A Mi’kmaw actor has made his film directing debut in a movie inspired by a road trip he went on with his uncle, Donald Marshall Jr., who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 11 years in jail.
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who → make → jail
Glen Gould, from Membertou First Nation, was 17 when his mother sent him to Maine to help his uncle and bring him back home to Cape Breton.
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mother → send → Breton
“It was one thing after another on that road trip,” Gould said in a recent interview.
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Gould → say → interview
“We got our car stolen, ended up stranded at a motel … so I took that road trip and turned it into a movie.”
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I → get → movie
During the trip, Gould said Marshall Jr. shared many stories and recounted what happened the night his friend, 17-year-old Sandy Seale, was stabbed at a park late at night in May of 1971.
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friend → say → 1971
His uncle told him that he and Seale were having a drink on their way to a dance when two men approached them asking for money.
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men → tell → money
This turned into an altercation and one of the men stabbed Seale and slashed Marshall Jr. on the arm.
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one → turn → arm
Despite his co-operation with police, investigators believed Marshall Jr. had stabbed Seale during an argument and that the cut on his arm was self-inflicted.
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cut → believe → arm
He was sentenced to life in prison.
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He → sentence → prison
Marshall Jr. was eventually acquitted in 1983, after more than a decade behind bars.
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Jr. → acquit → bars
Roy Ebsary was identified as the stabber and spent a year in jail after being convicted of manslaughter in Seale’s death.
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Ebsary → identify → death
Gould said during the road trip his uncle “talked about that night (in 1971) and talked about what kept him going all those years in prison.”
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what → say → prison
In the film, “I tried to reiterate it to the best I could from memory, it was pretty emotional,” he added.
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he → try → memory
Marshall Jr.’s case became one of the first high-profile wrongful convictions in the country and led to sweeping changes to a system that was found to be plagued by incompetence and racism.
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that → become → incompetence
An inquiry in 1989 found that racism played a role in Marshall Jr.‘s wrongful conviction and that “the criminal justice system failed Donald Marshall Jr. at virtually every turn.”
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system → find → turn
In a separate case, Marshall would later be convicted of illegal fishing in the 1990s, triggering a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which overturned the conviction and affirmed the treaty right of First Nations people to fish, hunt and gather in pursuit of a moderate livelihood.
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which → convict → livelihood
Gould said his film, called Jeffrey’s Turn, is a work of fiction inspired by his teenage memories and moments he shared with his uncle.
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he → say → uncle
It premièred at the Atlantic International Film Festival earlier this month.
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It → première → Festival
“I think now is a good time … to revisit the systemic racism that still exists within the legal system,” Gould said.
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Gould → think → system
“Anyone who’s non-Indigenous, I would hope that they would walk away from this film and see that we’re just as human
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we → ’ → film
,” he said.
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he → say → ?
Gould, who has spent his career in theatre, film and television and has appeared in shows like Fargo, Outlander and Sullivan’s Crossing, said creating this coming-of-age film and its script took more than 10 years.
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creating → spend → years
He hired a number of Mi’kmaq and Indigenous actors and musicians who worked on the film, including his best friend’s son, 19-year old Zeegwon Shilling, who played the lead character.
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who → hire → character
He said the rewarding process of filming the movie became extremely challenging after suffering a stroke during the film shoot.
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process → say → shoot
“While I was directing and acting in the film, I was in an active stroke.
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I → direct → stroke
When I wrapped the film, I ended up in the hospital for a week in the stroke unit,” Gould said.
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Gould → wrap → unit
Gould said he was encouraged by his co-producers wanting to visit the hospital, but he refused until the filming was complete.
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filming → say → hospital
He is dealing with brain fog and mobility challenges due to the stroke, but said he “got really lucky.”
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he → deal → stroke
“I was so excited about just bringing this (film) to life, that I just pushed through,” he said.
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he → bring → life
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
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