"I was angry, I wrote things down. Stupid, not dangerous."

In a culture of fear, the line between victim and aggressor becomes hard to trace. But Sean, a high-school outcast, finds himself on the wrong side of that line when he posts a revenge-fuelled tirade online. The comments spark the darkest fears of his rural town and he is convicted of planning a mass shooting and saddled with the nickname Columbine.

The shadows of past events fall heavy on this tale of paranoia, perception and the dangers of social media. Blackbird poses searching questions about the role media hysteria and our own reactions can play in manufacturing monsters in our midst.

After winning the award for Best Canadian First Feature at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Jason Buxton also won the Claude Jutra Award for first-time filmmakers at the Canadian Screen Awards, where judges noted Blackbird was "a cutting-edge and socially poignant debut film".

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MIFF recommends age 15+

All films featured as part of the Next Gen program are approved for screening by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. No person under the age of 15 years shall be admitted to Next Gen screenings unless in the company of an adult guardian. 

D/S Jason Buxton P Marc Almon, Jason Buxton, David Miller WS Films Boutique TD HD Cam/2012