For the month of September, leading up to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30th, Vtape presents Gail Maurice’s Thirst. Nearly twenty years after the video was made, despite progress in some communities, the issue of clean drinking water remains prevalent in Indigenous communities across Canada. With characteristic humour and anger, Maurice highlights the absurdity of official responses to this ongoing crisis.

Thirst
Gail Maurice (Canada, 2007, 14:15)

A probing documentary into the highly problematic and deteriorating water delivery systems servicing northern Ontario First Nations communities. Uncovering neglect, inefficient government response and blatant disregard for a very fundamental human right to clean water.

Gail Maurice is an award-winning filmmaker, actor, director, writer, and producer. She is a proud member of her Métis community in Northern Saskatchewan, and speaks Cree and Michif fluently. She was was honoured with the 2026 August Schellenberg Award by the imagineNATIVE Festival, and was named one of Variety’s Top Ten Canadians To Watch in 2022.

Gail tells stories with strong female Indigenous leads. Her sophomore feature film, Blood Lines, premiered at TIFF 2025, and her debut feature, Rosie, was a TIFF Top Ten Canadian film in 2022, and won the Audience Choice Feature Award at imagineNATIVE.

Gail is a member of the Directors Guild of Canada and was nominated for the DGC’s prestigious Jean-Marc Vallée Award. She is a recipient of the Hnatyshyn Indigenous Award of Excellence and has been nominated for Canadian Screen Awards for best supporting actor for her roles in Trickster and Night Raiders. Her acting credits include Nika & Madison, Aberdeen, Allegiance, Bones of Crows, Don’t Even, and Wind River: Rising, to name just a few.