When first-time feature director Shelley Thompson debuted her flick Dawn, Her Dad and the Tractor at the 2021 FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, it was her first time seeing the final cut—and she was feeling the stakes of the moment. Back then, she told The Coast that “I think everybody’s making films to change the world, on some level. I don’t have any illusions, but of course I want my film to change the world and I want people to talk and I want people to be kinder and more humane and more accepting of the trans community.” Today, it feels like Thompson is one step closer to her goal, as the flick has been announced the winner of the 2022 Nova Scotia Masterworks Award, the province’s top cultural prize. Valued at $25,000, the Masterworks Award is for works in any medium. The jury state in a release that Dawn, Her Dad and the Tractor—which follows a newly transitioned daughter and her estranged father’s attempt to patch up their relationship through doing the same to an old tractor—”provided a great depiction of what it is like to be a trans Nova Scotian.”
The movie was also the acting debut of famed YouTuber Maya Henry, who told The Coast in 2021 that the film’s story mirrored her own in many ways. She also said the flick’s message shows “that it’s possible to reconnect with people, even after a transition, when you’re very fearful and you don’t know how they’re going to react, right? I think it’s really important to share that side of the story.” Dawn, Her Dad and the Tractor is now streaming on Crave.
This article appears in Nov 7-30, 2022.
