TIFF film ‘In the Heart of the South’ explores trauma and Indigenous identity

By Diana Mussina Nyla Innuksuk’s longtime love of horror — along with her own feelings of fear and doubt — serves as inspiration for her latest project exploring the uncomfortable subjects people often avoid and the complicated ways they shape friendships. A psychological thriller co-written with Ryan Cavan, “In the Heart of the South” premièred Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is the Nunavut-born filmmaker’s second feature after her 2022 debut “Slash/Back.” Innuksuk’s past work mainly involves short films and documentaries, so the transition to feature filmmaking in 2022, she said, was like jumping into ice-cold water and learning to swim. The filmmaker said “Slash/Back,” which follows a group of teen girls fighting an alien invasion in Nunavut, was “ambitious” — at a time when there was a…

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