鈥檛 necessarily know what story we were telling until we were telling it. By the time we had finished the edit and we had seen the final cuts and everything, it was a piece of work that I was so proud of. You just never know how films, especially like this where it鈥檚 a bit more experimental at times, you don鈥檛 know how they鈥檙e going to be received by the bigger audiences, especially at film festivals. It鈥檚 kind of a big lottery every time you go to a screening.鈥�

Morin, 28, said she originally thought she鈥檇 have an opportunity to work with simpson long before she did.

鈥淚t鈥檚 actually a really interesting story and it鈥檚 not how I鈥檝e done any other film before,鈥� Morin said. 鈥淚 got approached about two-and-a-half years ago by a production company, Salazar, based out of Vancouver. And they were pitching this second season to a webseries they had done for TELUS. They wanted to feature Jaye in an episode of that documentary series that they were doing.鈥�

鈥淎t that point I had never met jaye. We had run in a lot of similar circles and I had always heard her name come up. But at that point I had only been in Vancouver for about a year. I was super fresh to the scene out there and we kind of got paired up through this TELUS project.鈥�

But as it didn鈥檛 out, that project did not materialize.

鈥淎nd then we ended up pitching that as a short film independently, sort of a one off,鈥� Morin said. 鈥淥ur first prep meeting is the first day I met jaye, which is a very different way to do a documentary about someone.鈥�

Morin said the film was indeed challenging to make at times, in part as she was learning about Simpson along the way.

鈥淭here really wasn鈥檛 any pre-conceived notion that I had of her,鈥� Morin said. 鈥淩eally all I knew was her poetry and doing some research of her online and her persona and doing a little bit of backchecking on some of the interviews she had done.鈥�

The scenes where Simpson goes through foster care files had to be handled delicately.

鈥淲e were getting to know each other, building this trust, and making a film, all at the same time,鈥� Morin said. 鈥淚t really just allowed for there to be a lot of authenticity in the story I felt. I felt like I was learning things about her. It just felt so natural to chase parts of her story rather than having my own narrative going into the film.鈥�

Morin added there were plenty of tears shed by simpson and crew during filming.

鈥淭here was a lot of emotional moments,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I think in that sort of process we were able to create this really safe space where Jaye was sharing herself on camera, we would take a break and we would talk about our lives. And we would have lunch and we would take a coffee break. So, it was really like building a friendship while building a film while building a working relationship with each other.鈥�

Meanwhile, simpson is hoping viewers get a small window into her life.

鈥淏ut also I hope that they take away from this that this is my life experience, it鈥檚 my singular experience,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not every Indigenous person鈥檚 experience.鈥�

And simpson is glad that life story has been made into a film.

鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 always been about making sure that my story is as authentic as it can be,鈥� simpson said. 鈥淎nd when I got approached I thought that this was a unique opportunity.鈥�

Viewers across the country will have an opportunity to see the film on the TELUS originals site starting on Sept. 16.

(This story has been updated to reflect how jaye simpson and the title of the film prefer the use of lower case.)