Screenwriter/director Marie Clements says every Indigenous person who worked on her residential school drama 鈥淏ones of Crows鈥� has their own family story of residential school and that brought deeper meaning to each day鈥檚 shoot.

The historical saga debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend, and is set to open the Vancouver International Film Festival on Sept. 29.

It recounts decades of systemic abuse against Indigenous Peoples as seen through the eyes of a Cree woman who survives residential school, is sent to war, and is haunted by painful memories until she begins to confront her abusers.

The Vancouver-born Dene/M茅tis filmmaker Clements says she knows it鈥檚 been difficult for many Canadians to confront the painful history of Indigenous Peoples, and she hopes her sweeping drama can help. For Indigenous audiences, she hopes it offers 鈥渟ome relief鈥� to see their story told.

The largely Indigenous cast is led by Grace Dove and includes Graham Greene, Lorne Cardinal and a cameo by veteran documentary maker Alanis Obomsawin.

鈥淏ones of Crows鈥� screens at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Thursday. The Toronto International Film Festival wraps Sunday.

鈥淓very single Indigenous person that worked on this film 鈥� crew or performer 鈥� has their own story, their own family story of residential school,鈥� Clements said during a round of media interviews.

鈥淪o that kind of gives it a deeper meaning when we come to set and know this is what we鈥檙e doing today. And we鈥檙e going to go get it. Not just for ourselves, because we鈥檙e driven that way anyway as artists, but for our families and for the truth.鈥�

Clements says it鈥檚 important to examine things that are unpleasant, discuss them and address them.

鈥淚 think, strangely in the world, there鈥檚 still people that don鈥檛 know about residential schools, don鈥檛 know that it was a government policy, and that it was, you know, 150 years in the making,鈥� says Clements.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still trying to get to the truth. And I think that takes a long time in this country for people to understand what that means.鈥�

鈥擟assandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press