Cannes (October 19, 2023) – Little Bird, the critically acclaimed, award-winning series, has won the MIPCOM Cannes Diversify TV award, in the Representation of Race and Ethnicity – Scripted category. The awards are dedicated to championing and promoting diversity and inclusion in all its forms across the international television industry.

Led by an Indigenous creative team, Little Bird was co-created by showrunner Jennifer Podemski (Anishinaabe) and head writer Hannah Moscovitch. The creative team includes directors Zoe Hopkins (Heiltsuk & Mohawk) and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot/Sámi) and was written by Hannah Moscovitch, Zoe Hopkins, Shannon Masters and Darrell Dennis.

Little Bird is a six-part, one hour limited drama series produced by Rezolution Pictures and OP Little Bird, for Canadian broadcasters Crave and APTN, and distributed by Fremantle. It explores universal themes of resilience in the face of trauma and loss. Bezhig Little Bird is removed from her home in Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan and adopted into a Montreal Jewish family at the age of five, becoming Esther Rosenblum (Darla Contois). Now in her twenties, she longs for the family she lost and is willing to sacrifice everything to find them. Her quest lands her in the Canadian prairies, worlds apart from everything she knows. As she begins to track down her siblings, she unravels the mystery behind her adoption, and discovers that her apprehension was part of a racist government policy now known as the Sixties Scoop.  Bezhig's sense of identity shatters, and she is forced to reckon with who she is and who she wants to become.

Little Bird is currently broadcasting on APTN & PBS and streaming on Crave, APTN lumi and PBS.

Coming Home (Wanna Icipus Kupi), a 90-minute companion documentary providing historical context about the Sixties Scoop is also presented on APTN, Crave, PBS and APTN lumi.

"This award is an honour and wonderful recognition of the entire team that made Little Bird. As Indigenous storytellers we are responsible for upholding authenticity around our stories. Since the beginning of screen stories, our Indigenous stories and perspectives have been filtered through the lens of non-Indigenous storytellers which has created a false narrative about who we are, where we come from and the experiences we’ve lived.” - Co-creator and showrunner Jennifer Podemski

Rezolution Pictures co-founder, Ernest Webb (Cree), accepted the award on behalf of all the producers in Cannes.

“We are very proud of the success of Little Bird. It is a tremendously gratifying moment for our entire team, as well as for everyone telling Indigenous stories. We have been sharing these stories and truths for over 35 years and are thrilled to see that now the world is recognizing how beautiful, poignant and entertaining our stories can be.” - Rezolution Pictures CEO Ernest Webb

Little Bird is a CRAVE Original Series, and an APTN Original, in association with Fremantle. Starring Darla Contois, Ellyn Jade and Lisa Edelstein, developed by showrunner Jennifer Podemski and Rezolution Pictures, and created by Jennifer Podemski and head writer Hannah Moscovitch. Written by Hannah Moscovitch, Zoe Hopkins, Shannon Masters and Darrell Dennis. Directed by Zoe Hopkins and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers. The series is executive produced by Ernest Webb, Catherine Bainbridge, Linda Ludwick (Rezolution Pictures), Kim Todd, Nicholas Hirst (Original Pictures), Christina Fon, Jeremy Podeswa, Jennifer Podemski, Hannah Moscovitch, Zoe Hopkins and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers with Christian Vesper and Dante Di Loreto (Fremantle). Producers are Tanya Brunel and Jessica Dunn (OP Little Bird), Claire MacKinnon and Philippe Chabot (Rezolution Pictures) and Lori Lozinski and Ellen Rutter.

Little Bird is produced by Rezolution Pictures and OP Little Bird with the participation of the Government of Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit, the Canada Media Fund (CMF), the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Manitoba Film and Music, the Quebec Production Services Tax Credit, Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Bell Fund, and the COGECO Independent Production Fund. Produced in association with Bell Media. Additional training funding provided by Bell Media, the Indigenous Screen Office, REEL Canada, the Director’s Guild of Manitoba and the Director's Guild of Canada. Fremantle International is the distributor for the series.

About Rezolution Pictures

Rezolution Pictures is an award-winning production company that’s changing the narrative when it comes to diversity and representation in the entertainment landscape. They have established original Indigenous content within mainstream media and sold programming around the world in major markets to broadcasters including including APTN, APTN lumi, Bell Media, Crave, CBC, GEM, TVO, SRC, RDI, OMNI, Showcase, Télé-Québec, PBS, Peacock +, ARTE, ZDF, Channel 5, Netflix, Apple TV, Discovery, Knowledge, FNX, SBS, and more.. The Emmy-nominated Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World has won awards at Sundance, Hot Docs and the CSAs and the Gemini- and Peabody-winning Reel Injun has been inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Museum.

About OP Little Bird

OP Little Bird, is a Winnipeg-based company, majority-owned by Manitoba independent producer Tanya Brunel, Métis from the Red River region. The other shareholders are Original Pictures Manitoba, a company controlled by producer Jessica Dunn and Original Pictures Inc. a boutique production company with offices in Winnipeg, Toronto and Calgary, founded by its Emmy-award winning president/executive producer Kim Todd (The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, and Brave New World).

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